Archive of past terms
Table of contents
- Summer semester 2025
- Winter semester 2024/25
- Summer semester 2024
- International research colloquium
- Summer semester 2023
- Winter semester 2022/23
- Summer semester 2022
- Winter semester 2021/22
- Summer semester 2021
- Winter semester 2020/21
- Summer semester 2020
- Winter semester 2019/20
- Summer semester 2019
- Winter semester 2018/19
- Summer semester 2018
Summer semester 2025
Main Seminar
Mirko Breitenstein
Main Seminar: Cistercians. The history of a European order from its beginnings to the Reformation
Time: Thursday, 2. DS (9:20 - 10:50 am)
Location: BZW/A255/U
Description: Cistercian monks and nuns have shaped the history of Europe over many centuries. The community was founded at the end of the 11th century as an attempt to renew Benedictine life by returning it to its origins. However, this attempt to live in poverty and seclusion, devoted entirely to God, failed because the new movement enjoyed unexpected success. Cistercians became pioneers of modern agriculture and water management, but also remained experts in prayer and piety. The seminar will trace the eventful history of Cistercian women and men from their beginnings to the time of the Reformation. Special attention will also be paid to the two monasteries of the order that still exist today in Saxony: Marienthal and Marienstern.
Sources and literature for introduction:
Einmütig in der Liebe. Die frühesten Quellentexte von Cîteaux, hg. v. H. Brem / A. M. Altermatt, Langwaden/Turnhout 21998; Neuerung und Erneuerung. Wichtige Quellentexte aus der Geschichte des Zisterzienserordens vom 12. bis 17. Jahrhundert, hg. v. H. Brem / A. M. Altermatt, Langwaden 2003
I. Eberl, Die Zisterzienser. Geschichte eines europäischen Ordens, Stuttgart 2002; J. Oberste, Die Zisterzienser, Stuttgart 2014; M. Breitenstein, Die Benediktiner. Geschichte, Lebensformen, Spiritualität, München 2019; U. Köpf, Die Zisterzienser. Der erste christliche Orden, München 2025.
Offered for the following modules:
Specialized courses: MAPhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM3, PhF-Hist-MA-FMEW, PhF-Hist-MA-FMSW
Teaching degree new SO (from WS 23/24): PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM, PHF-SEOS-HIST-PFE
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Reading course
Mirko Breitenstein
Reading course: Helfta Abbey and Helfta mysticism
Time: Thursday, 3rd DS (11:10 - 12:40)
Location: BZW/A255/U
Description: Founded at the beginning of the 13th century as a burial place and thus a memorial site for the local nobility, the Helfta monastery quickly developed into an unparalleled centre of female education and literacy. Names such as Mechthild of Magdeburg, Mechthild of Hackeborn and Gertrud of Helfta represent a flowering of mysticism not only in central Germany. In this reading course, the works of these women, who are venerated as saints, will be read and analysed as testimonies to female piety and intellectuality.
Sources and literature for introduction:
Die Grundwerke der drei großen Frauen von Helfta: Perlen deutscher Mystik. 3 Bde, Freiburg i. Br. 2001
P. Dinzelbacher, Christliche Mystik im Abendland. Ihre Geschichte von den Anfängen bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters Paderborn 1994;
K. Ruh, Geschichte der abendländischen Mystik, Bd. 2: Frauenmystik und Franziskanische Mystik der Frühzeit, München 1993; V. Leppin, Ruhen in Gott. Eine Geschichte der christlichen Mystik, München 2021.
Offered for the following modules:
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialist degree programs: PhF-Hist-MA-EM, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW
Colloquium
Research Colloquium New Research on Comparative History of Religious Orders
Time: Wednesday, 6. DS (16:40 - 18:10 pm)
Location: Research Centre for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), Budapester Str. 34b (hybrid participation possible)
Offered for the following modules:
Teaching degree new SO (from WS 23/24): PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM, PHF-SEOS-HIST-PFE
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialist degree programs: PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-FMEW, PhF-Hist-MA-FMSW
Research colloquium for exam papers and final theses FOVOG
Time: Wednesday, 6. DS (16:40 - 18:10 pm)
Location: Research Centre for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), Budapester Str. 34b (hybrid participation possible)
Offered for the following modules:
Teaching degree new SO (from WS 23/24): PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM, PHF-SEOS-HIST-PFE
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialist degree programs: PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-FMEW, PhF-Hist-MA-FMSW
Winter semester 2024/25
Main Seminar
Mirko Breitenstein
Main Seminar: Narrating holiness. Saints in word and image
Time: Thursday, 2. DS (9:20 - 10:50 am)
Location: GER/39/U
Description: Since its beginnings, Christian culture has known people of special, divine election. These people - in life as well as after their death - have an outstanding effect: be it through their exemplary character, be it through suffering or death, be it through miracles. Martin of Tours, Clare or Francis of Assisi, Elizabeth of Thuringia and Charlemagne are examples of a whole heaven of saints. The seminar will look at texts and images that tell of the work of the saints. We want to examine what was said about saints and what significance these stories still have today when we look at our cultural heritage.
Offered for the following modules:
Teaching degree new SO (from WS 23/24): PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM, PHF-SEOS-HIST-PFE
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialized courses: MAPhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM3, PhF-Hist-MA-FMEW, PhF-Hist-MA-FMSW
Reading course
Mirko Breitenstein
Reading course: Sources on the Archbishop of Cologne Anno II.
Time: Thursday, 3rd DS (11:10 - 12:40)
Location: SE1/101/U
Description: Anno II was one of the highest ecclesiastical representatives of his time. As Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 to 1075, he determined the fate of imperial politics as well as that of his diocese. Soon after his death, he was venerated as a saint. This veneration is reflected in a whole series of texts that will be read and analyzed during the course.
Offered for the following modules:
Lehramt alte SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialist degree programs: MAPhF-Hist-MA-SM1
Colloquium
Research Colloquium New Research on Comparative History of Religious Orders
Time: Wednesday, 6. DS (16:40 - 18:10 pm)
Location: Research Centre for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), Budapester Str. 34b (hybrid participation possible)
Offered for the following modules:
Teaching degree new SO (from WS 23/24): PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM, PHF-SEOS-HIST-PFE
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialist degree programs: PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-FMEW, PhF-Hist-MA-FMSW
Colloquium Master's, state examination and qualification thesis workshop FOVOG
Time: Wednesday, 6. DS (16:40 - 18:10 pm)
Location: Research Centre for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), Budapester Str. 34b (hybrid participation possible)
Offered for the following modules:
Teaching degree new SO (from WS 23/24): PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM, PHF-SEOS-HIST-PFE
Teaching degree old SO (until WS 23/24): PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Specialist degree programs: PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-FMEW, PhF-Hist-MA-FMSW
Summer semester 2024
Lecture
PD Dr. Jörg Sonntag
Lecture: The world of the high Middle Ages
Time: Wednesday | 2.DS | 09.20-10.50 a.m.
