The emergence of a vibrant tradition of
vernacular Christian literature and theology in thirteenth-century Europe
opened the doors of Christian mystical thought and practice to an increasingly
wide audience. In this seminar, we will focus our attention on some of
the most important mystical texts and visionary literature from the High
and Later Middle Ages, both Latin and vernacular, orthodox and heterodox.
Exploring the varieties of mystical expression and the social and cultural
contexts underlying them, we will pay particular attention to the role
of gender and authority in mystical writing, practice, and teaching.
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• Steven Fanning, Mystics of the Christian Tradition (ISBN
0415224683)
Elizabeth Petroff, Medieval Women's Visionary Literature (ISBN 019503712X)
Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls (ISBN 0809134276)
Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises, and Defense (ISBN
0809103222)
Also: a set of readings available in pdf format on a blackboard site
and a number of internet documents, linked to the syllabus
Suggested background reading, on reserve in Mugar:
B. McGinn, The
Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vols.
I, II, and III
J. Lynch, The Medieval Church: A Brief History
B. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages
R. N. Swanson, Religion
and Devotion in Europe, c. 1215-c.1515
Please bring reading materials to class on
the day(s) they are assigned, including printouts of web documents or
a laptop for viewing them. |
Course
Requirements for RN 413 & HI 413
Students are expected to attend and participate in every class. All
reading is to be completed before the class for which it is assigned.
Written work for the class will include brief
responses to the week's readings (1-2 pages), 2 short
analytical papers, and a 10-12 page research
paper. Grading for the course will be
as follows: class participation and response papers 30%; short papers
20% each; research paper 30%.
Course
Requirements for RN 713, HI 713 & STH TX 811
Students are expected to attend and participate in every class. All
reading is to be completed before the class for which it is assigned.
In addition to mastering the material required of undergraduates, graduate
students are also expected to familiarize themselves with current scholarship
in the field and to develop a critical understanding of the relevant
issues in scholarship. Additional secondary readings are thus indicated
each week for graduate students. Written work will be the same as for
undergraduates except that the final paper will take the form of a 15-20
page bibliographic essay. Graduate
students will also make one oral presentation to the seminar. Grading
for the course will be as follows: class participation/response papers/oral presentation 30%; short papers 20% each; bibliographic essay
30%.
For all students: Since
we meet only once a week, attendance is extremely important. If you know
that you will miss class because you are sick or are away from school for
an emergency, please try to let me know ahead of time, if possible, via phone or e-mail. More
than one unexcused absence during the semester may result in a lowered
overall grade in addition to an unsatisfactory class participation grade.
Please note that you must complete all written work in order to receive
a passing grade for the class.
Schedule:
9/13 Introduction: Background to Medieval Christian Mysticism:
Body, Spirit, and Religious Experience
Reading for first class meeting: Steven Fanning, 1-36; Jacqueline Murray, "One Flesh, Two Sexes, Three Genders?" Gender and Christianity in Medieval Europe: New Perspectives, 34-51. Blackboard]; Bernard McGinn, The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism, Vol.
I, Introductions and Chapter 1 [Blackboard]
Additional Graduate Reading: John Coakley, "Christian Holy Women and the Exercise of Religious Authority in the Medieval West," Religion Compass 3 (2009), 847-856. [access on line through Mugar e-journals] and Robert Lerner, "Ecstatic Dissent," Speculum 67 (1992), 33-57 [access on line through Mugar/JSTOR].
9/20 The Love Affair With God: The Monastic Tradition
Readings: Fanning, 75-82; E. Ann Matter, "Mystical Marriage," Women
and Faith: Catholic Religious Life in Italy from Late Antiquity to the
Present, L. Scaraffia and G. Zarri, eds., 31-41[Blackboard] ;
Richard of St. Victor, "On the Four Degrees
of Passionate Charity," 213-233 [Blackboard], Bernard
of Clairvaux: On Loving God and Excerpts
from Sermons on the Song of Songs
Additional Graduate Reading: Denys Turner, Eros and Allegory:
Medieval Exegesis of the Song of Song
9/27 Hildegard of Bingen: The Visionary
Experience and Female Spiritual Authority
Readings: Fanning, 82-85; Elizabeth Petroff, 151-158; B. Newman, Sister of Wisdom. St.
Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine, Chapter 1 [Blackboard]
Additional Graduate Reading: B. Newman, Sister of Wisdom. St.
Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine, entire book
10/4 Religious Communities: Tradition and Innovation
Readings: Fanning, 94-101; Walter Simon, Cities of Ladies, Chapters 2-4 [Blackboard]; The
Lives of Marie d’Oingies and Christina Mirabilis, Petroff, 171-189
Additional Graduate Reading: Herbert Grundmann, Religiöse
Bewegungen im Mittelalter (in the original German or in the 1995
English translation). The English translation contains an excellent introduction
by Robert Lerner.
