Universität Wien

070229 SE Seminar (2016S)

Politics and memory: Medieval Rulers and their Biographers

10.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte
Continuous assessment of course work

This seminar will be taught in English, but students can submit their essays also in German. The assigned literature will be in English and German
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Thursday 03.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 03.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 10.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 10.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 17.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 17.03. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 07.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 07.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 14.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 14.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 21.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 21.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 28.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 28.04. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 12.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 12.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 19.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 19.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3
  • Thursday 19.05. 15:00 - 16:30 Hörsaal 2 Hauptgebäude, Tiefparterre Stiege 5 Hof 3

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This seminar starts from the cultural memory of Emperor Charlemagne (c.747-c.814). Charlemagne has appealed to the imagination of politicians, scholars, novelists and artists alike, perhaps more than any other emperor in Western Europe. We will begin by reading the biographies that appeared shortly after his death. What can we say about the agenda of Charlemagne's biographers - the political, religious and moral message they tried to convey and their particular view of history? How did the portrait of Charlemagne, created by his early biographers, influence our current image of the emperor, and of the political landscape of early medieval Europe? We will take Charlemagne as a starting point, but will continue by looking at biographies of later rulers (Otto I, Konrad II, Berengar, Mathilda etc.). Students will write their essay about a ruler of their choice and his/ her cultural remembrance. The choice of ruler is not necessarily limited to the earlier Middle Ages.
The goal of this seminar is two-fold. First, the medieval biographies provide a starting point to discuss the history of writing biographies, from Antiquity onwards, and investigate the relation between biographies and other historiographical genres. Second, we will study the reception of Charlemagne and other rulers throughout the ages from the perspective of cultural memory studies. How were (and are) medieval rulers represented in literature, art and in film? The aim is to familiarize students not only with biographies as an important historiographical genre, but also with the broad field of cultural memory studies.

Assessment and permitted materials

The students are expected to take part in the discussions. They will be graded as follows: oral presentation 20%, participation in discussion 10%, written work 70%. The essay, written in English or German, is to be ca. 25 pages (12pt. line space 1,5), excluding title page and bibliography. The assigned literature will be in English and German and will be put on Moodle. The selected primary sources are available in translation (English and/or German). The Latin originals will be available for students reading Latin.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Examination topics

After 4-5 introductory meetings, the students will select their individual case-studies, start research for the final essay and begin with their oral presentations.

Reading list

Selected literature and themes:
-The modern reception of Charlemagne. Bernhard Jussen, 'Bild un Mediengeschichte. Karl der Grosse in der Moderne' in: B. Segelken (ed.), Kaiser und Kalifen. Karl der Grosse und die Mächte am Mittelmeer um 800 (Darmstadt 2014) pp 330-349.
-Remembering rulers - cultural memory. Paul Dutton, Charlemagne's Mustache and Other Cultural Clusters of a Dark Age (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004, repr. 2009) selected pages; Stuart Airlie,' 'Sad Stories of the death of kings'. Narrative patterns and structures of authority in Regino of Prüm's Chronicle', in: E.M. Tyler, R. Balzaretti (eds.), Narrative and History in the Early Medieval West (Studies in the Early Middle Ages, Turnhout: Brepols 2006) pp. 105-131; Jan Assmann, 'Kollektives Gedächtniss und Kulturelle Identität', in J. Assman, Tonio Hölscher (eds.), Kultur und Gedächtnis (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1988) pp. 9-19 (Transl. 'Collective memory and cultural identity', in: New German Critique 65 (1995) pp. 125-133)
-Representation of rulers. Ludger Körntgen, Königsherrschaft und Gottes Gnaden. Zu Kontext und Funktion sakraler Vorstellungen in Historiographie und Bildzeugnissen der ottonisch-frühsalischen Zeit (Berlin: De Gruyter 2001) (selected pages)
-Advice manuals for rulers - mirrors for princes. Source text: Sedulius Scottus, On Christian rulers
-How to write a good biography and be persuasive. Matthew Kempshall, Rhetoric and the Writing of History, 400-1500 (Manchester: Manchester University Press 2011) (selected pages)
These titles and further literature and source texts will be made available on Moodle.

Association in the course directory

BA Geschichte: BA-Seminar (9 ECTS) | BA UF GSP (Lehramtsstudium): Bachelormodul; Bachelorseminar (8 ECTS);

Last modified: We 15.12.2021 00:17