Location: HSZ/03/H
Application:
Bachelor/Master:PHF-BA-Hist-OAMG, SLK-BA-HIST-OAMG, PHF-BA-HIST-EWAMG, SLK-BA-HIST-EWAMG, Hist EM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist AM 1,Hist Erg M 1, Hist (Erg) GM 2, Hist Erg AM 1, (PhF)-Hist EM 1, (PhF)-Hist Erg M1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM2, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW, SLK-MA-EB-FM, SLK-MA-FaEB-EFM
Teaching degree: PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA, PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA, PHF-SEGY-HIST-OAMG, PHF-SEOS-HIST-OAMG, PHF-SEBS-HIST-OAMG, PHF-SEGY-HIST-EWAMG, PHF-SEOS-HIST-EWAMG, PHF-SEBS-HIST-EWAMG
With its cultural transformation processes, the period between 1050 and 1250 is undoubtedly one of the most influential in European history. This period, in which the battles between the empire and the papacy seemed to unhinge the world, was the time of the further development of feudalism, chivalry, courtly minne, crusades, church reform and a great flourishing of Christian monasteries and orders. The rediscovery of conscience, the new emphasis on individuality and the establishment of the first parliaments paved the way for the modern era in terms of structural history. The lecture delves into this exciting and fascinating phase of the Middle Ages and presents the most important of these and other phenomena from a cultural studies perspective.
The lecture is accompanied by a tutorial in which the topics of the lecture can be reviewed and questions about the exam can be discussed.
Introductory literature:
Hermann Jakobs, Kirchenreform und Hochmittelalter 1046-1215 (Oldenbourg Grundriss der Geschichte 7), Munich 1999; Jacques Le Goff, Das Hochmittelalter (Fischer Weltgeschichte 11), Frankfurt 1965; Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, Könige und Fürsten, Kaiser und Papst im 12. Jahrhundert (Enzyklopädie deutscher Geschichte 37), Munich 2010; Claire Weeda, Ethnicity in medieval Europe, 950-1250. Medicine, Power and Religion (Health and healing in the Middle Ages 2), Woodbridge 2021.
Main seminars
PD Dr. Jörg Sonntag
Advanced seminar: Imitation in the Middle Ages
Time: Wednesday | 3rd DS | 11.10-12.40 hrs
Location: BZW/A154/U
Application:
Master: PhF-MA-FMSW, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM3, PhF-MA-FMEW
Teaching degree: PHF-SEBS-Hist-VVV, PHF-SEGY-HistVV, PHF-SEMS-VE, PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFVM
The principle of imitation is not only innate to us as an anthropological constant, it also forms a cultural matrix, without the decoding of which medieval culture (like any other) cannot be understood. Kings acted like David or Alexander, bishops like Moses, Aaron and Peter, people did penance like Cain and Job, fasted like Elijah and Christ or died like Christ and Martin of Tours.
In our advanced seminar, we extract and analyze the basic role models taken from Christianity, pagan antiquity, Germanic myths or Islam and examine their structural interdependence and social relevance for the functioning of the patchwork culture of the Middle Ages.
Introductory literature:
Erich Auerbach, Mimesis. Dargestellte Wirklichkeit in der abendländischen Literatur, Bern / Stuttgart 1988; Andreas Büttner / Birgit Kynast / Gerald Schwedler / Jörg Sonntag (eds.), Nachahmen im Mittelalter. Dimensions - Mechanisms - Functions (Archiv für Kulturgeschichte. Beihefte 82), Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2018; Michael Grünbart / Gerald Schwedler / Jörg Sonntag (eds.), Imitations. Systematische Zugänge zu einem kulturellen Prinzip des Mittelalters (Münstersche Mittelalter-Schriften 83), Paderborn 2021.
Prof. Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
Proseminar: Childhood and Youth in the Middle Ages
Time: Thursday | 3rd DS | 11.10-12.40 a.m.
Location: CHE/0183/U
Use:
Teaching degree:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA, PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA, supplementary area
Bachelor:
Hist AM 1, Hist Erg AM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist (Erg) GM 2, (PhF)-Hist Erg M1
This course can also be attended as part of the studium generale and in the AQua area.
Course description:
Childhood and adolescence are undoubtedly formative phases in every person's life. The seminar will examine how these stages of life were viewed and shaped in medieval Europe. Using various social spaces (monastery, noble court, town, village), contemporary concepts of childhood and youth as well as the corresponding realities of life will be recorded and analyzed.
Introductory literature: Klaus Arnold, Kind und Gesellschaft in Mittelalter und Renaissance, Paderborn 1980; Nicholas Orme, Medieval Children, New Haven 2001; Shulamith Shahar, Kindheit im Mittelalter, Munich/Zurich 1991.
Reading course
PD Dr. Jörg Sonntag
Chronicles of the Middle Ages
Time: Wednesday | 4th DS | 13.00-14.30
Location: BZW/A255/U
Use:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1
Course description:
An immense number of chronicle works have been handed down from the Middle Ages, in which the past and present are recorded, literarily edited and interpreted depending on the intention and target audience. Together we will read well-known and lesser-known works - from the great world chronicles to chronicles of a genealogical nature to works of urban or monastic historiography - and gain insights into the ideas of the world, the origins of peoples and dynasties and, more generally, into the lifeworlds of the Middle Ages.
Introductory literature:
Peter Johanek, Weltchronistik und regionale Geschichtsschreibung im Spätmittelalter, in: Hans Patze (ed.): Geschichtsschreibung und Geschichtsbewußtsein im späten Mittelalter (Vorträge und Forschungen 31), Sigmaringen 1987, pp. 287-330; Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle, 2 vols, ed. by Graeme Dunphy, Leiden 2010; Handbuch Chroniken des Mittelalters, ed. by Gerhard Wolf and Norbert H. Ott (De Gruyter Reference), Berlin / Boston 2016.
Exercise
Nathalie Schmidt
Recht haben und Recht machen - Ordensstatuten im Hoch- und Spätmittelalter
Time: Monday | 4th DS | 13:00-14:30
Location: BZW/A253/U
Course description:
Every cohabitation needs rules. This is just as true for student shared flats today as it was for a medieval monastery. While verbal agreements and understandings are sufficient for the moment, it is difficult to maintain them for a longer period of time with changing people involved. At a certain point, they have to be written down.
In this course we will look at the proper law of different religious communities. While the often well-known rules of religious orders such as the Rule of St. Benedict or the Rule of St. Augustine provide a basis for living together, statutes show the respective needs of the communities. How do these texts come about and what do they regulate? What differences are there between the communities? We will deal with these and other questions in this exercise.
