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Nature in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Times
Exploration of a Critical Relationship 1st Edition
Albrecht Classen Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Albrecht Classen
ISBN(s): 9783111387239, 3111387232
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 178.03 MB
Year: 2024
Language: english
Nature in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Times
Fundamentals of Medieval
and Early Modern Culture

Edited by
Albrecht Classen and Marilyn Sandidge

Volume 29
Nature in the
Middle Ages and the
Early Modern Times

Exploration of a Critical Relationship

Edited by
Albrecht Classen
ISBN 978-3-11-138723-9
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-138763-5
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-138782-6
ISSN 1864-3396

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024933897

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Typesetting: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd.
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck

www.degruyter.com
I dedicate this book to my wonderful son, Stephan M. Classen, who is so deeply
and admirably committed to striving for the sustainability of our world which
our granddaughter Sophie is about to inherit.
Contents
Albrecht Classen
Introduction 1

Albrecht Classen
Nature and Human Society in the Pre-Modern World 29

Fidel Fajardo-Acosta
Unnatural Humans: The Misbegotten Monsters of Beowulf 97

Marialuisa Caparrini
Natural Environment in the Old English Orosius: Ohthere’s Travel
Accounts in Norway 135

Wendy Pfeffer
When Is a Good Time? Health Advice and the Months of the Year 153

Nicole Archambeau
Humans Serving Nature: Beekeeping and Bee Products in Piero de
Crescenzi’s Ruralia commoda 169

Albrecht Classen
Medieval Epistemology and the Perception of Nature: From the
Physiologus to John of Garland and the Niederrheinische Orientbericht.
Bestiaries and the ‘Book of Nature’ 189

Warren Tormey
Waste, Excess, and Profligacy as Critiques of Authority
in Fourteenth-Century English Literature 217

Fabian Alfie
“A New Flood Was Released from the Heavens”: The Literary Responses
to the Disaster of 1333 253

Chiara Benati
The Environmental Causes of the Plague and their Terminology in the
German Pestbücher of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 301
VIII Contents

Connie L. Scarborough
Island, Grove, Bark, and Pith: Nature Metaphors in Teresa de
Cartagena 331

Nurit Golan
Nature, Art, and Human Perception in Giulio Romano’s Room
of the Giants at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua (1532–1535) 353

David Tomíček
Human Body, Natural Causes, and Aging of the World in Czech-Language
Sources of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period 383

Filip Hrbek
Perception of Air Quality in the Czech Lands of the Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries 415

Thomas Willard
Johann Arndt’s Book of Nature: Medieval Ideas During the German
Reformation 435

John Pizer
Imitation vs. Allegorization: Martin Opitz’s Influential Proposal
Concerning Poetic Reflections on Nature 459

Pascale Barthe
François Bernier and Nature in Kashmir: Belonging in Paradise? 485

Reinhold Münster
Cosmology and Pre-Modern Anthropology 505

William Mahan
Praising Perchta as the Embodiment of Nature’s Cycles: Worship
and Demonization of Perchta and Holda in Medieval and Early Modern
Culture 549

List of Illustrations 581

Biographies of the Contributors 583

Index 589
Albrecht Classen
Introduction
Recent data collections by scientists have fully confirmed that the globe is warm-
ing up at a dangerous pace, with a myriad of catastrophic consequences for
human society and the natural environment. But as scholars, we must approach
this topic sine ira et studio, hence objectively, not panic-stricken, and with a full
awareness of the historical dimension of previous catastrophes. Volcanic erup-
tions continue to be a major factor impacting the entire globe until the present, at
times massively impeding air traffic all over the world, such as the eruptions of
Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland between April and June of 2010.1 A similar series of cat-
astrophic events took place in Indonesia in 1815 when Mount Tambora [Tomboro]
erupted, the impact of which was witnessed in the terrible summer of 1816 when
a huge cloud of ash covered much of the sky across the world.2 We can easily
trace a long history of such eruptions, if not explosions, but then also of tsunamis,
earthquakes, wildfires, heat waves, excessively rainy seasons, etc., back through
the Middle Ages and to antiquity, both in the West and in the East, both in the
northern and the south hemispheres. Subsequent human suffering, including
famines, heavy losses of life, and the destruction of civilization, has been with us,
unfortunately, for time immemorial. This does not mean, however, that the pres-
ent situation, with human society having entered the Anthropocene (past the Ho-
locene, that is, the current age in which human impact on nature is threatening
the natural environment, instead of the other way around, unless we talk about
the danger of mutual elimination), is simply to be equated with earlier cata-
strophic developments.
At the same time, it would be just as erroneous to ignore the continuity of
natural processes all over the world that constantly influence human life in nega-
tive terms. As cultural historians, it is our task to analyze and discuss also the
many different aspects determining the relationship between the natural envi-

