List of Texts

I hope this isn't too late to help people, but if you all wanted to make sure you touched all the readings here's a complete list. :-)

Augustine: Confessions and City of God
Athanasius: Life of Antony
Sulpicius Severus: Martin
Beowulf
Gregory: Histories of the Franks
Laws of the Salian Franks (reader)
Life of Radegund
Life of St. Benedict
Rule of St. Benedict
Bede: Lives of the Abbots
Song of Roland
Anselm: Proslogion, Gaunilo's Reply
Galbert: Murder of Charles the Good
Chretien de Troyes: Knight of the Cart
Marie de France: Lais
Fabliaux
Joinville: Life of St. Louis
Salimbene: The Chronicle
Black death texts (reader)
Bocaccio: The Decameron
Life of Cola di Rienzo

Best of luck to everyone!! Almost done....

OFFICE HOURS NEXT WEEK

Stacey and I will only be holding office hours next week BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. So, if you would like to meet with us you need to email us at least 24 hours in advance. The only day we are both unavailable to meet is Friday May 9th. Good luck!

Last Blog

My bad that last one was a false alarm. Anyway, I was wondering if you guys could just go over again some key points to think about while we are writing. For instance, is it more important that we frame questions as usual, or suggest some conclusions being the final. I know we have gone over things like this before, I just wanted to be. Anyway, somebody should bring some food I had it last time, I nominate Edward and Joel.

Last Blog

While i am still worrying over which sources to use, my main concern has switched to which topic to pick. While part 1 has helped me eliminate some choices, i am worried about which topic is the "best" one to do and i would like to discuss them in class

final post

I'm actually feeling a bit better now that I've worked through part 1. I am interested in questions that I'd rejected at first, am rejecting questions I was sure I'd want to write my essay on, etc. There are some that I passed over at first that I'm still very content passing over. :-) But I feel a lot more secure having at least been into each one of them enough to see what kind of answer I could start to construct. I think I just learned that I need more time than I thought I did to really digest a question. I'm still nervous. But that's to be expected going into an exam. Basically, it's going to be ok.

final blog assignment 10

This is the final blog assignment, and it is once again about the final exam. Please raise any last concerns or questions you have about the final so that we can sort through them on Friday in discussion section.

Readings for this week

Finish Life of Cola for Wednesday.

10:10

Wow... this story is hilarious in a sad kind of way. Clearly it is saying alot about the role of 'common' women (that is to say, not a noble woman.) First of all, its interesting to take note of the fact that women were expected to perform physical labor and serve their household.

It is also interesting to notice that not all nobility married for political conveniences. However, this is a romantic story so the factuality of it should be questioned. In this short story, women have next to no rites. Although it is possible that the lack of rites is due to the difference in political status, even when Griselda was his wife.

In short, the themes that I noticed were: love can be a factor in noble marriages (not necessarily just politics), women are expected to do physical labor and support their household, to marry below your class is looked down upon, and, the nobility have absolute power (even life and death as it relates to their children) over 'commoners.'

In this story, Griselda was in an abusive relationship. She married Gaultieri with the promise that she would be obedient no matter how outrageous his demands were. She couldn’t question them or hesitate to do what he ordered. Here, the woman plays the role as servant to her husband, like in many other stories. However, she also comes across as the protagonist. Even Gaultieri’s vassals question his outrageous demands. The author even says that “a strange humour took possession of him,” the “him” being Gaultieri. Gaultieri appeared to be testing her patience hoping she would fail. However, she never broke her vow. When Gaultieri told her to get rid of her daughter, she did. When Gaultieri told her to get rid of her son, she did. When Gaultieri wanted to divorce Griselda for the daughter of a count, she did. Even after that, Gaultieri asked her to be his servant. Through all these tribulations, Griselda remained obedient. In the end, she was rewarded with being his husband.
From the text, it was clear that a ceaselessly obedient wife was the ideal. Even Gaultieri’s vassals were critical of his treatment of Griselda. She was put through trial after trial and passed all tests. However, I can’t help but think that her obedience went unrewarded. Gaultieri initially married her. Then, she obeys several outrageous demands that eventually move her down from nobility. But in the end, she reclaims her position as wife. She didn’t get anything she didn’t have prior to the “tests”. Despite this, Griselda is the model for women from that time.
In previous texts, women were supposed to be obedient to their husbands. However, a relationship in which the male dominated typically ended with the departure of the wife. In the Lais, the women would have been rescued from their one-sided relationships by another man, and the two would live happily ever after. However, in this story despite the torment Gaultieri causes her, Griselda continually obeys her. In this text, there is more of an emphasis on obedience than in the Lais and other previous texts.

I thought the importance of the final story in the Decameron, about the Marquis of Saluzzo, was the power structure. This story demonstrates the relationship between the ruler and ruled, nobles and peasants, and husbands and wives. More importantly, however, it focuses on the idea of marriage from the husband’s perspective. Interestingly, this story shows that Gualtieri thinks of marriage as a burden and a wife would make him miserable. He also declares there are faults in the finding process by saying it is pointless to find a wife based on pedigree. His views on marriage demonstrate that, at least for him, marriage is not desirable and it is, instead, a duty he must perform. While Gualtieri’s treatment of his wife was cruel and he did not suffer any consequences, the narrator’s disapproval of Gualtieri shows that, while women were in a subordinate position to men, they were not meant to be mistreated. Interestingly, this story’s views on women parallels the Fabliaux, “Berengar of the Long Arse’s.” However, the story applauds Griselda’s patience and implies that women, despite mistreatment, must endure it, therefore, strengthening their ties to a subordinate position. Finally, the story implies that “strong” women were not viewed favorably because, as Gulatieri fears, he would “enjoy no peace.” Lastly, this story’s view on the role of women is the opposite of “The Knight of the Cart’s,” where Lancelot was virtually Guinevere’s slave, which suggests that the role of women has changed since Chrétien’s time.

Boccaccio Day 10 Story 10 cont.

Yeah so I responded without knowing the question.

The Decameron represented women as slaves and servants to their male counterparts.  They, for the most part, did not have a lot of independence and did as they were told.  In story 10, Gualtieri's wife does exactly what she is told and is forced to accept any test that is placed upon her.  This would be a negative representation of women at the time due to the fact that this woman did not have the power to act on her desires or emotions.  She was forced to hide her true feelings about Gualtieri's actions, and did not object to anything he ordered.  However, in story 1, the woman takes in the dying Marquis and decides on her own accord to have sex with him.  This action would be looked down upon and would be punished in this time period.  This is a positive portrayal of women in my opinion though because she had the confidence to do what she wanted without regard to the consequences.  

Assignment for 12pm Section

Please respond to the following questions using Day 10, book 10 as your source. What is the overall message of this story with regard to the role of women? Which characters do you think are meant to be positive presentations of womankind? Which negative?

Feel free to make comparisons with any of the other stories from the Decameron or previous texts especially the fabliaux. Please remember you must do this assignment in order to receive credit for this Friday's section.

Boccaccio Day 10 Story 10

Throughout this story, I was amazed by how Gualtieri continually needed to test his bride in such a sadistic manner.  Perhaps sadistic is the wrong word because he intended to discover if she was truly going to make him happy in life and did not necessarily derive pleasure from her pain.  Anyway, he was wrong to put her through this series of tests solely for his own benefit for over a decade.  He should not make his bride suffer just because he is so determined to prove that a woman cannot make him happy in life.  Maybe he is just destined to be miserable and should not drag a woman into his anguish.  Gualtieri should have been reprimanded and demoted in class, although I am aware that only birth determines class and nothing else.  It is surprising how his wife puts up with all this without getting an ulcer of some sort.  She deserves a promotion in standing without a doubt.

Final blog (or, blog on the final)

In terms of the final, the only real worry I have is doing justice to all of the texts that we've read. While I know that's not possible or required (because not all the texts apply to all of the questions), it's still daunting to look at all the material that we've read and think about getting it all into some kind of coherent whole. I'm intimidated by the opportunity, i guess. That and, I'll be frank, I haven't read everything. It's going to be a rough next couple of weeks. Other concern is hand cramps. And that's not a frivolous worry, either. 2 hours is a lot of writing.
Good luck to everyone. I hope we can dig into what we really want to say!

Blog Assignment

Blog about any questions/concerns you have for the final.

readings

Wednesday: Black Death texts (reader)
Boccaccio, Decameron, author's foreword and all of day one

Friday: Boccaccio, Decameron, day 2 story 2, day 3 story 3, day 4 story 4, day 5 story 5, day 6 story 6, day 7 story 7, day 8 story 8, day 9 story 9, and day 10 story 10.

Next week: Life of Cola

Ghostparty!

Before this class my opinions regarding the Medieval Era were confined to the time I dressed up as a viking for Halloween. Stricken with this opinion I considered the Medieval Era as a place where it rained all the time and people gave away Butterfingers.

Now that I have taken this class I know they didn't have Butterfingers, Twix being the favored candy of the era.

Looking at it now, I see the large role played by Christianity and the trickle down effect it has on every person. It seems as if everyone is assigned their place in the hierarchy of life and stuck their for life. There is need for roles and jobs but no texts have ever indicated any real leisure or zeal for living. It seems like these old school bros need a lesson in how to kick it. This idea is one diametrically opposed to my world view. I can not even fathom how life like this would be. If I weren't given the freedom to get drunk at noon and throw hot dogs into traffic, I would have no idea what to do with myself. I lot of times we get caught juxtaposing our social constructs under the days of old but I have no doubt that if I lived in this era I would be dead. Not just because I lived like 500 + years ago, I'd be killed for acting like a moron.

I also agree that Saints aren't born, but rather made. I think this Sainthood is key and exalted not because of their holiness or utter sanctity but because they pose a staunch departure to the waves of the day. Leaving the world behind, you may find that these peo

(I left the world behind. Like a saint! Get it?)

My original stereotypical generalizations, as to the definition of medieval, remain. However, this course has given me a deeper look into what civilization was like and who these people were. When I think of medieval, I still imagine knights fighting for honor, for country, and for God. While this course has solidified these beliefs, it has also shown me that knights were people capable of reading, writing, and loving. There is an emotional side to this time period that seems to be ignored when discussed. Everyone is a godless killing machine, and if not they are saints. However, by reading the literature we see the many dimensions of medieval people.
A saint is not always born. In Augustine’s case, he had to struggle. He did not know what to believe. He was human. This was a man who eventually became bishop, but throughout his childhood he struggled with morality and religion. Despite this, he was able to claim an extremely important title in the church.
To me medieval people were very similar to us. They suffered, struggled, loved, manipulated, and killed. They were human.

medieval

Medieval Civilization begins with Augustine's rise as bishop and the fall of Rome, followed by the disorder throughout Europe. The land mass is divided into many different kingdoms that are in continual conflict with one another. Religion was the driving force behind medieval socity. Civilization progressed by the progression of Christianity throughout Europe. Battles were waged to spread the word and contain and dismember paganism. Christianity united the different kingdoms together to create a balance of power throughout the land. The different kingdoms honored priests and bishops alongside that of kings and knights. The knights fought valiantly on behalf of the king and their land. The religious figures of society wielded political power and took part in the decisions that the king was faced to make. Thus, religion and government were fused into one single culture that defines the medieval age.