Opal course
Dr. des. Marcus Handke
Beginning, progress, completion - discipline and 'self-optimization' in the Middle Ages using the example of David of Augsburg's treatise "On the outer and inner man"
Time: Monday, 2nd DS
Location: SE2/103/U
Use:
Teaching profession:
PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA (PVL), PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA (PVL), PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA (PVL), PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV, supplementary area
Bachelor:
Hist AM 1
Master:
PhF-Hist-MA-SM1 | M0603-M1022
This course can also be attended for the AQua area.
The dictate of constant improvement and increased efficiency has long since reached the individual in the modern age, as efforts at 'self-optimization' have been the trend for years. In earlier medieval times, the maxim of progress had an ambivalent to pejorative connotation; it was mainly used in relation to humans, who were seen as malleable and in need of education for the good.
The work "Vom äußeren und inneren Menschen" by the Franciscan David of Augsburg († 1272) was a widely read text for the practical instruction of novices from the early 14th century at the latest. The treatise, which could be found in almost every monastery of the late Middle Ages, was a "bestseller" divided into three parts, which conveyed basic behaviors of everyday monastic life through a staggered structure from the outside to the inside of the person. Through psychologically profound and partly emotion-based observations as well as physical and mental habit training, it had a comprehensive effect on the individual. With vivid descriptions, David therefore offers an insight into people's worries and hardships, but also into the cosmos of norms and ways of thinking of his time. Due to this elementary content, the text not only circulated among religious, but was read far beyond that and appealed to people in different times and situations again and again. As a kind of 'handbook for personality formation', it influenced late medieval intellectual history and was even taken up again and again in modern times.
In the exercise, selected chapters of the treatise, which is available in German translation, will be read and placed in the contemporary context of the novitiate, religious writings and ideas about the formation and 'optimization' of the human being. On the basis of this multi-perspective approach, an introduction to the everyday life of medieval religious orders and their underlying world of ideas will be given.
OPAL course
International research colloquium
PD Dr. Jörg Sonntag
Stars of historical research up close
Time: Tuesday |6. DS | 16.40-18.10 hrs
Location: BZW/A154/U
Use:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV, PHF-SEGY-HIST-PFM, PHF-SEBS-HIST-PFM, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PHF-Hist-MA-SM3, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW
This international colloquium on a global scale will give you the opportunity to experience truly great 'stars' of current medieval research, i.e. highly recognized historians worldwide, live and in high density and to gain insights into their research approaches. Such an opportunity will probably not be offered again.
Speakers will include Patrick Geary (Princeton), Jean-Claude Schmitt (Paris), Mikhail Boytsov (Moscow), Constant Mews (Melbourne), Volker Leppin (Yale), Bruce Brasington (Canyon/Texas), Claudia Zey (Zurich), Pavlina Rychterová (Vienna) and Unn Falkeid (Oslo), mainly in German, sometimes also in English.
Link to the program:
https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/phil/ige/ma/forschung/colloquium
Summer semester 2023
Lecture series
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein / Nathalie Schmidt / Lukas Boch (WWU Münster)
Lecture series: Of beer-brewing monks and warlike nuns - monasteries and clergy in analog and digital games [Monasteries in Modern Media Part 1]
Website of the lecture series
Course description:
The depiction of nuns, monks and monasteries in analog and digital games is an important component of modern (church) history cultures: in addition to actual historical sources and artifacts as well as reminiscences of Hollywood films or historical novels, it is above all the values, norms and ideas of their time and environment of origin that influence the design of the games. The importance of this comparatively little-researched topic was demonstrated by the exhibition "Mönch ärgere dich nicht - kriegerische Nonnen, trinkfeste Brüder und geheimnisvolle Klöster im Spiel", which took place last year at the Liesborn Abbey Museum and was the first to examine the presence of monastic culture in the popular medium of games. 2023 will also see the publication of the anthology "Von bierbrauenden Mönchen und kriegerischen Nonnen: Monasteries and Clergy in Analog and Digital Games" will also be published in 2023, further exploring the topic.
The digital lecture series of the same name aims to take up the topic again and communicate it to an interested public. In addition to the relevant lectures, the presence of church history, Christian cultural heritage and monastic culture in games and the communication of all these aspects will be discussed. The lecture series therefore focuses on the perception and reproduction of history and events in relation to monastery history and what this in turn tells us about the significance of monastery history for the present.
The lecture series is a cooperation between the Institute for Historical Theology and Didactics at Münster University, the Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG) at TU Dresden, the Boardgame Historian project and the Arbeitskreis Geschichtswissenschaft und Digitale Spiele (AKGWDS). A continuation of the lecture series on the presence of monasteries in other popular cultural media such as films and social networks is planned for the winter semester 2023/24.
Exercises
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein / Mathias Herrmann / Martin Reimer
Advanced seminar (didactics)/exercise: Monasteries in Comics & (Board)Games
Course description:
The history of the Middle Ages is an integral part of European memory and historical culture. Christian monasteries, which were not only places of faith but also centers of education and culture, also belong in this context. Despite this undoubted importance, they do not play a central role in today's historical education in the school context. The main seminar aims to address precisely this issue and make the topic accessible using analog and digital games and comics. In this way, the potential of monasteries and monastic culture for integration into historical education processes within different types of schools will be demonstrated.
From a historical didactic perspective, the following dimensions will be addressed:
- The localization of the topic in the curriculum and the discussion of its possible expansion to include perspectives of transnational research (curriculum analysis)
- Analysis of the respective analog and digital media as media of historical culture (deconstruction and reconstruction of historical-cultural narratives)
- Development of concrete lesson plans
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PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein / Dr. Annette Teufel
Exercise: Monasteries in the cinema
Course description:
Monasteries are places where people have lived differently at all times. They are places of silence and prayer, but also cultural, scientific or economic centers. Even if their social significance has clearly receded in modern times, monasteries still stand for a certain model of life in search of meaning - in their case, the search for God. The fact that monasteries are still generally known today as places of otherness, despite their increasing disappearance, is largely due to their presence in film.
This event, jointly organized by the Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), the Chair of Media Studies and Modern German Literature and Kino im Kasten, will examine the presence of monasteries in the medium of film. The course introduces students to theories of fictional spaces and methods of analyzing feature films and documentaries. Building on this, the semiotization of cinematic spaces, in particular 'heterotopias' (Foucault), and the cinematic reflection of the change in meaning of these 'other spaces' in the context of social developments will be examined using the example of monasteries.
Part of the exercise is the joint reading of the selected films (Kino im Kasten, every second Monday evening).
A prerequisite for participation in the course is the willingness to actively participate and to read intensively, regardless of the respective examination performance. In particular, knowledge of the films to be discussed is essential. More detailed information, reading notes and materials for preparation will be made available on OPAL in good time.
