A lecture course aimed at 2^nd and 3^rd year BA and MA students. The course will be assessed by written exam in the last class of the semester.

Devils feature in many medieval texts, as important features of medieval religion.  But the main source for medieval Christianity, the Bible, actually says very little about devils. Medieval writers, and particularly medieval artists, were therefore free to imagine devils as they wished, creating demonic beings that ranged from the terrifyingly powerful to the comically grotesque. This course will examine a range of devils in medieval poetry, prose and drama, drawing also on visual representations of fiends and hell.  Satan, as the fallen angel, is found not only in Christian tradition but also in Judaism and Islam; the course will consider too analogues to Christian devils that are to be found in other Abrahamic traditions.

Schedule:

18.02     From angel to devil

25.02     ‘This is hell, nor am I out of it’

04.03     When the devil tempted Adam

11.03     When the devil tempted Christ

18.03     The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, I

25.03     The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, II  

01.04     When the devil tempted Mankind

08.04     Satan in the Hebrew Bible

15.04     When the devil tempted Job

29.04     Devils and Churchmen: The Friar’s Tale

06.05     Satan in Islam

13.05     Bad Angels

20.05     Protestant Devils

27.05     EXAM

• Training in reading Old and Middle English
• Basic understanding of medieval theological language
• Understanding of the changing role of demonic figures in discussing human experience in Old and Middle English literature
• Appreciation of importance of medieval language of the supernatural in early modern and modern literature