Course info

Monasticism, in all of its astonishing variety, was a key feature of nearly every landscape in the medieval West. Religious women and men and their institutions were so ubiquitous throughout the Middle Ages, in fact, that all students of medieval history, whether focusing primarily on religion, or on politics, archaeology, economics, law, artistic production, or literature, will necessarily encounter monasticism in their work. We will begin with the ideological and material underpinnings of Christian monasticism, starting in the desert of late antique Egypt and moving directly into forms of monasticism in Middle Ages.
The module also provides a basic introduction to historical archaeology – the excavation and analysis of places, things, and concepts from the past or present with associated surviving written records – in the context of medieval Western monasticism.
The module is arranged thematically rather than chronologically, taking on a new topic each week, and interweaving elements of history, theology, archaeology, bioarchaeology, and cultural heritage management.