Introductory literature
- Hickethier: Film- und Fernsehanalyse, 5th ed. Stuttgart/Weimar 2012;
- M. Krützen: Dramaturgie des Films. Wie Hollywood erzählt, Frankfurt a. M. 2004;
- T. Fischer, T. Schuhbauer: History in Film and Television. Theory - practice - professional fields, Tübingen 2016;
- P. Hasenberg, W. Luley, C. Martig (eds.): Traces of the Religious in Film. Milestones from 100 years of film history, Mainz 1995;
- T. Heimerl, P. Wiesfflecker (eds.), Himmlische Frauen. Nuns in Film and TV, Marburg 2017;
- T. Heimerl, L. Kienzl (eds.), Helden in Schwarzz. Images of priests in popular film and TV, Marburg 2014;
- R. Bartlett: The Middle Ages and the Movies. Eight Key Films, London 2022.
Usage
Hist EM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist Erg EM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist EM 1 PhF-Hist EM 1, Hist Erg M 1 PhF-Hist Erg M 1, Hist Erg EM 1, Hist Erg M 1
_____________________________________________________________________________
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein / PD Dr. Jörg Sonntag
Exercise/practical seminar: Writing workshop Middle Ages: Grasping holiness. Students as authors
Course description:
Under the direction of FOVOG, a directory of all members of the Cistercian communities (Cistercians, Trappists, Feuillants) venerated as saints from the beginnings to the present day is currently being compiled. The aim of this project is to obtain for the first time a scholarly overview of the women and men venerated as saints in the above-mentioned orders and to summarize the relevant information in the form of a handbook. The exercise will provide insights into this project. The aim is to provide those interested with the methodological knowledge to research saints independently. As a result, the participants of the exercise should be able to write and publish contributions to this directory on the basis of their own research.
_____________________________________________________________________________
PD Dr. Jörg Sonntag
Exercise: The Baltic Sea region in the Middle Ages
Course description:
The Baltic Sea, the Baltic Sea, also had an eventful history in the Middle Ages. From the early migrations of the Germanic tribes, the settlements of the Vikings, the ecclesiastical and monastic development, the great empires in the north and east, the most important battles or piracy to the prosperity and ruin of the Teutonic Order or the Hanseatic League, the exercise aims to provide a cultural-historical insight into the Baltic Sea region as an area of nature, life, trade and piety. Together we will read and discuss paradigmatically selected sources from the early, high and late Middle Ages.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Ekaterina Novokhatko
Exercise: Iberian Peninsula in the High Middle Ages: Transcultural Perspective
Course description:
This course will provide an overview on the socio-political and cultural situation in the Iberian region, between the 9th and the 12th centuries. On the basis of various sources (Christian, Jewish and Muslim) we will analyze particular features of the narrative created by each of these groups with regard to others. What was considered as "right" or "false"? What was described and understood as "our" or "other"? How did the narratives, depending on genre of sources and the ideological basis behind them, define the inclusion, integration or, maybe, segregation? How shall we interpret the passages, where the sources put the stress on religious and cultural notions?
2 introductive sessions will create a platform for the discussion of main theoretical concepts (cultural/transcultural) and of historical particularities of the Iberian region (with the notions of 'Reconquista', 'convivencia', 'frontier' and their complex meaning). 6 following sessions will be dedicated to various sources produced in or related to the Iberian region, and the understanding of different cultures and religions in each genre of these sources (e.g. chronicles, hagiographies, apologetic treatises). The last sessions will be held together as a workshop, where students in groups will work on 3 various sources and present their analysis to each other.
The course will be held in English.
Winter semester 2022/23
Proseminar
Medieval History / Pre-Modernity
Proseminar: Monasticism in the early Middle Ages
Time: Thursday, 2 DS (09:20-10:50)
Place: HSZ/E01/U
The declining Roman Empire was already characterized by a flourishing monastic culture. A variety of different ways of life developed through which women and men sought to earn heaven and thus eternal life. Whether in the deserts of North Africa, on Irish islands, in the forests of Gaul or in the swamps of the Apennine Peninsula - monasteries sprang up everywhere and with them not only spiritual but also civilizing centers. In addition to archaeological traces, a large number of surviving monastic rules bear witness to the great diversity of monastic culture in the period from the 3rd to the 9th century.
In the seminar, these various rules as well as descriptions of the lives of women and men revered as saints will be read and combined with the architectural remains or other material traces of monastic culture to form an overall picture of monasticism in the early Middle Ages.
Introductory literature:
A. Angenendt: The Early Middle Ages. Die abendländische Christenheit von 400 bis 900, Stuttgart 2001; A. Diem: The Pursuit of Salvation. Community, Space, and Discipline in Early Medieval Monasticism, with a Critical Edition and Translation of the Regula cuiusdam ad uirgines, Turnhout 2021 (DOI: 10.1484/M.DM-EB.5.120300).
Usage
Hist GM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist Erg M 1, Hist Hum ErgM 1, PhF-Hist Erg M 1, PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA, PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA
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Tutorial
Pre-modern / Medieval History
Exercise: Papal Histories of the Early Middle Ages
Time: Thursday, 2. DS (09:20-10:50)
Location: BZW/A154/U
From the 6th century onwards, a biographical collection, later known as the Liber Pontificalis, was kept in Rome with the dates and achievements of the popes.
On the basis of this work, which is highly significant in terms of institutional history, we will not only discuss the prominent papal personalities, such as Gregory the Great or Leo the Great, but also place bishops of Rome who are hardly known today, such as Marinus I or Stephen V, in the early medieval history of the Church, the universal powers and Western culture in general.
In doing so, we enter the fascinating field of tension between ideal and reality, discipline and immorality, virtue and intrigue, and thus between faith and politics.
Introductory literature
R. Davis: The Book of Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis). The Ancient Biographies of the first Ninety Roman bishops to AD 715, 2nd ed., Liverpool 2000; R. Davis: The Lives of Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis). The Ancient Biographies of Nine Popes from AD 715 to AD 817, 2nd ed., Liverpool 2007; R. Davis: The Lives of Ninth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis). The Ancient Biographies of Ten Popes from A.D. 817-891, Liverpool 1995; K.Herbers: Zu frühmittelalterlichen Personenbeschreibungen im Liber Pontificalis und in römischen hagiographischen Texten, in: Von Fakten und Fiktionen. Mittelalterliche Geschichtsdarstellungen und ihre kritische Aufarbeitung, ed. by Johannes Laudage, Cologne and others 2003, pp. 165-191.
