Politics, scandal and glamour: courts and courtiers in Medieval Europe, 1300-1500

Aims

This course aims to:

• convey something of the flavour of court life in late medieval Europe.
• explore the use of both physical and documentary evidence for the history of the medieval court.
• highlight the similarities and differences between some of the more important European courts of the late Middle Ages.

Course content

The main aim of the course will be to examine comparatively the development of kingly and princely courts in Europe in the late Middle Ages (roughly 1200-1500). Among the topics to be considered will be the distinction between court and household, the structure and personnel of the court, the character and purpose of royal ceremony, the role of ritual and religion in court life, the physical setting of the court and the rise of courtly literature. The main courts to be studied will be those of northern and central Europe, with a focus particularly on the well documented examples of England, France and Burgundy and the court of the Emperor Charles IV (1346-78) at Prague. Although the history of the court will be approached for the most part from the inside, through the medium of sources generated within the courts themselves, the attitudes of those outside will be considered through parliamentary and literary criticism of the courtiers. The approach in the course will be firmly inter-disciplinary, bringing together the insights of both political and social historians and cultural, especially art, historians.

What to expect on this course

The course will be taught by five informal lecture classes, illustrated by PowerPoint presentations, in which plenty of opportunity will be given for questioning and discussion.

Course sessions

1. Court and household: structure, personnel and size  - an introductory session outlining the essential character of the medieval court and introducing some of the main themes to be considered later.
   
    
2. The life of the court, indoors and outdoors - an attempt to capture the daily routines of a large medieval court, stressing the itinerant lifestyle of the king and his courtiers, as they moved restlessly from place to place.
   
    
3. Courtly splendour: image, setting and ritual - an opportunity to look at the cultural riches of the court, the buildings the king and courtiers occupied, the sorts of artefacts they used and the works of art they commissioned. A very visual session.
   
    
4. The projection of power at Prague and in Burgundy - taking a closer look at two of the most fascinating of medieval courts, each of them concerned, for different reasons, with projecting messages of rulership that compensated for weaknesses in the substance of power. Another very visual session.
   
    
5. The literature of the court and literature about the court -  through the medium of the well documented case of the English court in the fourteenth century, we will look at the literature written at court and, at the same time, at the highly critical literature written about some of the courtiers, people who were referred to as the ‘caterpillars of the realm’.

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• have the ability to reflect critically on ways in which the term ‘court’ is defined
• have the ability to identify and evaluate sources for the history of the court
• have the ability to appreciate the character of court culture and recognise its distinctiveness in the context of the broader culture of society as a whole

Required reading

Barber, R, Magnificence and Princely Splendour in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2020)

Rosario, I, Art and Propaganda: Charles IV of Bohemia (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2000)

Vaughan, R, Valois Burgundy (London, 1975)