HIB041b The Middle Ages Between the Lines: Old Czech Literature as a Historical Source

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Lucie Machalová (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Lucie Machalová
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
  • History (programme FF, B-HI_) (3)
Course objectives
The course aims to introduce students to selected topics of Czech medieval history through Old Czech literature of the 14th and 15th centuries.
Learning outcomes
The graduate of the course will be able to:
- orientate in the Old Czech literature of the Luxemburg era;
- recognise the ways in which selected social and cultural issues are reflected in the sources;
- think about Old Czech literature in a contemporary context.
Syllabus
  • Introductory lesson, medieval literature in our countries
  • Definition of Old Czech literature, genre problems
  • Possible approaches to literature as a historical source
  • Between Heaven and Earth: legends and religious literature
  • Courtly Culture: Chivalric romance and love poems
  • Distant lands in the imagination of medieval society: travel literature
  • Urban society and its reflection in satires
  • Medieval education: educational and philosophical literature
  • Reflections of Hussitism in literary sources
  • A probe into selected foreign medieval works
Literature
  • PETRŮ, Eduard. Zašifrovaná skutečnost : deset otázek a odpovědí na obranu literární medievalistiky. V Ostravě: Profil, 1972, 162 s. URL info
  • ECO, Umberto. Šest procházek literárními lesy :přednášky na Harvardově univerzitě. Translated by Bronislava Grygová. v Olomouci: Votobia, 1997, 196 s. ISBN 80-7198-248-2. info
  • THOMAS, Alfred. Čechy královny Anny : česká literatura a společnost v letech 1310-1420. Vyd. 1. Brno: Host, 2005, 258 s. ISBN 8072941674. info
  • NEJEDLÝ, Martin. Pohleďte do zrcadla! : čtyři příběhy o autorech a čtenářích pramenů pozdního středověku. Vydání prví. Dolní Břežany: Scriptorium, 2016, 747 stran. ISBN 9788088013389. info
  • Hranice smíchu : komika a vážnost ve středověké Evropě. Edited by Vojtěch Bažant - Martin Šorm. Vydání první. Praha: NLN, s.r.o., 2019, 449 stran. ISBN 9788074227165. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, reading sources and discussing them.
Assessment methods
Active participation in the course, students will present an essay on a given topic.
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/HIB041b