In the Shadow of the Tower: Crusade, Plague, and Persecution in the Middle Ages Course Descriptor

Course Overview

On the road to Northeastern University London’s campus one passes the Tower of London, one of the most important legacies of London’s medieval past. Built in the wake of the Norman conquest of England to control the thriving city of London, it is the starting point for this course’s investigation of the dynamic history of the Middle Ages 

This course will investigate the major developments and crises that impacted European societies in the Middle Ages. Beginning c. 1066 with the Norman Conquest of England and the start of the ‘Long Economic Boom’ students will develop a clear understanding of the dynamics of political and religious life in medieval Europe. 

Through interrogation of primary evidence, students will gain an understanding of how phenomena such as crusading impacted aspects of aristocratic culture and society at large. This course will engage with specific periods of ‘crisis’, examining, for instance, the ‘rise of a persecuting society’ in the twelfth century, and how this related to religious reform and intellectual movements. The course ends with close examination of the economic, social and cultural impact of the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century. 

The course introduces students to and provides training in, key aspects of the study of history at university: working with primary sources, critically engaging with modern historians’ interpretations of the past and using these materials to construct clear and convincing essays and coursework.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/seminars 

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR 

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

OR

Directed study 

4-12 scheduled hours, the exact number varying according to the balance of 1:1s, 2:1s, or small groups. The plan will be confirmed by the start of the course, taking into account student numbers and the proposed topics, readings, and specific tasks.

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE. 

Summative Assessments

For the written assignment students will gather and discuss information relating to, as relevant for their chosen topic, medieval culture and social, political and economic institutions. In the exam they will employ knowledge of medieval culture and society to answer questions. In both assignments they will utilise awareness of the distinctive experiences of particular groups and communities to deepen their understanding of medieval culture and society. 

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Wickham, Chris (2016) Medieval Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Barber, M. (1992), The Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050–1320. London: Routledge
• Noble, T. F. X, and Engen, J. Van (ed.) (2012), European Transformations: The Long Twelfth Century. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press
• Johns, S. M. (2013), Noblewomen, Aristocracy and Power in the Twelfth-Century Anglo-Norman Realm. Manchester: Manchester University Press

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• The First Crusade
• The Rise of a Persecuting Society
• Women in Medieval English Society
• The Cultural Impact of the Black Death