ARCH30600 Feudal castles and Gothic cathedrals: building medieval Europe, AD1000-1500

Academic Year 2019/2020

This module is a survey of high medieval European culture through the lens of what is arguably its greatest cultural achievement: its architecture. The module starts at the turn of the second millennium when feudal kings began to express their power though castle-building. Lectures are devoted to such key castles as the Tower of London, Château Gaillard, Krak des Chevaliers, Caernarfon, and, closer to home, Trim and Bunratty. The module also covers the stylistic phenomena known as Romanesque (AD1000-1150) and Gothic (AD1150-1500), in the course of which are discussed such famous buildings as the cathedrals of Durham, Lincoln, Speyer, Chartres, Prague and Milan, as well as Christ Church in Dublin, and the abbeys of Cluny, Vézelay, Fountains, and, closer to home again, Mellifont, Athassel, and Moyne.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module students should

(a) know in broad outline the development of European architecture across five centuries;

(b) know, and be able to critique, the arguments by which certain buildings are understood to constitute the canon of medieval European architecture;

(c) have a critical awareness of the methodologies which characterise the disciplines involved in the study of Europe's medieval architectural heritage, and which sometimes underpin tensions between those disciplines.

Indicative Module Content:

Key concepts in architectural history

Europe: from Antiquity to 1000

Romanesque regionalism: Catalonia, Burgundy, western France, Provençe, the Rhineland

Romanesque England

Romanesque Ireland

Origins of Gothic architecture

English Gothic and its resistance to French Gothic

Gothic Ireland 1: beginnings

Gothic Ireland 2: the ‘Early English’ and ‘Decorated’ styles transformed

Late Gothic architecture: the English Perpendicular style

Mendicantism and late Gothic Ireland

Capetian and Norman castles

Earlier Angevin castles in Britain and Ireland: the reign of Henry II

Middle-period Angevin (Gothic) castles in Britain and Ireland and the Crusader lands: the reigns of Richard I, John I and Henry III

Later Angevin (Gothic) castles in Britain and Ireland: the reigns of Edward I, Edward II and Richard II

The Gothic castle 2: the reign of Edward I

The late Gothic tower-house in Ireland

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24

Autonomous Student Learning

76

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
There will be two fieldtrips, and attending one is obligatory (students may attend both).

For successful completion of the module, students will be required to write a 3,000-word essay (50%) and sit an end-of-year examination (50%).

The essay tests students' ability to make practical use of knowledge gained in the classroom. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Examination: 2-hour examination 2 hour End of Trimester Exam No Graded No

50

Essay: 3,000-word essay Week 9 n/a Graded No

50


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

UCD School of Archaeology use standard feedback sheets for all modules. Your feedback is provided on this form - the form also contains feed forward details - this will help you think about how you could improve your approach in future assignments.

Name Role
Ms Angela McAteer Lecturer / Co-Lecturer