BBNAN03000 Cultural-Historical Module
Concepts of the Other World in Medieval England
CULTURAL-HISTORICAL MODULE
CONCEPTS OF THE OTHER WORLD IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Course Code: BBNAN03000
Lectures: Mon 10.00-11.30, Amb 126
Lecturer: Karáth Tamás (tamas.karath@gmail.com)
Office hours: Wed 11.45-12.30 (Amb 133)
Welcome to this course!
This lecture series invites you to explore medieval concepts of worlds beyond the
perceivable human sphere. The course will not restrict the concept of the other world only
to “afterlife”, but will consider all imaginations of worlds and visionary realms before/during
and after human life. Our topics will include medieval cosmology, dreams, visions, mystical
experiences, near-death experiences, journeys to fantasy worlds and the conceptualizations
of eternal life (Heaven, Purgatory, Hell, and alternative salvation theories). The discussion of
these issues will be based on the literary representations of the other world in medieval
England, as well as non-literary sources to find out more about the background of the
cultural and social constructs of the other world.
Exam
The obligatory readings are indicated in the course calendar under each week’s topic. The
lecture will be concluded by an oral exam consisting of two parts. The first part of the exam
will be the presentation of one of the lecture topics. You will have to prepare for all topics,
and you will be given one at the exam:
(1) Visions of the other world in Anglo-Saxon England
(2) Old English dream visions
(3) The birth of Purgatory
(4) Middle English visions of Purgatory
(5) Revelations of Heaven on the medieval stage
(6) Revelations of Hell on the medieval stage
(7) Medieval English mystics and the vision of God
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BBNAN03000 Cultural-Historical Module
Concepts of the Other World in Medieval England
(8) The visions of Margery Kempe
(9) Medieval dream visions
(10)
Medieval visions of salvation
In the second part of the colloquy, you will be asked to discuss one of the obligatory texts
and one of the critical works that you have not involved in the presentation.
Assessment of the course
The final grade will be the average of the grades of the first and second parts of the exam.
Course calendar with obligatory readings
15 Sep – Concepts of the other world – then and now: Medieval cosmology
22 Sep – Visions of the other world in Anglo-Saxon England
Readings: (1) Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People V. 12 (Dryhthelm)
(Penguin Classics edition, pp. 284-89; Faculty Library shelf-mark: 325.590)
(2) Andrew Rabin, “Bede, Dryhthelm, and the Witness to the Other World” Modern
Philology 106 (2009): 375-398 (JSTOR)
29 Sep – Old English dream visions
Readings: (1) “The Dream of the Rood” (in An Anthology of Medieval English Literature.
Ed. by Halácsy Katalin. Piliscsaba: PPCU, 1999, pp. 17-20; Faculty Library shelf-mark:
249.932)
(2) Caedmon’s story from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History (Caedmon’s Hymn) IV. 23-24
(Penguin Classics edition, pp. 243-51)
(3) Halácsy Katalin, “Miracle-working Poetry, Poetry Worth a Miracle? The Caedmon Story
Yet Again” AnaChronisT 8 (2002): 1-8
http://seas3.elte.hu/anachronist/2002Halacsy.htm
6 Oct – The birth of Purgatory
Readings: (1) Aelfric, Catholic Homilies. “In Letania majore Feria tertia [On the Greater
Litany Tuesday]” and “Alia Visio [Another Vision]” in The Sermones Catholici, or, Homilies
of Aelfric. Ed. by Benjamin Thorpe. London: Aelfric Society, 1846, pp. 333-56.
https://archive.org/details/sermonescatholic02aelfuoft
(2) Karáth Tamás, “Faces of the Other-World in the Earliest Old English Series of
Homilies: A Dogma in Formation. Two Homiletic Visions by Aelfric” in Faces of Eglish.
