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  5. Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Studies
  6. CE4595: CELTIC AND ANGLO-SAXON KINGSHIP AND THE EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY IN THE EARLIER MIDDLE AGES

CE4595: CELTIC AND ANGLO-SAXON KINGSHIP AND THE EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY IN THE EARLIER MIDDLE AGES (2015-2016)

Last modified: 25 Mar 2016 11:36


Course Overview

Kingship and the Middle Ages seem to go together. In some cultures mediaeval kingship grew powerful, the public embodiment of a people and the creator of government and (therefore) state. But this was not so everywhere and at all times. The Germanic-speaking peoples, fearful of leaderly power, were very reluctant to embrace kingship. The Celtic-speaking peoples inherited a long-lived ideology of kingship but never embraced monarchy. We examine the development of kingship as social institution, taking the Celts as a whole and using the Anglo-Saxons as representative of a larger Germanic history.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor David Dumville

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Programme Level 4

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

At the end of Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages, Celtic and Germanic kingship had a perhaps superficial structural similarity. Germanic kingship had shallow roots, however. Celtic kingship, on the other hand, enjoyed a very long history and solidly established foundations. The post-colonial situation in Britain (and more generally in western Europe at large) brought great change. Christianity offered new (Jewish and Roman) methods of rulership. For the Gaelic world, on the other hand, in conjunction with a largely peaceful receipt of Christianity, continuity is the watchword. Both practice and theory of kingship in a changing world are abundantly attested in a rich variety of sources, documentary, linguistic, literary, and material: full advantage will be taken of these resources, with close attention given to the intercultural and interdisciplinary study of primary sources.

Further Information & Notes

This course is available to students on all degree programmes (other than Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies) as a Discipline Breadth course for the enhanced study requirement. The course may not be taken as part of a graduating curriculum with its counterpart in the other Honours year.

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), in-course assessment essay of approx. 3500 words, including references but excluding bibliography (30%), and seminar participation (10%) In addition, the Level 4 course will offer more complex examination and essay questions than the Level 3 course. Resit: not available For level 4 students only: candidates achieving a CAS mark of 6-8 may be awarded compensatory level 1 credit. Candidates achieving a CAS mark of less than 6 will be required to submit a new essay.

Formative Assessment

Discussion of students' progress in writing and participation will be provided in scheduled individual meetings and/or in the instructor's office hours.

Feedback

Written assessments are given CAS marks, and written feedback is communicated to students using the School of Language and Literature essay cover sheets. Feedback will also be provided in scheduled individual meetings and/or in the instructor's office hours. Students are given weekly feedback in the form of advice delivered verbally in class, both to individuals and to the whole class.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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