MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
1. The title of the module
Village Life
2. The Department which will be responsible for management of the module
Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies
3. The Start Date of the Module
October 1998
4. The cohort of students (onwards) to which the module will be applicable.
Students enrolled on the CMEMS MA
5. The number of students expected to take the module
5
6. Modules to be withdrawn on the introduction of this proposed module and consultation with
other relevant Departments and Faculties regarding the withdrawal
N/A
7. The level of the module (eg Certificate [C], Intermediate [I], Honours [H] or Postgraduate [M])
M
8. The number of credits which the module represents
30
Note: undergraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 120 credits per year and
postgraduate full-time students take modules amounting to 180 credits per year for a Masters
award
9. Which term(s) the module is to be taught in (or other teaching pattern)
Autumn or Spring
10. Prerequisite and co-requisite modules
Palaeography and Manuscripts
11. The programmes of study to which the module contributes
The CMEMS MA
12. The intended subject specific learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to
programme learning outcomes
The course will be concerned with village life in the late 13 th and early 14th centuries; the late
14th and early 15th centuries; and the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Students will be
introduced to the secondary literature appropriate to these periods and to a range of primary
sources including chronicles, court and account rolls, rentals and surveys, testamentary
records, and the materials of the ecclesiastical courts, as well as literary sources. It is
intended that use will be made of the manuscript evidence of the estates of Canterbury
Cathedral Priory (held in the Cathedral Archives) and of landscape and architecture in the
villages of east Kent. Special attention will be given to demographic crisis and famine in the
late 13th and early 14th centuries; to revolt and the restructuring of communities in the late
14th and early 15th centuries; and to rural change and the emergence of the peasant family in
the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
13. The intended generic learning outcomes and, as appropriate, their relationship to programme
learning outcomes

Students will develop writing and presentational skills by delivering short talks on the
material covered in the course, and by producing an assessed essay of not more than
5,000 words (CMEMS Learning Outcomes B.6-9, C.12, D.14-19).

Students’ ability to articulate sophisticated, coherent and persuasive arguments will be
cultivated through structured in-class debates (CMEMS Learning Outcomes B.6, D.14-15)

Students’ research skills will be developed through preparation for seminars and the
assessed essay (CMEMS Learning Outcomes D.19)
14. A synopsis of the curriculum
The aims to examine the social life of the English village in the later middle ages through an
analysis of surviving documentary, pictorial and archaeological evidence. The objectives are to
introduce students to the nature of cultural processes in rural society and to the demographic,
economic, social, political and religious factors which gave rise to structure and change. It is also
intended that students will develop
an awareness of the nature of pre-modern society; the lives
and environments of women, men and children; and the characteristics of the families,
communities and regions in which they lived.
15. Indicative Reading List
Astill, G., and Grant, A., The Countryside of Medieval England (1988)
Bennett, J.M., Women in the medieval English countryside (1987)
Campbell, B.M.S., ed., Before the Black Death (1991)
Dyer, C., Standards of living in the later Middle Ages: social change in England c.1200-1520
(1989)
Hanawalt, B., The ties that bound: peasant families in medieval England (1986)
Hilton, R.H., The English peasantry in the later middle ages (1975)
Homans, G.C., English villagers of the thirteenth century (1941)
Horrox, R., ed., The Black Death (1995)
Keen, M., English Society in the Later Middle Ages, 1348-1500 (1990)
Miller, E., and Hatcher, J., Medieval English: Rural Society and Economic change, 1086-1348
(1978)
Razi, Z., Life, Marriage and Death in medieval parish: economy society and demography in
Halesowen 1270-1400 (1980)
Titow, J.Z., English Rural Society 1200-1350 (1969)
16. Learning and Teaching Methods, including the nature and number of contact hours and the
total study hours which will be expected of students, and how these relate to achievement of
the intended learning outcomes
The course will be taught by 10 weekly 2 hour seminars. It is expected that students will spend
20 hours per
week in study preparing for seminars and undertaking research for their assessed essay.
The aims are to examine the social life of the English village in the later middle ages through an
analysis of
surviving documentary, pictorial and archaeological evidence. The objectives are to introduce
student to the
nature of cultural processes in rural society and to the demographic, economic, social, political an
religious
factors which gave rise to structure and change. It is also intended that students will develop an
awareness of
the nature of pre-modern society: the lives and environments of women, men and children: and
the
characteristics of the families, communities and regions in which they lived. Total study hours 300.
17. Assessment methods and how these relate to testing achievement of the intended learning
outcomes
The course will be assessed by a 5,000 word assessed essay on a relevant topic of each
student’s choosing. This essay will test the learning outcomes by requiring students to make a
coherent, sophisticated, scholarly argument with an appropriate scholarly apparatus.
Both the learning and teaching and assessment methods relate closely to the intended learning
outcomes. They will encourage student-centred exploration and discussion of primary and
secondary materials in both their essays and their seminar contributions. Students will develop
their presentation skills (written and spoken) and their capacity for independent research.
18. Implications for learning resources, including staff, library, IT and space
Some books will have to be acquired for the Templeman Library.
19. A statement confirming that, as far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum, learning
and teaching methods and forms of assessment do not present any non-justifiable
disadvantage to students with disabilities
As far as can be reasonably anticipated, the curriculum, learning and teaching methods and forms
of assessment do not present any non-justifiable disadvantage to students with disabilities