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BBNAN03000 Cultural-Historical Module
Concepts of the Other World in Medieval England
Pázmány Papers in English and American Studies Vol. 5. Ed. by Katalin Balogné Bérces,
Kinga Földváry and Veronika Schandl. Piliscsaba: PPCU, 2011, pp. 71-84.
https://btk.ppke.hu/uploads/articles/6623/file/FoE-text-2011.pdf
13 Oct – Visions of Purgatory: Middle English Poems of Purgatory
Readings: (1) The Gast of Gy - Modern English translation in Cultures of Piety: Medieval
English Devotional Literature in Translation. Ed. by Anne Clarke Bartlett and Thomas H.
Bestul. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999, pp. 64-84. (Faculty Library shelf-mark:
285.884)
(2) Introduction to The Gast of Gy by Edward E. Foster at http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams
/text/foster-three-purgatory-poems-gast-of-gy-introduction
(3) “A Revelation of Purgatory: A Revelation Showed to a Holy Woman” in Women’s
Writing in Middle English. 2nd ed. Ed. by Alexandra Barratt. Harlow: Longman, 2010, pp.
162-74. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 292.962)
20 Oct – Revelations on the stage 1: Heaven
Readings (1): The Chester Fall of Lucifer from the Chester Mystery Cycle
http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/chester/chester1.pdf
(2) The Parliament of Heaven and the Annunciation from the N-Town Plays
http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~ajohnsto/annuncia.html
27 Oct – Autumn break
3 Nov – Revelations on the stage 2: Hell
Readings: (1) The pageant of Pilate’s Wife from the York Mystery Plays
http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/yorkplays/York30.html
(2) The pageant of the Last Judgement from the York Mystery Plays
http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/yorkplays/York47.html
10 Nov – Medieval English Mysticism and visions of God
Readings: (1) Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, Prologue and Chapter 15
(2) Julian of Norwich, A Book of Showings, excerpts in The Norton Anthology of English
Literature, vol. 1, pp. 292-98
(3) A. C. Spearing, “Introduction,” Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love: Short Text
and Long Text, transl. by Elizabeth Spearing. Penguin Books, 1998 (Faculty Library shelfmark: 289.925 and 260.467)
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BBNAN03000 Cultural-Historical Module
Concepts of the Other World in Medieval England
(4) Rosamund S. Allen, “Introduction,” Richard Rolle, The English Writings, transl., ed. and
introd. by Rosamund S. Allen. New York: Paulist Press, 1988
17 Nov - The visions of Margery Kempe
Readings: (1) The Book of Margery Kempe Book I, Chapters 1-11, 28-30 in the Penguin
Classics edition translated by Barry Windeatt (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 289.923)
(2) “Chapter 5: Margery Kempe” in Diane Watt, Medieval Women’s Writing. Cambridge:
Polity Press, 2007, pp. 116-35.
(3) Lynn Staley, “Introduction,” The Book of Margery Kempe, ed. by Lynn Staley.
Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1996 (also in Faculty Library under shelfmark: 262.135 and 262.135:1)
http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/staley-book-of-margery-kempe-introduction
24 Nov – Middle English dreams and dream visions 1
Readings: (1) Sir Orfeo in An Anthology of Medieval English Literature. Ed. by Halácsy
Katalin, pp. 143-8.
(2) “Interpreting a Medieval Romance” in A. C. Spearing, Readings in Medieval Poetry.
Cambridge: CUP, 1987, pp. 56-82. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 315.807)
1 Dec – ME dream visions 2
Readings: (1) Chaucer, The House of Fame in Geoffrey Chaucer, Love Visions: The Book of
the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of Birds, The Legend of Good Women.
Transl. by Brian Stone. Penguin Books, pp. 61-121. (Faculty Library Shelf-mark: 325.688)
(2) Michael St. John, “The House of Fame,” in Chaucer’s Dream Visions: Courtliness and
Individual Identity. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000 (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 267.547)
8 Dec – Visions of salvation
Readings: (1) Pearl in Medieval English Verse. Transl. by Brian Stone. Penguin Classics, pp.
136-74. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 258.350)
(2) Nicholas Watson, “Visions of Inclusion: Universal Salvation and Vernacular Theology
in Pre-Reformation England,” Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 27 (1997):
145-88
Enjoy the course!
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