FF:LJMedB26 Medieval itineracy - Course Information

LJMedB26 Medieval itineracy to the other world

Extent and Intensity

2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
In-person direct teaching

Teacher(s)

Mgr. Lucie Mazalová, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Lucie Mazalová, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 95 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/95, only registered: 0/95, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/95

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 437 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

In this course, the students will gain knowledge about the most accentuated topics of the European medieval eschatology (written mostly in Latin) - visions, Irish navigations to the Other world (navigationes), propheties, Antichrists, the dance of the death (Totentanz), the art of dying (ars moriendi), heaven, hell, purgatory, apocalyptic expectations. The students will deal not only with various content of medieval ideas but thanks to the translation also with various form of presentation - with Latin texts (translated into Czech) and particulary with vernacular texts; the students will recognize also moving of these texts through the medieval Europe and mutual relationships which influenced next generations. The students will also became acquainted with the examples of illuminations in manuscripts and with medieval architecture which present the mentioned topics. Students will also gain a knowledge about how these topics inspired themodern age (e.g. thanks to music examples).

Learning outcomes

After this course, the student will be able to: have an orientation in basic topics of the European medieval eschatology - at the level of content and relationships between the texts.

Syllabus

• Chapter I: "He was taken from his body and lay without the soul and soon, he rose again and told what was happen with him..." - visions, auditions and revelations (visiones, auditiones, revelationes) - from the theory of dreams and simple Christian moralistics to collections of visions and political appeal; symbolism and development of particular aspects; Gregorius Magnus, vision of St. Barontus, vision of Jiřík, individualist Otlohus Ratisbonensis, mystic Hildegarda de Bingen, Brigitta de Swecia etc.
• Chapter II: Navigation of St. Brendanus and Irish travelling to the Promised Land of Saints
• Chapter III: prophecies (prophetia) - tales about the last emperor and the end of the world; prophecy of Jacobus de Tharamo, Rupescissa´s Vaticinium, Opus arduum of Lollards; the Merlin´s prophecy
• Kapitola IV: Antichrists (Antichristi) - Augustinus and the tract De duabus civitatibus of Oto von Freising; Arnold de Villa Nova; theories of heretics
• Chapter V: the dance of the death (Totentanz), haeven, hell, purgatory
• Chapter VI: manual how to die or else medieval "ars moriendi" in text and in painting - from "Tractatus artis bene moriendi" to anonymous texts
• Chapter VII: apokalyptic and waiting for the end of the ages - Milíč of kroměřít, the age of Charles IV, the Taborites

Literature

• McGinn, Bernard. The Apocalyptic Imagination in the Middle Ages. In: Ende und Vollendung: eschatologische Perspektiven im Mittelalter. Hrsg. von J. A. Aertsen, M. Pickavé. Berlin 2002, s. 79-94. ISBN 3-11-017214-3.
• LEGOFF, J. Zrození očistce. Přel. V. Dvořáková. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2003. ISBN 80-7021- 637-9.
• Ráj, peklo a očistec ve středověkých viděních. Edited by Magdalena Moravová - Jana Engelbrechtová - Martin Nodl. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 2011, 279 s. ISBN 9788025705438. info
• Bájné plavby do jiných světů. Edited by Magdalena Moravová, Translated by Eva Hladká-Kučerňáková - Danie. Vyd. 1. Praha: Argo, 2010, 178 s. ISBN 9788025703656. info
• MCGINN, Bernard. Antichrist : two thousand years of the human fascination with evil. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, xxi, 369. ISBN 0231119771. info

Teaching methods

lecture

Assessment methods

final colloquium (test)

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course is taught annually.
The course is taught every week.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2026, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2026/LJMedB26