In the Middle Ages, a unified culture was born in Western Europe. This paper examines the making of distinctively European political thinking in the Middle Ages. Taking examples of pivotal thinkers from the 12th to the 15th centuries, HIST 403 examines the interplay of various intellectual traditions, including Christian theology, legal scholarship, Aristotelian and Ciceronian political ideas and Aristotelian and Galenic medical ideas. The paper thus aims to explore how the theory of the civil community became increasingly autonomous from medieval scholasticism, which was paradigmatically theological, and how and why ecclesiology (theory of church government) not only became diverse, but also defined the spiritual sphere more sharply in contrast with the temporal sphere.
| Paper title | Topics in Medieval History |
|---|---|
| Paper code | HIST403 |
| Subject | History |
| EFTS | 0.1667 |
| Points | 20 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2023 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $1,206.91 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Pre or Corequisite
- 48 300-level HIST points
- Contact
- takashi.shogimen@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
View more information on the History and Art History website
- Teaching staff
- Professor Takashi Shogimen
- Textbooks
- Course materials will be made available electronically.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will:
- Gain a historical understanding of how distinctively European political ideas came into existence in the Middle Ages
- Learn how to analyse primary sources that consist of highly sophisticated intellectual texts
- Engage critically with secondary literature
- Assess diverse interpretations in intellectual history
