The Northern Renaissance: Burgundian Court and Civic Culture in the Low Countries c.1430-1520 (U01246)

? Credit Points : 40 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : HCA-4-NR

The legendary splendour of the Burgundian court was the talk of Europe in the fifteenth century and has been the subject of contradictory opinions ever since. To Huizinga its spectacles, feasts, tournaments and entry ceremonies represented the decadent end to a declining Middle Ages. More recent historians have characterized it as a period of cultural florescence - artistic and musical - to rival the 'Renaissance' in Italy. Still others have seen the dukes of Burgundy intent on creating a 'theatre-state' which hid a brutal drive to autocratic centralisation. All these issues will be examined in this course, and with particular attention to the political and ceremonial relationship between the Burgundian dukes (and their Hapsburg successors) with the cities they ruled. The region of the Low Countries was one of the most highly urbanized and vibrant regions of Europe: the cultural and religious life it generated (its processions and rituals; the Devotio Moderna and the Christian Humanism of Erasmus) are looked at in detail.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

? Pre-requisites : A pass in a third level historical course or equivalent.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

History, (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Schedule E)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Full Year (Blocks 1-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 22 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
24/09/2007	14:00	15:50	Room 1.143, William Robertson Building	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

i) Subject knowledge: to increase knowledge of the political and ceremonial relationship between the rulers of the Low Countries and their noble and urban subjects; and of the nature of court and civic culture.

ii) Discipline skills: increase awareness of the historical evidence, how to handle it and the debates about it.

iii) Writing skills: develop through writing essays for the course.

Assessment Information

Two essays of 3000-4000 words; 2 exams during summer diet, each two hours. The first 20 credits will be made up of a first semester essay (25%) plus first exam paper (75%). The second 20 credits will be made up of a second semester essay (25%) and a second exam paper (75%).