THE ART OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
FA143a
MW 3:30-5pm
Office Hours: Tuesday 3-5pm & by apt.
Mr. McClendon
Mandel Center 209
Email: mcclendon@brandeis.edu
Course Description: A survey of the art and architecture in the British Isles from the end
of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. Particular concern for the unique synthesis of
native and foreign culture and their artistic styles, resulting from such major historical
developments as the barbarian invasions, the Norman Conquest, and political rivalry with
France.
Required Textbooks: (available in paperback at the Brandies University Bookstore)
Leslie Webster, Anglo-Saxon Art (Cornell University Press, 2012).
Beowulf, trans. Burton Raffel (Penguin, 2008; or other trans. if already have a copy)
Course Structure: The course is divided into three parts: 1) The Birth of England;
Celts, Romans & Anglo-Saxons; 2) Vikings and Normans: c.800 to c.1200; 3) The Age
of Chivalry: French Influence and English Creativity from c.1200 to c.1500.
Requirements: There will be an image exam, involving identification of major works of
art and commentary on their importance, at the ends of Part I (Wed, Feb 25) and Part II
(Wed, Apr. 1). There will be a take home written exam for the third and last section, in
lieu of a formal final exam, due on or before Wed, May 6. Students will be asked to
choose from a list of topics and write a brief essay referring to works of art discussed in
class. No additional research aside from class notes and assigned readings should be
necessary.
There will also be occasional short questionnaires in the course of the semester to assist
with reading assignments and class discussions (required but not graded), and a museum
essay involving description and analysis of one or more works of art in the Museum of
Fine Arts in Boston, due in late April. Admission to the museum is free with a Brandeis
student ID.
Grading: The approximate value of each requirement is as follows: each of the three
exams (25%), museum essay (10%), additional assignments (5%), attendance and class
participation (10%).
Handouts: Lists of major monuments, with identification information, and pertinent
reading assignments in textbooks and on Latte will be distributed at the beginning of each
of the three parts of the course.
Latte: In addition to the textbooks, selected readings will be available on Latte and
assigned as cited on the monuments lists. Images will also be available on Latte for study
and review before each exam.
Class Regulations: Make-ups for exams and extensions for the paper deadline will be
granted only for family emergencies and documented medical reasons.
If you are a student who needs academic accommodations because of a documented
disability, you should contact me immediately and present a letter of
accommodation as soon as possible. Accommodation cannot be granted
retroactively.
You are expected to be honest in all your academic work. The University policy on
academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and
Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the
Office of Student Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential
sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. If you
have any questions about my expectations, please do not hesitate to ask.
In addition to Fine Arts and Creative Arts requirements, this course counts toward
fulfillment of both the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program and the Religious
Studies Program. Please contact the instructor if you wish more information about
either or both these interdisciplinary programs.
Laptop computer/electronic device policy:
Students are allowed to use laptop computers and other electronic devices under the
following conditions: 1) The computer/electronic device is to be used exclusively to
access material or to take notes related directly to this course; 2) Students using
such devices are expected to pay attention to instructor presentations and general
course discussions as well as to make a concerted effort to look up regularly and
establish eye contact with peers and the instructor during such class activities; 3) if a
student does not follow above items one and/or two, the permission to bring such a
computer/device to this class may be denied.
