Tuesdays, 13:15 A Proseminar aimed at BA students in their second and third years.
Medieval English men and women travelled for a range of reasons: scholars travelled to study; those in holy orders moved between religious houses; merchants travelled for trade; soldiers travelled to war; and people from many walks of life travelled on pilgrimage, whether within the British Isles or across Europe. Travel was time-consuming and frequently very uncomfortable, but it was also an exciting opportunity for encounters of various kinds, with people of different faiths and languages, with different literatures and ideas, and with culturally important objects --- relics, buildings, works of art. Books were written to guide travellers, but also to recount the wonders witnessed for those back home. Such travellers’ tales can offer insights into medieval journeys and cultural sites, but were often heavily embroidered, revealing most, perhaps, about the attitudes and anxieties of the teller.
- Enseignant·e: Elisabeth Dutton