Use
Hist AM 1,PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Summer semester 2022
Exercises
St. Francis of Assisi and his movement PD Dr.Mirko Breitenstein / Dr. Anette Teufel
Monasteries are places where people have lived differently at all times. They are places of silence and prayer, but also cultural, scientific or economic centers. Even if their social significance has clearly receded in modern times, monasteries still stand for a certain model of life in search of meaning - in their case, the search for God. The fact that monasteries are still generally known today as places of otherness, despite their increasing disappearance, is largely due to their presence in film.
This event, jointly organized by the Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders (FOVOG), the Chair of Media Studies and Modern German Literature and Kino im Kasten, will examine the presence of monasteries in the medium of film.
The exercise introduces theories of fictional spaces and methods of analyzing feature and documentary films.
documentary films. Building on this, the semiotization of cinematic spaces, in particular 'heterotopias' (Foucault), and the cinematic reflection of the change in meaning of these 'other spaces' in the context of social developments will be examined using the example of monasteries.
Part of the exercise is the joint reading of the selected films (Kino im Kasten, every second Monday evening). A prerequisite for participation in the course is the willingness to actively participate and to read intensively, regardless of the respective examination performance.
In particular, knowledge of the films to be discussed is essential. More detailed information, reading notes and preparation materials will be made available on OPAL in good time.
in good time.
Introductory literature:
T. Fischer / T. Schuhbauer: History in Film and Television. Theorie - Praxis - Berufsfelder, Tübingen 2016; P. Hasenberg / W. Luley / C. Martig (eds.): Traces of the religious in film. Milestones from 100 years of film history, Mainz 1995; T. Heimerl / P. Wiesflecker (eds.): Himmlische Frauen. Nuns in Film and TV, Marburg 2017; K. Hickethier: Film- und Fernsehanalyse, 5th ed. Stuttgart/Weimar 2012; M. Krützen: Dramaturgie des Films. How Hollywood tells stories, Frankfurt/M. 2004.
Can be used in the following modules:
Hist AM 1
Teacher training courses in history: PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE , PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
St. Francis of Assisi and his movement
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
Francis of Assisi is one of the most important figures of the Middle Ages. As the son of wealthy parents, he renounced all possessions and worldly dignities and instead lived with the socially marginalized. Initially ridiculed as an outsider, he was quickly joined by men and women who wanted to follow his example and lead a life of poverty and penance, but also as direct followers of Christ. In just a few years, one of the largest religious and social movements of the time came into being. As a symbolic figure of a non-conformist life, Francis inspired people far beyond his own time to come to terms with his life and also became the main character in films for cinema and television in the 20th and 21st centuries.
In the course, selected examples of such Francis films will be viewed and analyzed together. The focus will not only be on the question of which images and narratives of the protagonist are conveyed and which medieval sources form the basis of the various films, but also on how Francis and his concerns are portrayed in the modern age and even in the present day.
are portrayed.
A prerequisite for participation in the course is the willingness to watch films that exceed the length of a double period.
Introductory literature:
T. Fischer / T. Schuhbauer: History in Film and Television. Theorie - Praxis - Berufsfelder, Tübingen 2016; P. Hasenberg / W. Luley / C. Martig (eds.): Traces of the religious in film. Milestones from 100 years of film history, Mainz 1995; K. Hickethier: Film- und Fernsehanalyse, 5th ed. Stuttgart/Weimar 2012; M. Krützen: Dramaturgie des Films. Wie Hollywood erzählt, Frankfurt/M. 2004; V. Leppin: Franziskus von Assisi, Darmstadt 2018; A. Vauchez: Franziskus von Assisi. History and Memory, Münster 2019.
Can be used in the following modules:
Hist AM 1
Teacher training courses in history:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Winter semester 2021/22
Proseminar
St. Francis of Assisi in the feature film
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
Francis of Assisi is one of the most important figures of the Middle Ages. He grew up in a time of social and cultural change and renewal. As the son of wealthy parents, he left everything material behind him and became a prophet of complete dispossession. Initially ridiculed as an outsider, he was quickly joined by women and men who wanted to follow his example and lead a life of poverty and penance, but also as direct followers of Christ. In just a few years, one of the largest religious and social movements of the time came into being.
The seminar will focus on the life of Francis as it was recorded in numerous contemporary texts. Based on this, we will also examine the ways in which the Franciscan communities followed their saint, some of which came under suspicion of heresy.
The seminar will also take a look at the history of the Franciscans in Dresden, who have recently found a place of remembrance in the "DenkRaum Sophienkirche".
Introductory literature:
H. Feld: Franziskus von Assisi und seine Bewegung, Darmstadt 22007; V. Leppin: Franziskus von Assisi, Darmstadt 2018.
Can be used in the following modules:
Hist GM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist Erg M 1, Hist Hum ErgM 1
Teacher training courses in history:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA, PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA
Advanced seminar
Undone Middle Ages. The fascination of counterfactual history
Dr. Jörg Sonntag
In this advanced seminar, we will speculate in a controlled manner. We will examine seminal events of the Middle Ages and explore their cultural-historical significance in order to subsequently develop alternative scenarios and discuss their fictitious consequences within the framework of an eventual history.
How could the course of history have changed if certain historical events had not occurred or had occurred differently? How would the Western world have developed if Charlemagne had not been crowned emperor, the Hohenstaufen Henry VI or the English King Henry V had not died so early, the Mongol cavalry had not left or Islam had not been stopped in Spain, if there had been no plague or gunpowder?
We want to explore these and similar questions together and gain deeper insights into the structures and mechanisms of medieval culture in a completely different way.
The main seminar will be held as a block event. In a first session on 21.10.2021, the further dates will be coordinated with the students.
Introductory literature:
A. Demandt: It could have been different. Turning points in German history, Berlin 2010; Ders.: Ungeschehene Geschichte. Ein Traktat über die Frage: Was wäre geschehen, wenn ...?, Göttingen 2011 (online at Digi20); J. Dillinger: Uchronie, Ungeschehene Geschichte von der Antike bis zum Steampunk, Paderborn 2015: R. J. Evans: Veränderte Vergangenheiten. Über kontrafaktisches Erzählen in der Geschichte, Munich 2014; J. Schiel: Was wäre gewesen, wenn ...? On the benefits of counterfactual historiography, in: Viator 41 (2010), pp. 211-231.
Can be used in the following modules:
PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM2, PhF-Hist-MA-SM3, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW, SLK-MA-EB-FM, SLK-MA-FaEB-EFM
Teacher training programs in History: PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE , PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Summer semester 2021
Tutorial
Cistercian saints
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein/ Dr. Jörg Sonntag
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
Dr. Jörg Sonntag
In cooperation between the Dresden "Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders" (FOVOG) and the "European Institute for Cistercian Research" (EUCist) at the Benedict XVI School of Philosophy and Theology in Heiligenkreuz (near Vienna), a directory of all members of the Cistercian communities (Cistercians, Trappists and Feuillants) who have been revered as saints from their beginnings to the present day is currently being compiled. The aim of this project is to gain the first scientifically based overview of those women and men who were venerated as saints in the aforementioned orders and to summarize the relevant information in the form of a handbook. The exercise will provide an insight into this project. The aim is to provide those interested with the methodological knowledge to research saints themselves. A special focus of the analysis will be on female models of sainthood. As a result, participants in the exercise should be able to write and publish contributions to this directory on the basis of their own research.
