What did medieval people see when they stared at the stars? Why did devout monks study science? How did students at the first universities prove the world was round? And how can you tell the time today using an ancient brass astrolabe?
This course will bring the medieval worldview to life. It will be taught via five lectures, richly illustrated with the textures and sounds of the Middle Ages. Each lecture will include stimulus material in the form of readings and images: captivating stories; elegant diagrams; innovatively presented tables. In some you will learn practical techniques: how to use an astrolabe or how to calculate the size of the Earth using only your shadow.
Scientific ideas were not just an important part of medieval culture – they shaped people’s ideas of the universe and their place in it, and continue to colour how we see the world today. We will discuss how Christian scholars depended on scientific ideas from Greece, Arabia and India. We will see how those ideas spread far beyond the confines of monasteries and universities, feeding into many aspects of belief, culture and daily life. Centuries before science came to be defined by professional scientists and their laboratories, study of the created world – as it was universally seen by medieval people – was inseparable from other subjects of learning. It could be carried out anywhere people had ideas and the urge to communicate or use them. Knowledge was seamless, so that a science like astronomy was directly linked to others like mathematics and medicine, music and theology.
This course will reveal the complex and often productive relationship between science and religion. It will investigate the ways in which monks and friars laid the foundations for modern science and technology. And it will communicate the fascination of the forgotten past.
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes for this course are:
- Know about a range of scientific achievements from the Middle Ages (c.500-1500).
- Understand medieval scientific milestones, such as the development of timekeeping and the universities, within their social and cultural contexts.
- Be able to use a long view of the history of science to critically assess claims about modern scientific prowess.
Classes
1. What's medieval about medieval science?
We will examine the idea of the 'Dark Ages' and the pejorative label 'medieval'. We will discuss the relationship between the (problematic) concepts of 'science' and 'religion'. We survey the sources available to historians of medieval science, and we learn some basic medieval mathematical techniques.
2. Clerics, clocks and calendars
For much of the Middle Ages the most advanced science was done in the service of religion. Monks telling the time by the stars and inventing advanced clocks; churchmen computing coded calendars and memorising festivals. We will see how the rituals of Christianity depended on increasingly advanced engineering and astronomy.
3. Translations, schools and universities
We will examine the foundation of the universities, institutions which have shaped science ever since. We will also survey student life and the look at the curriculum, which depended hugely on newly translated works from Greek and Arabic. Why was Aristotle so important? What did ibn al-Haytham have to tell us about our eyes? Find out here.
4. The medieval textbook
This session will be an in-depth look at the most important science book of the Middle Ages, The Sphere by John of Sacrobosco. Studied by virtually every university student for centuries, it had an enormous influence on how people saw the world. It demonstrated that the Earth was round, showed how you could calculate its size, and much more. We'll take a deep dive into it.
5. Instruments and astronomy
Some of the most important science of the Middle Ages was done not through books, but through instruments. In this session we will look at a few instruments, focusing in detail on the most important gadget, the medieval smartphone: the astrolabe.
Typical week: Monday to Friday
For each week of study you select a morning (Am) and an afternoon (Pm) course, each course has five sessions, one each day Monday to Friday. The maximum class size is 25 students. Your weekly courses are complemented by a series of two daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to the learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events.
| c.8.00am-9.00am |
Breakfast in College (for residents) |
| 9.00am-10.30am |
Am Course |
| 11.15am-12.30pm |
Plenary Lecture |
| 12.30pm-1.45pm |
Lunch |
| 1.45pm-3.15pm |
Pm Course |
| 4.00pm-5.15pm |
Plenary Lecture |
| c.6.00/6.15pm-7.15/7.30pm |
Dinner in College (for residents) |
| c.7.30pm onwards |
Evening talk/event |
Evaluation and Academic Credit
If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses.
Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £65 per essay.
For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit.
Certificate of attendance
A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically within a week of your courses finishing.