THE ART OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
FA143A
Mr. McClendon
General List of Topics Covered in Lectures
Introduction: A Clash of Cultures
Part One: The Birth of England: Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons
Britain before the English
1) The Legacy of the Celts
2) The Legacy of the Romans
3) St. Patrick and the Christianization of Ireland
Anglo-Saxon England
1) The Barbarian Tradition
2) The Christianization of England
3) The Northumbrian Renaissance
a. The World of the Venerable Bede
b. The Art of the Book
c. The Sculpture of the High Crosses
4) The Book of Kells and the Arrival of the Vikings
Part Two: Vikings and Normans
1) Reform and Renewal in the Tenth Century
a. Architecture
b. Manuscript Illumination
2) The Viking Impact
Norman England
1) The Conquest of 1066 and the Bayeux Tapestry
2) Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London
3) The Great Cathedrals
4) The Character of Anglo-Norman Romanesque Art
a. Manuscripts
b. Sculpture
Part Three: The Age of Chivalry: French Influence and English Creativity
1) Canterbury, Thomas Becket and the Arrival of Gothic Art and Architecture
2) Westminster Abbey and the French Court Style
3) Uniquely English Styles: Decorated and Perpendicular
4) Castles
5) The Art of the Late Middle Ages
6) The City of York and the Birth of English Theater
7) The Threshold of the Renaissance
Epilogue: The Legacy of Medieval Art in England: Revivals and Romance
THE ART OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
3rd century BCE
55 BCE
43 CE
122-133
144
211
306
312
410
mid-5th century
mid-5th century
563
590
590-604
597
635
654
663/4
669
673
681
690
716
736
793
800
806/7
Table of Dates: Part I
Arrival of the La Tene Celts in British Isles
Julius Caesar’s first invasion of Britain
Roman invasions under the Emperor Claudius
Construction of Hadrian’s Wall
Construction of Antonine Wall
Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies in Britain
Roman Emperor Constantine Chlorus dies in Britain, his troops
declare his son Constantine Emperor
Constantine conquers Rome and converts to Christianity
Roman Emperor Honorius announces withdrawl of Roman forces
from Britain; city of Rome sacked by the Goths
Patrick in Ireland
Angles, Saxons and Jutes migrate to Britain
Columba from Ireland founds island monastery on Iona off the
west coast of Scotland
Columbanus of Ireland founds monastery of Luxeuil in France
Reign of Pope Gregory the Great
Mission of Augustine from Rome to Canterbury and conversion
of King Aethelbert of Kent
Mission of Aidan from Iona to Lindisfarne
Wilfrid and Benedict Biscop make their first pilgrimage to Rome
Synod of Whitby
Theodore of Tarsus (in Asia Minor) arrives as Archbishop of
Canterbury
Benedict Biscop founds monastery of Monkwearmouth in
Northumbria
Benedict Biscop founds monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria
Mission of Willibrord to the Frisians
Wynfrith (Boniface) leaves for Frisia, martyred 754
Death of the Venerable Bede
First Viking attacks on British Isles at Lindisfarne
Charlemagne, king of the Franks and the Lombards, crowned
Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III at St Peter’s outside Rome
Monastic community abandons Iona for Kells in Ireland
THE ART OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Table of Dates: Parts II and III
866-868
871-899
940-988
959-975
963-984
979-1013
991
1016-1035
1042-1066
1066
1066-1087
1100-1135
1152
1170
1215
1216-1272
1290
1337
1348-1349
1380
1400
1453
1455-1485
1485
1485-1509
1509-1547
1517
1534
1536-1540
Danes attack Northumbria and Mercia
Reign of England King Alfred the Great
Dunstan: abbot of Glastonbury, bishop of London, and archbishop
of Canterbury
Reign of King Edgar, patron of monastic reform and revival
Aethelwold, bishop of Winchester
Reign of King Aethelred the Unready, married Emma daughter of
Richard I, Duke of Normandy
Battle of Maldon, Vikings defeat English forces
Reign of King Cnut, also king of Denmark
Reign of Edward the Confessor, son of Aethelred and Emma
Battle of Hastings (October 14)
Reign of William I (the Conqueror), also Duke of Normandy
Reign of Henry I; Duchy of Normandy annexed to England
Henry II (king, 1154-1189) marries Eleanor of Aquitaine, formerly
wife of king of France
Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, martyred on Dec. 29,
canonized 1173
Magna Carta signed by King John (1199-1216)
Reign of King Henry III
Death of Eleanor of Castile, wife of King Edward I (1272-1306)
Hundred Years’ War with France begins
The Black Death
William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester (1367-1404) founds
New College, Oxford
Death of Geoffrey Chaucer
Battle of Castillon ends Hundred Years’ War
War of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York
Battle of Bosworth, death of King Richard III
Reign of King Henry VII, House of Tudor
Reign of King Henry VIII
Martin Luther initiates the Protestant Reformation in Germany
Commons declares King Henry VIII head of the Church of
England, breaking with the supreme authority of the Pope in Rome
Dissolution of the monasteries of England