Tuesday 10/12 Apostolic Poverty and Mystical
Practice: St. Francis and St. Clare
Readings: Fanning, 85-92; "The Testament of St. Clare," Petroff, 231-235; 242-246; Lester Little, Religious
Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe, 19-41; 146-169
[Blackboard], St. Francis, Canticle
of Brother Son; Thomas of Celano, The Life
of St. Francis (first and second versions)
Additional Graduate Reading: Lester Little, Religious
Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe, entire.
10/18 A Different Kind of
Love: Hadewijch and Minnemystik
Readings: Hadewijch of Brabant, "Letters and Visions," Petroff, 189-200; Hadewijch, Poems, from Hadewijch.
The Complete Works, Columba Hart O.S.B., trans., 149-152;
168-171; 227-229; 240-243; 352-358 [Blackboard]
; M. Suydam, "The Touch of Satisfaction: Visions and the Religious
Experience According to Hadewijch of Antwerp," Journal of Feminist
Studies in Religion 12 (Fall 1996), 5-27 [Blackboard].
Additional Graduate Reading: Paul Mommaers, Hadewijch: Writer, Beguine, Love Mystic, Elisabeth M. Dutton, trans.
SHORT PAPER 1 DUE BEFORE
CLASS |
10/25 Mechthild of Magdeburg and
the nuns of Helfta: Female Monasticism and Vernacular Theology
Readings: Mechthild of Magdeburg, "The Flowing Light of the
Godhead"; St. Gertrude the Great, "Revelations," Petroff, 207-221; 222-230; Jeffrey Hamburger, The
Visual and The Visionary: Art and Female Spirituality, chapters
1 and 2 [Blackboard].
Additional Graduate Reading: Sara Poor, Mechtild of Magdeburg and
Her Book: Gender and the Making of Textual Authority.
Final Paper Proposals/Bibliographies Due |
11/1 Apostolic Poverty and Mystical Practice: The
Followers of Francis
Readings: St. Bonaventure, "The Soul’s Journey into God," E.
Cousins, ed., trans., 53-116 [Blackboard] ;
Blessed Angela of Foligno, "The Book of the
Experience of the Truly Faithful," Petroff, 254-263
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting: No Additional Graduate Reading Today
11/8 Annihilation of the Soul: Marguerite Porete and the Heresy of the Free Spirit
Readings: Marguerite Porete, "The Mirror of Simple Souls," Ellen
Babinsky, trans. Entire book, including the preface, introduction, and
text, Marguerite's
trial documents
Additional Graduate Reading: Robert E. Lerner, Heresy of the
Free Spirit
11/15 Ilaria Ramelli lecture, Details TBA
SHORT PAPER 2 DUE BEFORE
CLASS |
11/22Meister Eckhart and the Beguines
Readings: Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises, and Defense, Introduction; 71-81; 177-203; 285-294 ; A.
Hollywood,
"Suffering Transformed: Marguerite Porete, Meister Eckhart, and the
Problem of Women's Spirituality," Meister Eckhart and the Beguine
Mystics, 87-113 [Blackboard] Schwester
Katrei (Sister Catherine), "About the
Confessor's Daughter," Meister Eckhart, Teacher and Preacher,
347-387 [Blackboard]
Optional: Schwester Katrei entry from the Dictionnaire
d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques
Additional Graduate Reading: B. McGinn, ed., Meister Eckhart
and the Beguine Mystics, entire.
Undergraduates: First Draft Final Paper Due |
11/29 Gender and the Body in Mystical Practice
Readings: C. Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy
Fast, 1-9; 277-302
[Blackboard]; A. Hollywood, "Inside
Out: Beatrice of Nazareth and Her Hagiographer," Gendered Voices:
Medieval Saints and Their Interpreters, Catherine M. Mooney, ed., 78-98
[Blackboard]; Beatriijs
of Nazareth,
"Seven Manners of Loving God," Petroff, 200-206.
Additional Graduate Readings: C. Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy
Fast, entire book;
12/6 Sensory Experience and Mystical Language
Readings: Fanning, 119-128; Margery Kempe, "The Book of Margery
Kempe," Petroff,
314-328, Excerpts from the anonymous
Cloud of Unknowing; Excerpts from Richard Rolle,
The Fire of Love
Additional Graduate Reading: Karma Lochri, Margery Kempe and Translations of the Flesh.
FINAL
PAPER DUE Monday, 12/6 |
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