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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Magic in the Middle Ages by Universitat de Barcelona

4.6
stars
1,608 ratings

About the Course

Magical thought has always attracted human imagination. In this course we will introduce you to the Middle Ages through a wide conception of magic. Students will have an approach to medieval culture, beliefs and practices from the perspective of History and History of Science. Popular magic, as well as learned magic (alchemy, geomancy and necromancy) will be addressed. Moreover, we will also deal with how eastern practices and texts influenced western culture. In July 2016, the course will contain a brand-new module devoted to astrology. Magic in the Middle Ages offers a captivating overview of medieval society and promotes reflection about certain stereotypes associated with this period. At the end of the course, the students: a) will have overcome the usual prejudices about the Middle Ages, b) will be able to analyze historical documentation from the Middle Ages and recognize the most common patterns of juridical documents regarding witchcraft, and c) will be capable of distinguishing between popular magic and the magic of the learned people; will have a notion of which spiritual practices were allowed in medieval Europe and which ones were related to the devil, and will be aware of the link between a cultural product and the society that produced it. This course is taught in English, although subtitles in English, Catalan and Spanish will also be provided. COURSE SYLLABUS Week 1. Introduction to medieval magic (Pau Castell). Week 2. Magic & Heresy (Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel). Week 3. From Magic to Witchcraft (Pau Castell). Week 4. Magic in Islam (Godefroid de Callataÿ and Sébastien Moureau). Week 5. Astrology & Geomancy (Theo Loinaz, Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel, Godefroid de Callataÿ and Blanca Villuendas). © Gemma Pellissa Prades (coord.), Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel and Joana Palau Mumany Magic in the Middle Ages by Gemma Pellissa Prades (coord.), Delfi I. Nieto-Isabel and Joana Palau Mumany is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License....

Top reviews

A

Feb 17, 2022

Thank you for preparing such an informative course from an objective perspective and allowing us students to gain a new view of seeing thi s still controversial-topic. It was well informative and fun!

BW

Mar 23, 2018

Helpful and insightful. I try to learn as much about witchcraft and all religions as I can. The first set of videos were well lit and well read. I recommend this for anyone who wants to learn more.

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426 - 450 of 525 Reviews for Magic in the Middle Ages

By Angela M

Feb 24, 2018

interesting topic, would be great to have demonstrated more resources during the video and readings for self-study. Great team of scholars! It looks like they had fun doing this. I certainly had fun taking this course.

By Jude S W

May 11, 2018

I like this course, but I wish it was longer and more in depth. I also feel that the grading was a bit elementary. Harder task, required reading or longer tests would make me feel more learned and more accomplished.

By ERIKA C R

Nov 5, 2022

Los ponentes muy profesionales, saben de lo que hablan, y te lo explican de la manera más sencilla posible. La bibliografía utilizada para las unidades en curso son bastas y sumamente profundas en el tema. gracias

By Juan F A

Dec 3, 2023

Some weeks are great, other weeks are a bit boring. Sometimes you could see the teacher reading a teleprompter and that's not very exciting. But sometimes the references and the books named were just amazing.

By summer w

Jun 22, 2020

I enjoyed this class a lot, there were a few times that I had problems. Mainly peer review assignments, the original explanation of it and the rubric asked for different things. Other than that it was great.

By James M

Dec 20, 2017

Good course, I wish there were more academic readings attached to the lessons, especially primary sources. Definitely a worthwhile introduction to the subject, or a support to a study of the Middle Ages.

By kouassi n c

Sep 7, 2017

it was instructive and I appreciated very much this course I knew nothing about the period of the Inquisition and if there is another more in depth course on the subject I will register

By Hasib u R I

Jul 21, 2020

Excellent course. Although I knew a lot about this topic from different Tv series, novels, games etc., yet it digs deeper into those common conceptions which made it more interesting

By Linda t B

Sep 14, 2016

Interesting facts about the thoughts and ideas about magic in the medieval period and how it influenced the society in that time and even still influenced people of the 21st century.

By Daniel S

Jun 7, 2020

It was a little difficult to follow the flow of information. A little too high paced. I would have appreciated a few more bite-sized units. Otherwise, it was an excellent course.

By Tamara C

Jan 6, 2020

Really interesting. I have learnt new concepts. You could realized that some paterns are cyclic; and that nature can give you more knowledge and information than you think today.

By Billy S

Apr 3, 2022

A very good course but a bit too heavy for a beginner, I think when it comes to astrology - there needs to be more visuals and photos so we can understand better how it works.

By Yeşim D Ç

Sep 17, 2020

The course contents were very clearly explained. Understanding the idea of magic through lots of different examples will be helpful, I believe, in Renaissance drama studies.

By Safari J

Apr 4, 2019

I wanted more information on magic rituals and potions and secrets of the herbs.. I feel like I learnt more about Christianity and Islam. Thank you for the knowledge though!

By Scott B

Feb 22, 2018

Informative, goes to a relatively satisfying depth, provides interaction and is coherent throughout. Helped me as a source for inspiration for a graphic novel I'm writing.

By sindhuja g

Oct 5, 2020

As a student who is doing masters in ENGLISH, this course helped me to understand the role of magic in the middle ages well. Thank You so much for such an amazing course.

By Bea P

Dec 28, 2017

Good course, illustrative and entertaining, and academic at the same time. However, I would have enjoyed some content related to Medieval Norse magic within the syllabus.

By Ben G

Apr 7, 2020

Very interesting topic material covered in great depth. Only comment is that there could be more visual aid during the presentations but overall definitely worth doing.

By Yolanda C L G

Oct 16, 2016

Muchas gracias por este excelente curso.

Sin embargo me pareció aburrido, pues faltaron diagramas, cuadros sinópticos, imágenes

En cuanto a información, muy, muy bueno.

By Luiz E B G

May 12, 2020

It's a great course, with good teachers who explain in a diverse way. I recommend! I loved the experience and I am glad to have accomplished this achievement!

By Siddhi D

Jun 14, 2019

This was an amazing course that completely changed the way I looked at conceptions of medieval magic and astrology and also, was extremely informative.

By Jp C

May 29, 2017

Interesting as the class presents a good, multi-faceted view and description of magic, covering Jewish and Muslim magic too, which was a very good part

By Sam T

Mar 7, 2021

besides the astralobe links being out of date and someone not checking them, and me not looking at the discussion board it was an interesting topic.

By Elisabeth

Aug 23, 2020

Original and different perspective of what students of History are used. I´ve enjoyed the cours, the explanations and the content. Thanks so much

By Gorret F

Feb 28, 2018

Un cours bien présenté avec des enseignants compétents et des vidéos utiles, un dernier module qui pourrait être mieux réalisé ou scindé en deux.