Activity: Medieval or Modern?
Activity Outcome
- Students will be able to consider attitudes towards gender, ethnicity, science, religion, etc., during the Middle Ages and in the modern era.
- Students will be able to reconsider whether our own approaches to the Middle Ages are accurate.
- Students will be able to think about the meanings of the words “primitive” and “progress.”
Relevant Course Outcome
- Students will be able to recognize and articulate the value of studying early British literature.
- Students will be able to identify and analyze the textual, historical, and cultural contexts of works of literature.
Instructions:
- Read each quotation and discuss it briefly as a group.
- Come to a consensus as to whether you think it is a medieval quotation or a modern quotation (i.e. whether it was said/written by a medieval writer/person or a modern one).
- Select a scribe to record your decisions.
- After completing all of the quotations, consult the answer key below (don't cheat!). Were you correct? Were you incorrect? If incorrect, does the answer surprise you?
- For 10 Activity points, respond to the final questions in an individual Reflection Post.
Disclaimer: Quotations heavily edited for language to disguise obvious clues (this is not an example to follow!); meanings have been retained.
Word of warning: Some of the topics touched upon do include rape, racism, and misogyny.
Quotations
1. God has truly made women's minds sharp enough to learn, understand, and retain any form of knowledge.
2. I have the power during my life over his body, and not he. The Apostle said this, and told our husbands to love us well. I like this a lot.
3. Women are much happier at home with a husband and children.
4. The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.
5. We, the Jews, collectively rejected God and hung Him up on a cross to die, and thus we deserved the punishments that were heaped on our heads.
6. But that miserable and afflicted wife endures far greater oppression than her husband. For when she sees the one who should be her comfort in every distress, and from whom she should expect advocacy, being savage and more hostile to her than all others, where can she turn?
7. A woman’s behavior must be monitored and her decisions subject to approval of a male relative who understands what’s in her best interests better than she does herself.
8. Marry for love.
9. If it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the rape down.
10. Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love.
11. It angers and upsets me when men claim that women want to be raped and that, even though she says no to a man, she won't in fact mind if he does force himself on her. You can be sure that women would find no pleasure in being raped.
12. The right approach is to accept rape — a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you.
13. Let every man give his wife what is her due, and every woman do the same by her husband.
14. One and all fell prey to women; if I am led astray, I may be excused.
15. Islam is a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem in their so-called holiest days.
16. When life begins in rape, it is something that God intended to happen.
17. Knowledge of the sciences should help inform moral values.
18. Fight for the sake of God those that fight against you, but do not attack them first. God does not love aggressors.
19. Pagans are wrong, the Christian cause is right.
20. Women immodestly dressed cause earthquakes.
21. Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of other religions.
22. He agreed to give them assurances of safety ... He made no difficulties, and when he was advised to imprison them, replied that he would not go back on his word.
23. Most Muslims are peaceful. But if someone's killed for what they said or wrote, you know the religion of the murderers.
24. There is no greater sin in terms of wrongly using God’s name than women who use it during sex. That is one of the filthiest, most derogatory and sinful uses of the Lord’s name.
25. It’s a demonic spirit that causes a woman to want to lie with another woman. It’s a demonic spirit that causes a man to be attracted to another man.
Answer Key
1. God has truly made women's minds sharp enough to learn, understand, and retain any form of knowledge. (Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, c. 1405)
2. I have the power during my life over his body, and not he. The Apostle said this, and told our husbands to love us well. I like this a lot. ("The Wife of Bath's Prologue," 14th cent.)
3. Women are much happier at home with a husband and children. (Gavin McInnes, the co-founder of Vice Media)
4. The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love. (Julian of Norwich, late 14th/early 15th cent.)
5. We, the Jews, collectively rejected God and hung Him up on a cross to die, and thus we deserved the punishments that were heaped on our heads. (anonymous Jewish convert to Christianity in a student journal at Harvard College, 2013)
6. But that miserable and afflicted wife endures far greater oppression than her husband. For when she sees the one who should be her comfort in every distress, and from whom she should expect advocacy, being savage and more hostile to her than all others, where can she turn? (John of Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, c. 349-407)
7. A woman’s behavior must be monitored and her decisions subject to approval of a male relative who understands what’s in her best interests better than she does herself. (Roosh V, "Women Must Have Their Behavior and Decisions Controlled By Men")
8. Marry for love. (Piers Plowman, 14th cent.)
9. If it’s legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the rape down. (Todd Akin, American politician)
10. Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. (Mr. Rogers)
11. It angers and upsets me when men claim that women want to be raped and that, even though she says no to a man, she won't in fact mind if he does force himself on her. You can be sure that women would find no pleasure in being raped. (Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, c. 1405)
12. The right approach is to accept rape — a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you. (Rick Santorum, American politician)
13. Let every man give his wife what is her due, and every woman do the same by her husband. (1 Corinthians 7:3)
14. One and all fell prey to women; if I am led astray, I may be excused. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 14th cent.)
15. Islam is a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem in their so-called holiest days. (Mike Huckabee, American politician)
16. When life begins in rape, it is something that God intended to happen. (Richard Mourdock, American politician)
17. Knowledge of the sciences should help inform moral values. (Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, c. 1405)
18. Fight for the sake of God those that fight against you, but do not attack them first. God does not love aggressors. (Qur'an, Sura 2 1065)
19. Pagans are wrong, the Christian cause is right. (The Song of Roland, 12th cent.)
20. Women immodestly dressed cause earthquakes. (Fazlur Rehman, Pakistani politician)
21. Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of other religions. (Pope John Paul II)
22. He agreed to give them assurances of safety ... He made no difficulties, and when he was advised to imprison them, replied that he would not go back on his word. (Ibn al-Athir, The Collection of Histories (Arab perspective on Third Crusade), 12th/13th cent.)
23. Most Muslims are peaceful. But if someone's killed for what they said or wrote, you know the religion of the murderers. (Richard Dawkins, biologist and New Atheist)
24. There is no greater sin in terms of wrongly using God’s name than women who use it during sex. That is one of the filthiest, most derogatory and sinful uses of the Lord’s name. (John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of the Cornerstone Church)
25. It’s a demonic spirit that causes a woman to want to lie with another woman. It’s a demonic spirit that causes a man to be attracted to another man. (Bishop Jerry Wayne Taylor, the founder of the Holy City Church of God in Christ in Tennessee)
Reflection (for 10 Activity points - individual response on Reflection Posts page):
What did you learn from this exercise? Were any of your attitudes concerning the Middle Ages confirmed or changed? Do you believe that the people of the Middle Ages were primitive and that there has indeed been progress in the attitudes discussed? Does this suggest any significance in studying the medieval period?