Online Medieval Literature

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Medieval Literature

C.S. Lewis speaks of the "overwhelmingly bookish character of medieval culture" and how that quality differentiates the era both from "savagery" and from "our modern civilisation."

"The Middle Ages had roots in the ‘barbarian’ North and West as well as in that Graeco-Roman tradition which reached them principally through books. . . . Throughout [the history of the Roman Empire] its Germanic and (still more) its Celtic neighbours, if once conquered or allied, apparently had no reluctance to assimilate, and no difficulty in assimilating, its civilisation. . . . The assimilation was real and often permanent. In a few generations they might be producing Roman poets, jurists, generals."

This amalgam of classical, pagan, and Christian cultural influences after the fall of Rome makes the Medieval period a trove of literary and historical treasures. In this course, we will look at five Christian poets singing tales-- and making sense-- of their tumultuous times. And we'll hear from a modern poet who adds his voice in interpretation of the famous 12th-century murder on the steps of Canterbury Cathedral that influenced England for centuries. In the Rule of St. Benedict, we will also encounter a decidedly un-poetic approach to creating Christian community in a changing world-- an approach that continues to hold sway today.

As we read and discuss, we will seek to discern God's truth about our world, and we will explore the beautiful relationship between belief and action, faith and culture, religion and art. What we really believe about the world changes how we live in it. Medieval Christians are great teachers of this truth.

See the Medieval Literature Booklist.

View a sample fall semester Syllabus.

Class Schedule

Each family participates in the Literature course based on the schedule set out in the Syllabus. Students complete the reading assignments in advance of viewing the Class Discussion Videos, which are posted every Monday morning and removed the following Sunday at midnight.

Parents, of course, will choose which day of the week the readings are due and when (during the week) the student will view the Class Discussion Video.

Dates for 2022-2023

Students must begin their first reading assignment of the fall semester in early September (precise dates to be announced in August).

The Instructor

Mike Schutt is an English major who went to law school, practiced law, taught law school full time (and still teaches online part time), teaches for Worldview Academy Leadership Camps, and works for Christian Legal Society. He LOVES books and literature, and he LOVES teaching young people to think through reading classic literature! His English degree and his worldview teaching come together nicely in his high school literature class.