Admission requirements
This course is part of the (Res)MA History Programme. It is not accessible for BA students.
Description
In this course we will be examining current debates in the history of medieval and early modern Europe.
The aim of the literature seminars is both to acquaint you with historiographical developments and to let you think about the production of historical knowledge itself. We will therefore not just be charting how historical debates develop, but crucially also investigate why they do so.
Part I
Medicine, Public Health and the Environment in Medieval and Early Modern Times
Jeroen Duindam and Claire Weeda, weeks 1-3
In recent years, some historians of medicine such as Samuel Cohn Jr. have begun to explore the intent and implementation of public health policies prior to the industrial revolution and development of nineteenth-century epidemiology and modern medicine in Western Europe. These historians have especially identified public health interventions in the wake of outbursts of the plague, as apparent from the establishment of health boards and quarantine houses. They have argued that in times of crisis physicians turned towards civic or royal authorities in a bid to control disease, arguing for the segregation of the poor and healthy and for securing a clean living and working environment, in addition to challenging the tenets of Galenic medicine. They thus began to clean the streets, build latrines and encourage ‘healthy’ behaviour. As a result, these public health inventions would have fostered the creation of a public sphere in an era preceding the centralized nation-state building and technological advancements of the nineteenth century.
However, taking it one step further, some premodern historians such as Carole Rawcliffe and Guy Geltner are now further challenging this paradigm by establishing that public health policies and concerns for a healthy population and environment predated the onset of the plague and subsequent waves of epidemics. They argue that, rather than merely in reaction to moments of crises, public health interventions occurred much earlier, with the early development of urban communities both within and outside of Europe, and was part of the fundaments of Galenic preventive medicine.
In this seminar, we will discuss the arguments for the development of public health policies in the wake of the plague as set forth in Samuel Cohn’s Cultures of Plague: Medical Thinking at the End of the Renaissance. Furthermore, we will challenge this view by reading excerpts from Carole Rawcliffe’s Urban Bodies on medieval preventive health interventions before the plague, supplemented by further literature.
You are requested to study Cohn’s book before the first class and hand in 3 clear statements either supporting or challenging his main arguments. These statements should be sent to both organizers 24 hours before the start of the first seminar. Supplementary literature and assignments will be made available during the first seminar; in the third week you will present your analysis based on Cohn and additional literature in class and write a 3,000 word essay.
Part II: The Italian Renaissance
Peter Hoppenbrouwers and Raymond Fagel, weeks 4-6
Did the (Italian) Renaissance really exist? Or, to rephrase the question in a more academic way, is the Italian Renaissance a useful concept for historians (that is to say, general historians, historians of culture, literary historians, art historians) or would it be better to stop using it altogether? We have three weeks to find out and decide for ourselves.
In preparation for the first class students will read the introduction and the first five chapters, and try to master the remaining chapters, of the book by Guido Ruggiero, The Renaissance in Italy. A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento (2014). Students should try to identify the main arguments without necessarily reading every page. 24 hours before the first class they must send a book report by email to both teachers, including a quote reflecting the central message of the book, an explanation of the main argument of maximum half a page and write down two important questions about the text.
In the second class we shall look at the origins of the concept, including the famous work of Burckhardt on the Renaissance. During the third week we shall discuss the position of the Renaissance concept on the basis of short presentations by the students on books or articles that enter into recent discussions on related topics.
Course objectives
General learning objectives
The student has acquired:
1) The ability to analyse and evaluate literature with a view to addressing a particular historical problem;
2) The ability to give a clear and well-founded oral and written report on research results in correct English, when required, or Dutch, meeting the criteria of the discipline;
3) The ability to provide constructive feedback to and formulate criticism of the work of others and the ability to evaluate the value of such criticism and feedback on one’s own work and incorporate it;
4) The ability to participate in current debates in the specialisation;
5) (ResMA only:) The ability to participate in a discussion of the theoretical foundations of the discipline.
Learning objectives, pertaining to the specialisation
6) Thorough knowledge and comprehension of one of the specialisations or subspecialisations as well as of the historiography of the specialisation, focusing particularly on the following;
in the specialisation Europe 1000-1800: broader processes of political, social and cultural identity formation between about 1000-1800; awareness of problems of periodisation and impact of ‘national’ historiographical traditions on the field.
7) (ResMA only): Thorough knowledge and comprehension of the theoretical foundation of the discipline and of its position vis-à-vis other disciplines.
Learning objectives, pertaining to this Literature Seminar
The student:
8) Has insight in recent debates on the medieval and early modern history of public health, medicine, environment and public authority;
9) Has insight in the complexity of debates on the concept of the Renaissance.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the MA History website
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Course Load
Total course load 10 EC x 28 hours= 280 hours
Lectures: 2 hours per week during 6 weeks): 12 hours.
Study of compulsory reading and associated assignments: 100 hours
Reading additional literature, associated class presentation and writing of 2 essays/review articles: 168 hours.
Assessment method
Assessment
Essay/review
Measured learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8-9, for Res MA students also 5Assignments
Measured learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8-9, for Res MA students also 5Presentations and participation
Measured learning objectives: 2, 4,-6, 8-9, for ResMA students also 5
Weighing
Participation in discussion weeks 1-6: 15%
Assignments and presentation weeks 1 and 2, 4 and 5: 15%
Final essay weeks 3 and 6: 70%
The final grade for the course is established by determining the weighted average with the additional requirement that the written paper must always be sufficent.
Resit
Should the overall mark be unsatisfactory, the paper is to be revised after consultation with the instructor.
Exam review
How and when a review of the written paper will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the results, a review of the written paper will have to be organised.
Blackboard
Yes Blackboard will be used for:
Announcements
Literature
Reading list
Part I
Samuel Cohn, Cultures of Plague: Medical Thinking at the End of the Renaissance (Oxford 2010)
Carole Rawcliffe, Urban Bodies (Woodbridge etc. 2013), 1-53
Carlo M. Cipolla, Public Health and the Medical Profession in the Renaissance (Cambridge, 1976)
Part II
Guido Ruggiero, The Renaissance in Italy. A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento (2014), introduction and chapters 1-5
Additional reading to be announced per week.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable
Contact
Dr. C.V. Weeda Prof. dr. J.F.J. Duindam Prof. dr. P.C.M. Hoppenbrouwers Dr. R.P. Fagel
Remarks
All other information.