Lords to Lepers: Medieval Social Worlds (ARC2118)

Staff	Professor Oliver Creighton - Convenor
Credit Value	15
ECTS Value	7.5
NQF Level	5
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Duration of Module	Term 2: 11 weeks;

Module aims

The module aims to develop an appreciation of standards of living and ways of dying in Britain between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries and to deepen understanding of the principles and methodologies involved in recovering, analysing and theorising related information. It aims to develop a critically aware understanding of commonalities and contrasts in medieval life and lifestyle between different social classes and in different environments and regions.

ILO: Module-specific skills

1. Understand the range of techniques and data sources available to study medieval life and lifestyle during this period
2. Know the principal medieval building types and their chronological developments and regional variations
3. Develop an understanding of how and why these developments and variations came about
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical challenges and issues involved in understanding and reconstructing medieval lifestyle

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

5. Demonstrate knowledge of, and an ability to reflect on, contrasting archaeological perspectives
6. Synthesise and evaluate relevant archaeological and historical terms, concepts and examples
7. Demonstrate comprehension and detailed knowledge of complex issues through essay-based coursework and the end of module examination

ILO: Personal and key skills

8. Demonstrate techniques of locating, organising and digesting material to produce, to a deadline, a piece of coherent analysis
9. Respond to arguments in discussion and ask relevant questions

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

Medieval social worlds: sources and perspectives
Timeline of medieval Britain
Houses and households; the open hall
Diet and dress
Elite residences as social arenas: palaces, mansions and manors
Town life: merchants, traders and guilds
Lives on the fringes: hospitals; lepers; the urban poor; Jews
The peasantry: houses and hovels; archaeologies of resistance?
The face of battle: conflict and conflict archaeology
The medieval way of death: burial, cemeteries and commemoration
Workshop 1: interrogating medieval buildings: survey, recording and analysis
Workshop 2: coming to grips with medieval portable artefacts – personal adornments, weapons, coins, etc.
Overview: contrasts and commonalities in life and lifestyle

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
19	131	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	16	Lectures (8 x 2 hours) OR equivalent portfolio of online sessions, including lectures and presentations, both live and recorded, and online group activities.
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	2	2 x Workshops
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	1	Tutorial
Guided Independent Study	131	Independent study (week by week reading of books and articles; guided preparation for workshops; individual preparation for essays)

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Workshop participation x 2	1 hour	9	Oral feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
40	60	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Written assignment (site report)	40	1500 words	1-9	Written feedback
Examination	60	1.5 hours	1-9	Written feedback

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Written assignment	Essay (1500 words)	1-9	Referral/Deferral period
Examination	Examination	1-9	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Gerrard, C. and Gutiérrez, A. (eds.) 2018: The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Available online via library catalogue link to Oxford Handbooks Online]
Gilchrist, R. 2012: Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course. Woodbridge: Boydell. [Available as an e-book through the Exeter Library Catalogue]
Christie, N.J. and Stamper, P. 2011: Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800–1600. Bollington: Windgather. [Available as an e-book through the Exeter Library Catalogue]
Dyer, C. 2002: Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain 850-1520. Yale University Press. [Available as an e-book through the Exeter Library Catalogue]

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Website of the Portable Antiquities Scheme: http://finds.org.uk/
Website of the Society for Medieval Archaeology: http://www.medievalarchaeology.org/
ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11466

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

The city of Exeter and its medieval buildings.

Available as distance learning?

Origin date

February 2012

Last revision date

24/07/2020

Key words search

medieval, middle ages, archaeology