Syllabus
1st lesson: Introduction: Historical overview (Czech lands in the Middle Ages) and literary overview (literary genres in the Middle Ages). 2nd lesson: Historiography: How Czech authors as Cosmas of Prague, Dalimil and Laurence of Březová describe the history of their own nation? 3rd lesson: Hagiography: Are the legends about Czech saints (Ludmila, Wenceslas, Adalbert and Procop) a true picture of their lives? 4th lesson: Sermons and exempla: Preaching (John Milíč of Kroměříž, John Želivský) as the basis of medieval literature in Bohemia? 5th lesson: Charles IV and protohumanism: Scholar on the throne – new trend in literature (Bartholomew of Chlumec, John of Teplá)? 6th lesson: Poetry: Is medieval poetry – containing both spiritual (hymns, tropes, sequences) and secular (drinking songs, love songs, moralistic songs, parodies, epics) poems – the most fluid genre ever? 7th lesson: Drama: Is there any reflection of real life in medieval theatre (both spiritual as Three Maries and secular as The Ointment Seller)? 8th lesson: Rhetoric, diplomatics, epistolography: The art of words (charters, formularies, dictamina, collections of letters) as the basis of education? 9th lesson: Scientific literature: Was there any real science (medicine, mathematics, astronomy, law) in the Middle Ages? 10th lesson: John Hus, his predecessors and followers: What was the real influence of the teaching of Hus and his followers (Jerome of Prague, Jakoubek of Stříbro, Petr Chelčický)? 11th lesson: Conclusion remarks: Discussion: What is the importance of medieval literature in Bohemia in the European context? How to approach medieval literature from a contemporary perspective?
Primary sources
János M. Bak – Pavlína Rychterová (eds.), Cosmae Pragensis Chronica Bohemorum = Cosmas of Prague: The Chronicle of the Czechs. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2020 (Central European Medieval Texts 10).
Thomas A. Fudge (ed.), Origins of the Hussite uprising: the chronicle of Laurence of Březová (1414–1421). London: Routledge, 2020 (Routledge medieval translations).
Gábor Klaniczay (ed.), Vitae sanctorum aetatis conversionis Europae centralis (saec. X–XI) = Saints of the Christianization Age of Central Europe (Tenth–Eleventh Centuries). Budapest: Central European University Press, 2013 (Central European Medieval Texts 6), pp. 97–181.
Balázs Nagy – Frank Schaer (eds.), Karoli IV imperatoris Romanorum vita ab eo ipso conscripta et Hystoria nova de sancto Wenceslao martyre = Autobiography of Emperor Charles IV and his Legend of St. Wenceslas. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2001 (Central European Medieval Texts).
Jarmila F. Veltrusky, A Sacred Farce from Medieval Bohemia. Mastičkář. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1985 (Michigan Studies in the Humanities 6).
Thomas A. Fudge (ed.), The Crusade against Heretics in Bohemia, 1418–1437. Sources and documents for the Hussite Crusades. Burlington: Ashgate, 2002 (Crusade Texts in Translation 9).
David S. Schaff (ed.), The Church by John Huss. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1915.
Enrico Molnár, A Study of Peter Chelčický's Life and a Translation from Czech of Part One of His Net of Faith. Berkeley (California): AudioEnlightenmentPress, 2017.
Walter Schamschula (ed.), An Anthology of Czech Literature: 1st Period: From the beginnings until 1410. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1991 (West Slavic Contributions 2).
Secondary sources
Jana Nechutová, Study of Latin Medieval Literature in Bohemia, in: Listy filologické / Folia philologica 115, 1 (1992), pp. 148–156.
Marie Bláhová, Vernacular Historiography in Medieval Czech Lands, in: Medievalia 19, 1 (2016), pp. 33–65.
Peter C. A. Morée, Preaching in fourteenth-century Bohemia: the life and ideas of Milicius de Chremsir (+1374) and his significance in the historiography of Bohemia. Heršpice: EMAN, 1999.
Thomas A. Fudge, Jerome of Prague and the Foundations of the Hussite Movement. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Pavel Soukup, Jan Hus: The Life and Death of a Preacher. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press 2020.
Mathew Spinka (ed.), Advocates of Reform. From Wyclif to Erasmus. Louisville (Kentucky): Westminster John Knox Press, 2006 (The Library of Christian Classics).
Ota Pavlicek (ed.), Studying the Arts in Late Medieval Bohemia: Production, Reception and Transmission of Knowledge. Turnhout: Brepols, 2021 (Studia Artistarum 48).
Ernst Robert Curtius, European literature and the Latin Middle Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
David Wallace (ed.), Europe: a literary history: 1348–1418. Volume I and II. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Ralph Hexter – David Townsend (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Latin Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Annotation
This course will introduce the various genres of medieval literature in Bohemia, their basic characteristics, most famous authors and works. The course is designed for students with an interest in literature and history; no previous knowledge of the subject is required.
Reading sample texts selected from the literature listed below and their interpretation will be an integral part of the classes. During the semester, students will also present paper(s) on selected topics. (The teacher will supply students with all the necessary literature to prepare for classes.)