Instructor(s)

Course Description

The Growth of Christianity 700 to 1300. Christianity and Islam. The Papacy. The Religious Orders. Heresies, Avignon and Great Schism, Renaissance, Magic and Witchcraft: European and Ghanaian.  The Rise and fall of scholasticism. Late Medieval Missions and Ghana. 

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course the student will be able to:

1. Become familiar with the spiritual, intellectual, and institutional dimensions of medieval Christianity
2. Trace the historical development of Christian theology in the Middle Ages
3. Consider the interaction between Christian thought and practice and secular society (including political, economic, and social forces)
4. Explore the interaction among Christians and Muslims in Middle Ages
5. Describe the late medieval movements of protest and understand the rise of the Renaissance that ran parallel to the waning of the Middle Ages

Course Outline

Topics

1. The Growth of Christianity 700 to 1300  
2. The Papacy and Hierarchy
3. Byzantine Empire
4. Religious Orders
5. Medieval Heresies
6. Islam and Crusades
7. Avignon and Great Schism
8. Renaissance
9. Popular Religion in The Middle Ages
10. The Rise and fall of scholasticism
11. Late Medieval Missions and Africa

Mode of Delivery

Through lectures, seminars, class interaction, group discussion, reading and assignments

Reading Materials

1. Bornstein, D. E. ed. (2009). Medieval Christianity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
2. Evans. G.R. (2007). The Church in the Early Middle Ages. London: I.B. Tauris.
3. Geary, P. J., ed. (2010). Readings in Medieval History 4th Ed. Toronto: Broadview Press, Ltd.
4. Gonzalez, Justo L. (2010). The Story of Christianity, Vol. I The Early Church to the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper Collins.
5. Madigan, K. (2015). Medieval Christianity: A New History. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
6. Shinners, J. ed., (2009). Medieval Popular Religion, 1000-1500: A Reader, 2^nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.