Course Objectives & Expectations

In the medieval understanding of the world, the king was the ultimate secular authority. What does that mean? What is the responsibility of the king and how do medieval texts negotiate sovereignty? For many medieval writers, the Roman Emperor (or colloquially Caesar) is the figure for the sovereign who commands an empire and rules through law. But in the chaotic political environment that followed the Fall of Rome and preceded the development of the late medieval nation-state, sovereignty was a value that needed to be enshrined in force rather than in peace. In England, the Anglo-Saxon kings established a systematic power structure over the entire island of Britannia that the Normans took over when they introduced feudalism to the island. By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, feudalism was declining as those nobles whose oaths were to uphold the power of the king sought to unmake him. In other words, warlords would establish their rule in violence and then enshrine it in a quasi-legal/quasi-spiritual paradigm of sovereignty. First, William the Conqueror, then Empress Matilda, Edward I, Queen Isabella, Henry IV, Henry V, Edward IV, Richard III, and ultimately Henry VII disrupted the power structure of English society (or Scotland in Edward I's case) and sought legitimacy for their actions. Legitimacy comes from argument; strength is through force often masquerading as law. We will read texts from different eras of the medieval period, roughly designated as 400-1500, in an attempt to determine what do authors mean when they discuss the sovereign. To understand better how English writers address the issue of sovereignty, we will read some principal medieval English texts in the contexts of Giorgio Agamben's Homo Sacer. An understanding of Middle English will be useful for this course.

Requirements:

Presentation: 10%

Final Project Abstract: 10%

Rough Draft for Final Project: 15%

Final Project Paper: 50%

Participation: 15%

Policies:

All assignments must be turned in by the date assigned. As a rule, I intensely dislike surprises in any form. If you foresee a problem in turning any of your work in on time, please let me know ahead of time.

You are expected to attend every class; any unexcused absence may affect your final grade.

Students who need special accommodations in class should make an individual appointment with me as soon as possible.

Should you e-mail me, I will try to reply to your post within 24 hours, 48 hours on the weekend.

Required Texts

Agamben, Giorgio, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998).

Chaucer, Geoffrey, Dream Visions, ed. Kathryn Lynch (New York: Norton, 2007).

Chaucer, Geoffrey, Troilus and Criseyde (New York: Norton).

Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain, trans. Lewis Thorpe (New York: Penguin).

Gower, John, Confessio Amantis, Books 5, 6, & 7, ed, Russell Peck (TEAMS, 2004).

Hoccleve, Thomas, Regement for Princes, ed. Charles R. Blyth (TEAMS, 1999).

Malory, Sir Thomas, Le Morte D’Arthur, ed. Stephen Shepherd (New York: Norton, 2004).

Schedule of Readings

24 August Middle English Bootcamp; Chaucer, Parlement of Foules

31 August Agamben, Homo Sacer; Chaucer, Prologue to Legend of Good Women

7 September Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain

14 September Chaucer, Legends; Book of the Duchess

21 September Gower, Confessio Amantis, Book 5

28 September Gower, Confessio Amantis, Book 6

5 October Gower, Confessio Amantis, Book 7

12 October Hoccleve, Regement for Princes Abstract Due

19 Octobert Chaucer, Troilus & Criseyde, Parts 1-3

26 October Chaucer, Troilus & Criseyde, Parts 4-5

2 November Malory, Le Morte D’Arthur (pp. 1-113)

9 November Malory, Le Morte D’Arthur (pp. 114-228) Rough Draft Due

16 November Malory, Le Morte D’Arthur (pp. 229-496)

30 November Malory, Le Morte D’Arthur (pp. 497-698) Final Draft Due