Childhood, Culture, and Religion in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean World

From child saints to child scholars and from child crusaders to child casualties, the experience of childhood varied widely throughout the European Middle Ages. This course will explore how medieval Jews, Christians, and Muslims developed some parallel and some very much divergent concepts of childhood, childrearing, and the proper cultural roles for children in their respective societies. Our readings will combine primary and secondary sources from multiple perspectives and multiple regions of Europe and the Mediterranean World, including a few weeks on the history and cultural legacy of the so-called Children's Crusade of 1312. We will conclude with a brief survey of medieval childhood and its stereotypes as seen through contemporary children's books and TV shows. This course fulfills the Language & Cultural Diversity requirement for Arts & Sciences.

Course Attributes: EN H; BU Eth; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; AR HUM

Childhood, Culture, and Religion in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean World

HISTORY 3424

Section 01