Running from the earliest texts of the Middle Ages to some of the last English texts considered to be "medieval," this course examines monsters fought by heroes, wonders encountered in travel, objects and animals given the power of speech, and the codes of behavior that brought humans into contact with these marvels. By considering the respective tensions between pagan past and Christian present, between civilization and wilderness, and between miracle and deceptive prank, we will elucidate the medieval aversions toward, distaste for, and fascination with the monstrous. The course will deal with both primary texts and critical commentary.
Excellent overview of medieval monsters, from the BL
Eileen Joy's fantastic reading list for a course on "The Posthuman Middle Ages"
Elaine Treharne's mention of monsters on her Text Technologies blog
A condensed, simplified version of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's Seven Theses on Monster Culture
Gargoyles and gurning? A face-pulling competition that has gone on since 1267.
Mandeville's Travels
Here is a great course website that gives a lot of information on the Crusades.
This page has some amusing precursors to the Lolcats of the internet, but the main reason for posting it is that it also contains a great image of Alexander and his submersible. Remember that Mandeville was part of long tradition of travel narratives, like the so-called Letter of Alexander to Aristotle.
You've got a very simple T-O map at the back of our edition of Mandeville, but here are a couple of more complex mappae mundi, one from the twelfth or thirteenth century and the other (s. xiii) the famous Hereford mappa mundi.
Gerald of Wales
Images of the Topographia Hibernica in MS 700 from the National Libary of Ireland. This NLI blog post highlights some of the images, as well as linking to other resources.
For the story of the werewolves encountered by the priest, see also this BL blog post.
Here is a collection of interesting thoughts about Gerald - and about "manic professors." Not that my students have ever experienced this....
Cædmon
Here are images from the St. Petersburg Bede, a nearly contemporary (i.e., early eighth-century) manuscript of the Latin text of the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. This is an image from the Tanner Bede (Bodleian, MS Tanner 10), an early tenth-century manuscript of the Old English translation. The early popularity of Bede's HE seems to have influenced script styles at the Wearmouth-Jarrow scriptorium.
Second Shepherds' Play
A brief excerpt (with the second part here) from the play Mankind, performed in front of Lincoln Cathedral.
Remember that the other way to perform mystery plays is by moving wagons through designated stopping points where audiences watch the plays. Here's the arrival of a wagon at one of the performance points in the 2010 York Plays.
Marie de France
Werewolves in medieval texts and images. Here is a reading of Bisclavret. Also, charming clips from a film version!
Stunning springtime revelation from the British Library! Ahem.