HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

This course is an introduction to the history of science in the Middle Ages and focuses on the ways that scholars understood and interpreted the natural world from the late Roman period to the high Middle Ages. It examines the kinds of questions that medieval scholars asked and the problems that interested them, the evidence that they used to develop their ideas, and the contexts in which they wrote and studied. The geographical focus of the course is primarily western Europe, although we will also examine issues such as the introduction of Arabic science into the west and, for some topics, consider how different strands of thought (e.g. based in Greek and Latin traditions) affected the discussion of scientific ideas.

By the end of the course students will have:
- gained a broad knowledge of the history of science in the Middle Ages, and how approaches to studying the history of science in the Middle Ages have changed over time;
- learned how to examine and analyse complex and fragmentary sources;
- developed their analytical and critical skills in using evidence and scholarship;
- advanced their skills in analysing historical changes over a long period of time.

The only prerequisite for this course is to be able to speak and read English, although ideally students would also have studied some medieval history and/or some history of science before taking this course. Some knowledge of Latin may be useful but is not essential.

This course is an introduction to the history of science in the Middle Ages and focuses on the ways that scholars understood and interpreted the natural world from the late Roman period to the high Middle Ages. It examines the kinds of questions that medieval scholars asked and the problems that interested them, the evidence that they used to develop their ideas, and the contexts in which they wrote and studied. The geographical focus of the course is primarily western Europe, although we will also examine issues such as the introduction of Arabic science into the west and, for some topics, consider how different strands of thought (e.g. based in Greek and Latin traditions) affected the discussion of scientific ideas. Topics may include, for example: the nature of science in the Middle Ages and what it meant to be a scientist; the relationship between science and theology; the study of science in monastic houses; natural phenomena such as comets, eclipses and rainbows; the development of the genre of scientific writing; observation and experiment; changes in approaches to the study of science during the Middle Ages.

Bruce Eastwood, Ordering the Heavens: Roman cosmology in the Carolingian Renaissance (Leiden: Brill, 2007)
Valerie Flint, The Rise of Magic in Medieval Europe (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)
David C. Lindberg, Michael H. Shank (eds), The Cambridge History of Science. 2: Medieval Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Barbara Obrist, Wind Diagrams and Medieval Cosmology, Speculum 72:1 (1997), 33-84
Emilie Savage-Smith and Yossef Rapoport, An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe: The Book of Curiosities, edited with an annotated translation (Leiden: Brill, 2014)
Faith Wallis, What a medieval diagram shows: a case study of "computus", Studies in Iconography 36 (2015), 1-40

Students will write an essay of maximum 3,500 words which will form a starting-point for discussion in the oral exam. During the oral exam the students will also be asked about other topics covered in class.

written and oral

Every student must submit an essay of 3,500 words including footnotes but excluding bibliography, 7 days before the exam, using the link available on the Moodle site. The question must be approved by the tutor at least three weeks before the exam. The essay will form the starting-point for discussion in the oral exam.
Oral exam: 70%; Essay 30%.

18-21:
Sufficient knowledge of the material covered in the course with a limited ability to understand and interpret relevant primary sources. Sufficient knowledge of scholarship with limited critical skills and limited ability to formulate independent judgements. Limited communication skills.

22-25:
Satisfactory knowledge of the material covered in the course with an adequate ability to understand and interpret relevant primary sources. Satisfactory knowledge of scholarship, with some critical skills and some ability to formulate independent judgements. Satisfactory communication skills.

26-28:
Good knowledge of the material covered in the course with a good ability to understand and interpret relevant primary sources. Good knowledge of scholarship, with good critical skills and good ability to formulate independent judgements. Good communication skills.

28-30:
Excellent knowledge of the material covered in the course with an excellent ability to understand and interpret relevant primary sources. Excellent knowledge of scholarship, with excellent critical skills and excellent ability to formulate independent judgements. Excellent communication skills.

30 cum laude
Exceptional knowledge of the material covered in the course with exceptional understanding and interpretation of relevant primary sources. Exceptional knowledge of scholarship, with outstanding critical skills and ability to formulate independent judgements, along with the ability to develop original arguments. Exceptional communication skills.

Seminars focusing on discussion of medieval evidence and modern scholarship. Students are required to read an article or book chapter and extracts from primary sources before every seminar.

Students are advised to attend as many classes as possible.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development