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2019/20 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

HIST5028M Bede's Northumbria

30 creditsClass Size: 10

Module manager: Professor Julia Barrow
Email: j.s.barrow@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2019/20

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

The module examines the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in the seventh and early eighth centuries as portrayed by Bede in his historical writings. Northumbria was a dominant political force in the seventh century and its kings helped to shape the later territorial developments in northern Britain. Bede's strongly topographical approach to the writing of history will provide a framework against which political, social and religious developments can be placed (kingship, warfare, conversion to Christianity, monasticism, saints' cults). The module will also provide opportunity to study Bede's skills as a historian and as an author, in particular his use of sources, his build-up of narrative and his use of literary and biblical allusions.

Objectives

The aim of the module is twofold: on the one hand, it will allow students to study early Northumbrian history within the wider context of the history of the British Isles in the seventh and eighth centuries, concentrating in particular on issues such as kingship, warfare, overlordship, conversion, monasticism and saints' cults. In addition, it will give students an introduction to Bede as a historian and, in particular, to his interests in topography and exegesis as part of historical writing. Bede was an innovative historian and study of his works helps to provide an entry to much historical writing of the earlier middle ages.

Learning outcomes
The module will allow students to acquire a knowledge of an important historian writing in the middle ages and through him some understanding of the purposes of historical writing in the earlier middle ages. They will also acquire knowledge of Anglo-Saxon history in the seventh and eighth centuries and relations between Anglo-Saxons and their neighbours in that period, allowing them to set political and religious developments in a wider context. In addition, they will acquire awareness of medieval ideas about topography and its role in shaping ideas about the past. They will also be equipped to engage with historiographical debates on Bede's purposes in writing history, on the process of Christianisation and on political developments in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Skills outcomes
Students will acquire the ability to see how a major historical writer in the earlier middle ages shaped his narratives of the past and to reflect on the range of purposes he had in mind when doing so.


Syllabus

After two initial seminars on Bede and Wearmouth-Jarrow, there will be seminars on early Anglo-Saxon kingship, Edwin and York, conversion (viewed through Paulinus and Coifi), the early Anglo-Saxon episcopate (viewed through Bede's treatment of Aidan, Cuthbert and Lindisfarne), church councils (focusing in particular on Whitby), monasticism (Whitby, Coldingham, Lastingham), the Northumbrians and the Irish, the Northumbrians and Mercia, and the Northumbrians' relations with the Welsh and the Picts. The sources studied for the module will be principally Bede's Ecclesiastical History but also his History of the Abbots of Wearmouth-Jarrow and his prose Life of Cuthbert; these are all available in translation but there will be an opportunity to reflect on the original text as well.

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Seminar112.0022.00
Private study hours278.00
Total Contact hours22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)300.00

Private study

Students will be required to read sources and secondary literature in advance of each class to provide them with a basis for class discussion. They will need to read extensively in preparation for essay-writing. Independent learning will be encouraged by getting students to negotiate their own essay titles in consultation with the module co-ordinator (essay titles will have to be approved by the co-ordinator).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress can be monitored informally by observing their performance in seminar discussion, but more formally through individual consultations on the choice of essay topic and also by providing feedback after the first essay.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Essay1 x 3,000 word essay due by 12 noon Monday of teaching week 850.00
Essay1 x 3,000 word essay due by 12 noon Monday of examination week 150.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 30/04/2019

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