Introductory literature:
A. M. Zimmermann: Kalendarium Benedictinum. Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige, 4 vols., Metten 1933-1938.
Can be used in the following modules:
Hist AM 1
Teacher training courses in history:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Lectures/Overview exercises
Deliberating and deciding. The history of the University Assemblies from late antiquity to the Reformation
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
University Assemblies are among the oldest institutions of the Church. Originating from the need to jointly clarify general questions of faith and church organization, a form of assembly emerged that made decisions at both local and universal level. University Assemblies were in constant tension with a monarchically understood papacy, not only but above all due to the claim to infallibility that had existed since the 14th century.
The history of these councils will be examined in this exercise, focusing on the great councils of the 15th century. The "Chronicle of the Council of Constance" 1414-1418 by the eyewitness Ulrich Richental will serve as the central textual basis for the course of a University Assembly.
Introductory literature:
Alberigo (ed.): History of the University Assemblies. Vom Nicaenum bis zum Vaticanum II, Wiesbaden 1998; Th. M. Buck / H. Kraume (eds.): Augenzeuge des Konstanzer Konzils. Die Chronik des Ulrich Richental, Darmstadt/Stuttgart 2014; Dekrete der ökumenischen Konzilien, ed. by Josef Wohlmut, vol.1: Konzilien des ersten Jahrtausends, vol. 2: Konzilien des Mittelalters, Paderborn 1998, 2000; Ch. Lange: Einführung in die allgemeinen Konzilien, Darmstadt 2012.
Can be used in the following modules:
Hist EM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist Erg EM 1, PhF-Hist EM 1, Hist Erg M 1 PhF-Hist Erg M 1
The world of the late Middle Ages
The late Middle Ages encompassed a period of enormous cultural transformation. It was the era of the plague, the Hundred Years' War, the "last knights" and yet also of the flourishing court culture, the intensified urban emancipation process, the awakening national consciousness, the new discovery of the world and constant religious awakenings.
The lecture will deliberately not take a chronological approach, but will deal with the above-mentioned and other phenomena of this fascinatingly colorful epoch with a view to their cultural impact.
Introductory literature:
Huizinga: Herbst des Mittelalters, Stuttgart 1975; B. Schneidmüller: Grenzerfahrung und monarchische Ordnung. Europe 1200-1500, Munich 2011; J. Watts: The Making of Polities. Europe, 1300-1500 (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks), Cambridge 2009.
Can be used in the following modules:
Bachelor's degree program in History:
Hist GM 2, Hist AM 1, Hist Erg M 1, PhF-Hist Erg M 1, Hist Hum ErgM 1, Hist Erg AM 1
Teacher training courses in History: PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA , PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA
Master's degree programs:
PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM2, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW, SLK-MA-EB-FM, SLK-MA-FaEBEFM
Winter semester 2020/21
Reading course
Caesarius von Heisterbach and his "Dialogue on Miracles"
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
The "Dialogue on Miracles" by the Cistercian Caesarius of Heisterbach, written between 1219 and 1223, is one of the most extensive collections of miracle stories of the European Middle Ages. In 746 chapters, Caesarius compiled all the miraculous occurrences that he had either experienced himself or heard about from an authoritative source. The text differs from other comparable collections not only in its length, but also in its form: Caesarius gave it the form of a dialog between an inquiring novice and an answering monk. The text provides an insight into everyday life in the monastery, the conflicts that prevailed there, the trials and tribulations of the individual, and the struggle of the religious in the world to reach heaven. In the reading course, this work will be read in excerpts and analyzed with regard to the daily challenges of monks and nuns.
Introductory literature:
Caesarius von Heisterbach, Dialogus Miraculorum - Dialogue on Miracles, ed. by N. Nösges, H. Schneider (Fontes Christiani 86.1-5), Turnhout 2009; S. H. Brunsch: Caesarius von Heisterbach, in: Internetportal Rheinische Geschichte www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/Persoenlichkeiten/caesarius-von-heisterbach-/DE-2086/lido/57c6879c59b097.08268411 ( retrieved on 14.07.2020).
Can be used in the following modules:
PhF-Hist-MA-EM, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW, SLK-MA-EB-FM, SLK-MA-FaEB-EFM
Teacher training programs in History: PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE , PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Tutorials
Cistercian Saints
Medieval History / Pre-Modernity
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein / Dr. Jörg Sonntag
In cooperation between the Dresden "Research Center for Comparative History of Religious Orders" (FOVOG) and the "European Institute for Cistercian Research" (EUCist) at the Benedict XVI School of Philosophy and Theology in Heiligenkreuz (near Vienna), a directory of all members of the Cistercian communities (Cistercians, Trappists and Feuillants) who have been venerated as saints from their beginnings to the present day is currently being compiled. The aim of this project is to gain the first scientifically based overview of those women and men who were venerated as saints in the aforementioned orders and to summarize the relevant information in the form of a handbook. The exercise will provide an insight into this project. The aim is to provide those interested with the methodological knowledge to research saints themselves. A special focus of the analysis will be on female models of sainthood. As a result, participants in the exercise should be able to write and publish contributions to this directory on the basis of their own research.
Introductory literature:
A. M. Zimmermann: Kalendarium Benedictinum. Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige, 4 vols., Metten 1933-1938.
Can be used in the following modules:
PhF-Hist-MA-EM, PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW, SLK-MA-EB-FM, SLK-MA-FaEB-EFM, AQUA area.
Teacher training programs in history:
PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE, PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Travel in the Middle Ages
| Medieval History / Pre-Modernity Dr. Jörg Sonntag |
In times of travel restrictions, it is obvious for the historian to deal with the (voluntary and involuntary) travelers in history. The paths and escorts of medieval traveling kings, bishops or abbots should be the analytical focus as well as pilgrimages, business trips or the great voyages of discovery of the mendicant monks to Asia. In this exercise, we want to approach the complex phenomenon of 'being on the road' in the Middle Ages by reading selected sources from different text genres together, thereby comparing theory and social practice.
