Course: Festivals in Pre-modern Era

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Course title Festivals in Pre-modern Era
Course code KHI/PV310
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Holý Martin, prof. PhDr. Ph.D.
Course content
The course includes the following topics, covered in individual weeks: 1. Introduction to the topic: sources, current research, research methods 2. Royal coronations 3. Tribute journeys and ceremonial entries 4. Rites of passage at the royal court I (births, baptisms, marriages) 5. Rites of passage at the royal court II (funerals) 6. Church rituals and festivities (church holidays, pilgrimages, celebrations of beatifications or canonisations, enthronement of bishops, their funerals, etc.) 7. Rites of passage of the pre-modern nobility (baptisms, marriages, funerals) 8. Festivities and ceremonies in an urban environment 9. Rituals and celebrations in folk culture 10. Academic celebrations and rituals (beanie, matriculation, graduation) 11. Theatre performances in the Middle Ages and early modern period 12. Feasts, dance celebrations 13. Other specific celebrations (festivities of the Order of the Golden Fleece, executions, shooting celebrations, tournaments) 14. European festive culture through the eyes of travellers from the Czech lands

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified, unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
The aim of this compulsory elective course is to familiarize students with the issue of festivities in the Middle Ages and early modern period. Festivities as a constitutive part of social and spiritual life will be presented in terms of their typology, historical significance and function, as well as key developmental trends. Festivities and rituals of European royal and aristocratic courts, ecclesiastical, urban and folk environments, as well as other milieus (guilds, schools, etc.) will be examined in a comparative manner. The course, which also presents methods of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of a number of disciplines (anthropology, ethnology, history, cultural studies, sociology, etc.), will also include the analysis and interpretation of relevant contemporary written, iconographic, and other sources.
By completing the course, students will gain knowledge of various forms of festive culture in the 14th to 18th centuries, as well as insight into the broader context of European cultural, social and political history. At the same time, they will acquire the skills to work with older and recent specialist literature and archival documents relating to various types of festivities and their development in the High and Late Middle Ages and the early modern period. An essential outcome of the course is that students will be able to compare the specific knowledge they have acquired about the Habsburg Monarchy with the general development of festive culture in pre-modern Europe.
Prerequisites
None

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
Credit will be awarded for regular attendance at the course.
Recommended literature
  • Jiří HRBEK. České barokní korunovace. Praha, 2010.
  • Martin HOLÝ. Čehož sem také při ní, panně šlechtičně, aby mě za manžela sobě oblíbila, vyhledávati neobmeškal. Sňatky české a moravské šlechty na prahu novověku (1500-1620), in: Martina HALÍŘOVÁ (ed.), Oznamuje se láskám našim ..aneb svatby a svatební zvyky v českých zemích v průběhu staletí. Sborník příspěvků z konference konané v Pardubicích ve dnech 13. - 14. září 2007, s. 7-18. Pardubice, 2007.
  • Martin HOLÝ. Kultura raně novověkých slavností na příkladu křtů šlechty v českých zemích v 16. a raném 17. století, Historická dílna 7. Sborník příspěvků přednesených v roce 2012, s. 133-145. Plzeň, 2013.
  • Martin NODL - František ŠMAHEL. Slavnosti, ceremonie a rituály pozdního středověku. Praha, 2014.
  • Martin WIHODA - Demeter MLAŤÁK (ed.). Stát, státnost a rituály přemyslovského věku. Problémy, názory, otázky. Brno, 2006.
  • Václav BŮŽEK - Pavel KRÁL (ed.). Slavnosti a zábavy na dvorech a v rezidenčních městech raného novověku. České Budějovice, 1996.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester