THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY AND THE ANGLO-NORMAN WORLD

Credit Hours: 3 · Graduate

This course focuses on the most important secular work from the Middle Ages--a 230-foot long embroidery depicting the Battle of Hastings. We will consider the relationship between the textual and visual narratives of the historical events; the tapestry as an artifact and its history; its origin, date, purpose and patronage; the artistic context of the tapestry in the eleventh century; issues of narratology; and reception and visuality. Several eleventh- and twelfth-century texts such as the "Chanson de Roland," the "Lais" and the "Fables" of Marie de France, "Le Jeu d'Adam" and "La Vie de Saint Alexis" will be examined with particular attention to the authors' desire to create a visual experience for the audience. Graduate students will work on a more advanced level than undergraduate students with higher expectations and additional readings. They will meet on a regular basis outside of the weekly class to advance discussion of issues brought up in the class. Research projects undertaken by graduate students are expected to be done in multiple languages (especially French and German), and in addition to demonstrating a knowledge of the subject matter as it appears in the scholarship, they will be expected to critically evaluate this scholarship and begin to draw their own conclusions. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: HART 433 . Mutually Exclusive: Cannot register for HART 533 if student has credit for HART 433 .