Introductory literature:
R. O. Bork / A. Kann (eds.), The Art, Science, and Technology of Medieval Travel, Aldershot 2008; B. Haupt / W. G. Busse (eds.), Pilgerreisen in Mittelalter und Renaissance, Düsseldorf 2006; F. Novoa Portela et al. (eds.), Legendäre Reisen im Mittelalter, Stuttgart 2008; W. Paravicini et al. (eds.), Ehren-volle Abwesenheit. Studien zum arligen Reisen im späteren Mittelalter, Ostfildern 2017; L. Schlesin-ger, Reisen und Reiseliteratur in Mittelalter und Neuzeit. Eine Bibliographie, Schwarzenbek 2011; M. M. Tischler / S. Krämer (eds.), Mobilität und Reisen im Mittelalter, Graz 2005.
Can be used in the following modules:
Bachelor's degree program in History:
Hist AM 1
Teacher training courses in history: PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE , PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Summer semester 2020
(Pro-)Seminar
Helpers, healers, miracle workers. Saints and their veneration in the Middle Ages
Medieval history / pre-modern times
PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein
Saints accompanied the people of the Middle Ages as helpers and role models. They healed the sick and protected livestock, they helped to win battles and brought peace, the farmer's harvest and the merchant's economic success depended on their intervention. The most visible expression of their work were miracles that proved God's intervention in the course of history and also in the fate of the individual. Because saints were close to God, they were able to act as mediators between him and the people and were revered in many ways for this. The event will take a comparative look at the position and function of saints from antiquity to the beginning of the Reformation. In addition, the various forms of their veneration such as hagiography, the cult of relics, pilgrimages, liturgy, music and the visual arts will be presented and examined in more detail. In particular, the relationship between dogmatics and religious practice will be analyzed in its historical development.
Introductory literature:
A. Angenendt: Saints and relics. Die Geschichte ihres Kultes vom frühen Christentum bis zur Gegenwart, 2nd ed. Munich 1997; Ders.: Die Gegenwart von Heiligen und Reliquien, Münster 2010.
Can be used in the following modules:
Bachelor's degree course in History:
Hist GM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist Erg M 1, Hist Hum ErgM 1, PhF-Hist Erg M 1 Lehramtsstudiengänge Geschichte: PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA , PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA
Overview exercise
Medieval history / pre-modern times
Dr. Jörg Sonntag
The late Middle Ages encompassed a period of enormous cultural transformation. The order preserved by the universal powers had long since fallen apart at the seams. In an era of new dynastic decisions, the conciliar movement, the flourishing court culture, the intensified process of urban emancipation, the awakening national consciousness, but also the great waves of plague and battles, emperors and antikings, popes and antipopes struggled for new models of legitimacy. In this overview exercise, these and the correlating lines of conflict between popes and emperors as well as their genesis and impact in the late Middle Ages will be traced, analyzed and discussed.
Introductory literature:
J. Huizinga: Herbst des Mittelalters, Stuttgart 1975; J. Miethke / A. Bühler (eds.): Kaiser und Papst im Konflikt. Zum Verständnis von Staat und Kirche im späten Mittelalter, Düsseldorf 1988; J. Watts: The Making of Policies. Europe, 1300-1500 (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks), Cambridge 2009.
Can be used in the following modules:
Bachelor's degree course in History:
Hist EM 1, Hist GM 2, Hist Erg EM 1, PhF-Hist EM 1, PhF-Hist Erg M 1 History teacher training courses: PHF-SEMS-Hist-MA , PHF-SEGY-Hist-MA, PHF-SEBS-Hist-MA
Winter semester 2019/20
Advanced seminar
The "world" in the 13th century: The 'Chronicle' of the Franciscan Salimbene de Adam
| Medieval history / pre-modern times PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein |
The young Salimbene, son of a wealthy citizen from Parma, joined the Franciscans, a fledgling mendicant order at the time, against the wishes of his family in 1238. Over the following decades, he traveled through large parts of Italy and France on behalf of his community, meeting kings, emperors and popes, as well as heretics, merchants and ordinary people in the towns and countryside. At the end of his life, he wrote a detailed account of his experiences in a strongly autobiographical chronicle. In this text, Salimbene, who was as curious as he was opinionated, offers a broad view of the 13th century. In the seminar, the text will be read, analyzed and placed in its historical context.
Introductory literature
Latin text: http: //www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/goToPage/bsb00000784.html?pageNo=1 German translation: A. Doren, Die Chronik des Salimbene von Parma (Geschichtsschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit 93-94), Leipzig 1914, 21945; New York 1965. Literature: T. Ertl: Pragmatische Visionäre? Die mendikantische Sicht der Welt im 13. Jahrhundert, in: Gert Melville, Bernd Schneidmüller, Stefan Weinfurter (eds.), Innovation durch Deuten und Gestalten. Klöster im Mittelalter zwischen Jenseits und Welt (Klöster als Innovationslabore. Studien und Texte 1), Regensburg 2014, pp. 253-271 and: www.geschichtsquellen.de/repOpus_04181.html, 2019-06-03
Use
Master's degree program in History:
PhF-Hist-MA-SM1, PhF-Hist-MA-SM2, PhF-Hist-MA-SM3, PhF-MA-FMEW, PhF-MA-FMSW, SLK-MAEBFM, SLK-MA-FaEB-EFM Teacher training programs in History: PHF-SEMS-Hist-VE , PHF-SEGY-Hist-VV, PHF-SEBS-Hist-VV
Proseminar
Europe before Charlemagne: The Merovingians
| Medieval history / pre-modern times Dr. Jörg Sonntag |
The threshold from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages represents a turning point in European history in many respects. The rise of the Merovingians, the oldest Frankish royal dynasty, began in the midst of this turbulent period caused by the migration of peoples. With the establishment of their Frankish empire, with their manly rulers and long-haired rulers, with the secular and ecclesiastical organization of the empire, with its social structure or with the Christian missionary work and cultural anchoring of monasticism, the seminar aims to provide an overarching insight into this exciting and therefore equally fascinating period. In addition to imparting and deepening knowledge and the joint interpretation of significant source material of various kinds, the seminar will also provide an introduction to the working methods of a medievalist.
Introductory literature: A. Angenendt: The Early Middle Ages. Die abendländische Christenheit von 400 bis 900, Stuttgart 2001. M. Becher: Merowinger und Karolinger (WBG: Geschichte kompakt), Darmstadt 2009; P. J. Geary: Die Merowinger. Europa vor Karl dem Großen, Munich 1996; M. Hartmann: Die Merowinger (Beck'sche Reihe 2746), Munich 2012; M. Schmidt: Das Merowingerreich im Gefüge Europas. From 291-753, Frankfurt/M. 2008, S. Scholz, Die Merowinger (Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher 748), Stuttgart 2015.
