DU2391 The Visual and Material Cultures of Justice in the Late Middle Ages

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
prof. Achim Timmermann, University of Michigan (lecturer), Mgr. Tomáš Valeš, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Tomáš Valeš, Ph.D.
Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
This mini-seminar will examine the historical shift from tort law to criminal law that occurred with the growth of centralized state power and the rise of the prison as a legal institution. We will read some primary and secondary texts but will focus largely on the rich visual and material culture—paintings, prints, monuments and sculptures, and illustrated legal codes—that developed around the changing legal processes and punishments, and the changing understanding of the administration and meaning of justice, from the period after the Norman Conquest, with its trial by combat and ordeal, to the capital punishments of eighteenth-century “Gallows London” and the deportation of convicts to Australia around 1800, and ultimately the establishment of modern prisons.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course successfully the student will be able to:
- understand the historical shift from tort law to criminal law that occurred with the growth of centralized state power and the rise of the prison as a legal institution;
- interpret the visual and material culture - paintings, prints, monuments and sculptures, and illustrated legal codes that developed around the changing legal processes and punishments.
Syllabus
  • Class 1: Trial by Ordeal Required Readings: Robert Bartlett, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal, pp. 4-33, 103-126 Hunt Janin, Medieval Justice: Cases and Laws in France, England and Germany, 500-1500, pp. 10-25, 64-73 Class 2: Trial by Jury/Inquest; Torture Required Readings: David J. Seipp, "The Distinction Between Crime and Tort in The Early Common Law," 76 B.U. L. Rev. 59 (Feb./Apr. 1996) J.H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History, pp. 570-591 Hunt Janin, Medieval Justice: Cases and Laws in France, England and Germany, 500-1500, pp. 125-158 Class 3: Corporal and Capital Punishment Required Readings: Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison, pp. 1-69 Achim Timmermann, “Locus calvariae” Achim Timmermann, Memory and Redemption, pp. 90-97 Class 4: Corporal and Capital Punishment; Prisons (Medieval Antecedents) Required Readings: The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society, pp. 32-76 John Bellamy, Crime and Public Order in England in the Later Middle Ages, pp. 162-198 Class 5: Rise of the Modern Prison Required Readings: The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society, pp. 79-108 Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison, pp. 104-131, 195-228 Class 6: Class Exercise: Student Presentations on Selected Visual Themes
Literature
  • TIMMERMANN, Achim. Memory and redemption : public monuments and the making of late medieval landscape. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017, xvi, 427. ISBN 9782503546520. info
  • TIMMERMANN, Achim. “Locus calvariae: Walking and Hanging with Christ and the Good Thief, c. 1350-1700. Artibus et Historiae. 2014, vol. 69, p. 137-162. info
  • HUNT, Janin. Medieval Justice: Cases and Laws in France, England and Germany, 500-1500. Jefferson: McFarland & Co., 2004. info
  • BARTLETT, Robert. Trial by fire and water : the medieval judicial ordeal. Special ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999, 182 s. ISBN 0198219733. info
  • The Oxford history of the prison : the practice of punishment in western society. Edited by Norval Morris - David J. Rothman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, xiv, 425. ISBN 9780195118148. info
  • SEIPP, David. The Distinction Between Crime and Tort in The Early Common Law. Scholarly Commons at Boston University School of Law. 1996. info
  • BAKER, J. H. An introduction to English legal history. 3. ed. London: Butterworths, 1990, xlix, 673. ISBN 0-406-53101-3. info
  • FOUCAULT, Michel. Discipline and punish : the birth of the prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan. Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1979, 333 s. ISBN 0394727673. info
  • BELLAMY, John. Crime and Public Order in England in the Later Middle Ages. 1973. info
Teaching methods
Classes will revolve around group discussion of images and are intended to be fundamentally interactive and participatory.
Assessment methods
Required readings are expected to be completed before the appropriate class (as noted below). Additional readings may be assigned from time to time during the course of the seminar. During the final class students will present research related to the themes explored in the seminar. Logistics: This is a three-week seminar that will meet twice per week for three hours (180 minutes) per session.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: in blocks.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2023/DU2391