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HI305E: LAWYERS AND LECHERS IN THE MIDDLE AGES: THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH COURTS AS EVIDENCE FOR MEDIEVAL LIFE (2015-2016)

Last modified: 25 Mar 2016 11:36


Course Overview

By the end of the mediaeval period, European society had learned to solve most of its conflicts in courts rather than in military confrontations. The records of these courts allow us to see life as lived by ordinary people. Using translated legal sources, we investigate why people resolved conflicts in court and asks what we can learn about litigants, law and lawyers.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 3
Term First Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus None. Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Frederik Pedersen

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Either Programme Level 3 or Programme Level 4

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

Canon law touched the life of every inhabitant of Western Europe in the Middle Ages: it could protect the murderer, it allowed for the speedy resolution of conflicts over debt, it developed an anthropology of human sexuality in its attempts to guarantee that marriage lived up to its high Christian ideals, and in many ways salvation itself was a matter of law. The later medieval papacy functioned increasingly as a source of this law. Between 1200 and 1300, the majority of cardinals and popes were not graduates in theology, but canon law. The personnel of embassies in international diplomacy were selected from university law graduates, such that the very language of inter-state discourse became a legal language, and one of its principal components was canon law.

Further Information & Notes

This module is available to students on all non-History degree programmes as a Discipline Breadth course for the enhanced study requirement. However, the admission of students with a non-History degree intention will be at the discretion of the School of Divinity, History, and Philosophy.

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

1st Attempt: one 5,000 word essay (75%); one 1,000 word presentation report (25%) Resit: three-hour written exam (100%)

Formative Assessment

Level 3 students will present papers on chosen topics and level 4 students will undertake chairing and also respond to papers by level 3 students

Feedback

Written feedback will be provided to essays, presentations and response papers.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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