Summer semester 2019
Exercises
Heaven, hell, purgatory. Concepts of the afterlife in the Middle Ages
| Medieval history / pre-modern times PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein |
The joys of heaven for the good, the torments of hell for the bad - the afterlife of pre-modern times seems clearly structured. But even purgatory is more difficult to assess, as it combines the most terrible torment and the highest joy in a very special way. All three, in turn, are part of a complex structure of spaces that are prepared for people after their death. The decision as to where the path leads the individual is made in a trial for which the person can and should prepare themselves in their life. The exercise will provide an overview of Christian-European concepts of the afterlife from late antiquity to early modern times. In addition to the joint reading of central texts, visual media will play an important role.
Introductory literature
P. Dinzelbacher: The Last Things. Himmel, Hölle, Fegefeuer im Mittelalter, Freiburg i. Br. 1999; B. Lang: Himmel und Hölle. Afterlife Beliefs from Antiquity to the Present Day, Munich 22009; J. LeGoff: Die Geburt des Fegefeuers. Vom Wandel des Weltbildes im Mittelalteres, Munich 21991; H. Vorgrimler: Geschichte des Paradieses und des Himmels, Munich 2008; his: Geschichte der Hölle, Munich 21994.
Usage
Hist AM 1
Ruler figures of the late Middle Ages
| Pre-modern / Medieval history Dr. Jörg Sonntag |
The late Middle Ages encompassed a period of enormous cultural transformation. The order maintained by the universal powers (pope and emperor - sun and moon) had long since fallen apart at the seams. It was the era of the crises associated with the plague, the Little Ice Age and the Hundred Years' War, the "last knights" and increasingly important mercenary armies, the flourishing court culture, the intensified process of urban emancipation, the awakening national consciousness and ever new religious awakenings. This field of tension presented kings and queens in particular with a variety of challenges. With this in mind, the exercise focuses on selected rulers of the great European dynasties. It is less about conveying biographical facts. Rather, kings and queens will be considered in their respective cultural contexts and principles and mechanisms of ruling in dynastic interdependence will be discussed by way of example.
Introductory literature
J. Huizinga: Herbst des Mittelalters, Stuttgart 1975; B. Schneidmüller: Grenzerfahrung und monarchische Ordnung. Europe 1200-1500, Munich 2011; J. Watts: The Making of Polities. Europe, 1300- 1500 (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks), Cambridge 2009.
Use
Hist AM 1
Winter semester 2018/19
Reading course
The Rule of Benedict
| Medieval history / pre-modern times PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein |
Benedictine monks and nuns shaped the spiritual and intellectual culture of Europe for centuries. In their lives and work, they were guided by one work in particular: the Rule of Benedict. Allegedly written by Benedict of Nursia at the beginning of the 6th century, it became one of the most influential texts of the following centuries. Not only did those who followed Benedict in monasteries follow its rules, but the text is currently experiencing a revival as a guide for managers, stressed people and people in general who want to give their lives a new direction, even without living in a monastery. In this course, this central text of European history will be read and its effects traced over the centuries.
Literature:
The Rule of St. Benedict (various editions); C. Dartmann: The Benedictines. Von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des Mittelalters (Urban-Taschenbücher) Stuttgart 2017; bibliography online at: http://www.osb.org/rb/rbbib/toc.html.
Summer semester 2018
Research and examination colloquium
History, foundations and comparative perspectives of the vita religiosa
| Medieval history / pre-modern times Prof. Dr. Gert Melville / Priv.-Doz. Dr. Cristina Andenna |
Bachelor's, Master's and state examination candidates and doctoral students will present their concepts for their theses in the history of the vita religiosa and religious orders and discuss the basics and comparative approach of academic work. At the same time, practical tips for writing Bachelor's, Master's and admission theses will be provided. The event is by invitation only. Additional interested parties should introduce themselves in person at the following address: cristina.andenna@tu-dresden.de
Seminars
Practical seminar: Saints and their veneration in the Christian Middle Ages
| Medieval history / pre-modern times PD Dr. Mirko Breitenstein |
Sanctity is a central category for understanding (not only) pre-modern societies. The veneration of the sacred is not a duty here, but an elementary need. The sacred and all forms of dealing with it can be examined in a special way in the Christian cultures of the European Middle Ages. In the course, types of veneration of the saint such as hagiography, relic cults, pilgrimages, liturgy and more will be presented and examined in more detail. The aim will be to look at the various forms of human communication with the saint. The study will not only be based on edited source texts and reproduced images. It is also planned to work with manuscripts and to visit places where the veneration of saints took place.
Literature:
A. Angenendt: Saints and relics. Die Geschichte ihres Kultes vom frühen Christentum bis zur Gegenwart, 2nd ed. Munich 1997.
Exercises
Exercise: The Bible as a script of the Middle Ages
| Medieval history / pre-modern times Dr. Jörg Sonntag |
The Christian culture of the Middle Ages defined the perfection of God as an unattainable goal, which every believer should approach as best he or she could in order to take the best possible care of their own salvation and to promote the bonum commune on earth. With an almost inexhaustible pool of imitations of biblical models, Holy Scripture offered all-encompassing guidance for life. Medieval kings acted like David and Josiah or judged like Solomon; abbots sat on the throne of Moses; Jezebel was recognized in bad queens; perfect gestures were based on Mary, the Mother of God; entire state models were based on the twelve tribes of Israel and much more. In fact, imitation became a fundamental principle of pre-modernity, which permeated, determined and shaped all areas of life. The aim of the exercise is not only to strengthen biblical knowledge by reading relevant episodes from the Old and New Testaments together and by analyzing their impact at princely courts, in monasteries and cities, but also to gain important insights into the functioning of European culture in the Middle Ages.
Literature:
G. Cremascoli / C. Leonardi: La Bibbia nel Medioevo, Bologna 1996; M. M. Gorman: The study of the Bible in the Early Middle Ages (Millennio Medievale 67), Firenze 2007; B. S. Levy: The Bible in the Middle Ages. Its influence on literature and art (Medieval and Renaissance Texts & Studies 89), New York 2003; G. Lobrichon / P. Riché (eds.): Le Moyen Âge et la Bible (Bible de tous les temps, 4), Paris 1984; J. G. Lobrichon: La Bible au Moyen Âge, Paris 2003; J.-M. Poffet (ed.): L'autorité de l'Écriture, Paris 2002; G. Schwedler / J. Sonntag: Imitieren. Mechanisms of a cultural principle in the European Middle Ages: An introduction, in: A. Büttner / B. Kynast / G. Schwedler / J. Sonntag (eds.), Nachahmen im Mittelalter. Dimensions - Mechanisms - Functions (Archiv für Kulturgeschichte. Beihefte 82), Cologne 2018, pp. 9-25; B. Smalley: The study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, Oxford 1984; A. Vernet / A.-M. Genevois: La Bible au Moyen Âge, Paris 1989; K. Walsh / D. Wood (eds): The Bible in the Medieval World, Oxford / New York 1985.