LAT 358 - Mediaeval Latin Literature and Culture

Course Units: 1

(Not offered in 2014-15) Latin in the Middle Ages was Western Europe’s international language of ideas, politics, and literature. It was the language not only of the Bible and the Church, but also of satirists and historians, heretics and mystics, poets and storytellers. Their writings are the vital link between Classical antiquity and the modern literatures of Europe. Students sample this vast literature through readings in the original and become acquainted with the social, intellectual, and cultural climate that produced it. Throughout the course, students develop their Latin reading skills (with attention to the differences between Classical and later Latin). Readings cover a range of authors from St. Augustine to the Arch-poet and may include autobiography, letters, history, visionary literature, philosophy, lyric poetry, hymns, drinking songs, Bible texts and interpretations, legends, encyclopedias, allegorical poetry, and political theory. Prerequisite(s): LAT 103 or two years of secondary school Latin. CC: HUL, LCC