Medieval LiteratureWelcome to our page dedicated to Medieval literature, a field ripe with different genres, traditions and forms. On the one hand, the Medieval period produced motifs and images of profound religious gravity, as with Dante's Comedia, yet it also produced some of the most enduring popular story forms in the knightly or courtly romances that troubadours would carry with them from town to town. Apart from these. we also have great innovations in poetic form, philosophical writing, epic adventure and more
The material below is divided into several general categories: there are sections for early Church writing and devotional literature, Northern epic, Jewish and Islamic Literature, courtly tales and more. There are specific sections for the two individuals who may be the most important medieval writers in the Western canon: Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer. We look forward to adding new resources and even our own lesson series in the very near future, so we hope you find cause to visit often. |
Texts, Primary & Secondary Sources
Dante & Boccacio
Medieval Attitudes Towards Vernacular Literature by Dr. Deborah B. Schwartz California Polytechnic State University http://by Dr. Deborah B. Schwartz California Polytechnic State University
Children and Youth in History: The Decameron [Literary Excerpt] George Mason University http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/177 Dante Alighieri Art History of the World http://www.all-art.org/world_literature/dante1.htm Medieval Attitudes Towards Vernacular Literature by Dr. Deborak B. Schwartz California Polytechnic State University http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl203/vernacular.html Dante Alighieri Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dante/ Web Resources: Dante's Inferno Moreno Valley College http://researchguides.mvc.edu/content.php?pid=329065&sid=2691720 Decameron Web: The Novella Before Boccaccio Brown University |
Jewish, Islamic & Arab Prose & Poetry
Islamic Literature Cornell University http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/islamlit.htm
Arabic Literature Cornell University Library http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/arablit.htm Medieval Hebrew Literature: Portrayal of Women Jewish Women's Archive http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/medieval-hebrew-literature-portrayal-of-women Hebrew Poetry: Bibliographic Essay Medieval Hebrew Poetry.org http://medievalhebrewpoetry.org/forfurtherreading725.html Research Guide to Jewish Studies: Jewish Literature The Jewish Theological Seminary http://www.jtsa.edu/The_Library/Finding_Materials/Research_Guides_to_Jewish_Studies/Jewish_Literature.xml Medieval Literature: Jewish Studies Oxford Bibliographies http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199840731/obo-9780199840731-0031.xml Mawlana Rumi Review Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Exeter University http://www.mawlanarumireview.com/ |