 Clive Oppenheimer, Eruptions that Shook the World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2011); Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards, ed. Peter T. Bobrowsky. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences
Series (Dordrecht and New York: Springer, 2013). For an excellent overview, precise details, data
concerning the immediate and the long-term after-effects, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1815_
eruption_of_Mount_Tambora (last accessed on Jan. 3, 2023).
 William K. Klingaman and Nicholas P. Klingaman, The Year without Summer: 1816 and the Vol-
cano that Darkened the World and Changed History (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013).

Albrecht Classen, University of Arizona

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111387635-001
2 Albrecht Classen

ronment and human society. Nothing should be viewed in complete isolation. Of

course, the opposite also would not work if we relativized all phenomena as we
observe them today, shrug our shoulders, and simply move on as if the repetition
of earthquakes or tsunamis throughout time would make it unnecessary to care
about those events. Fatalism (not stoicism) carries the danger that we abandon
our human agency, and thus our moral and ethical obligations to protect nature,
as far as that might be possible for us, and our society (also with limited possibili-
ties). But scholars have often opined that narratives about nature are of greater
interest than the territory itself.3
Significantly, there are numerous conditions in nature brought about by
human folly, laziness, ignorance, or lack of understanding. The case of the Japa-
nese nuclear power station Fukushima Daiichi that was hit and badly damaged
by a tsunami on March 11, 2011, would be a clear case in point. Originally situated
on a 35-meter bluff off the coast, which would have been a safe height under nor-
mal circumstances, the bluff was cut down by 25 meters so that the base of the
reactor could be built on solid rock and could also cheaply draw seawater for
cooling. Many years before the 2011 disaster, various reports warning about seri-
ous risks for the power station in that seismically highly active region were issued
but they were all disregarded.4 Greed, lack of oversight, political and economic
pressure, etc., all contributed to this major disaster that has not yet been ade-
quately addressed until the present moment.
Past human experiences can tell us much about suffering, but also pleasures,
when people interact with nature, either voluntarily or involuntarily. One point
is very clear, which many of the papers in this volume express explicitly. Nature

 See, for instance, the famous statement to that effect by Michel Houllebecq, La carte et le terri-
toire (Paris: Flammarion, 2010), 82. This finds an even greater, but perhaps simply naive empha-
sis in the study by Salvatore Liccardo, “Narrating Frontiers of Geographical Imagination:
Remembering Alexander the Great in the ‘Peutinger Table’,” The Past Through Narratology: New
Approaches to Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, ed. Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Rie-
menschneider. Das Mittelalter, Beihefte 18 (Heidelberg: University Publishing, 2022), 143–60; here
160. The article approaches the subject from a cultural-historical perspective that seems to be
understandable and reasonable at first sight, but ultimately betrays a profound disrespect of the
true force in life, nature. Until we change that imbalance in perception, we will not be able to
come to terms with the global crisis we face today. Houllebecq’s statement, “LA CARTE EST PLUS
INTÉRESSANTE QUE LE TERRITOIRE” (sic), could be easily adapted by racists or imperialists, for
instance to argue that the life of the white slave holder is more interesting than the life of the
slaves.
 The Wikipedia article about Fukushima Daiichi provides all the relevant technical, political,
and economic data, which is good enough for our purposes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukush
ima_Daiichi_Nuclear_Power_Plant (last accessed on Jan. 3, 2024).
 Introduction 3

represents a power which is unimaginably superior to people and could crush us

in an instant, as the story in Genesis of the Great Flood (Genesis 6:9–9:17) re-
counts. Notwithstanding all our technological advances, this remains true until
today, which is highly unsettling but also deeply awe-inspiring considering our
lack of true knowledge and understanding of the natural world until today. Even
more unsettling is the fact that our wisdom has not kept pace with our technolo-
gies, as they too threaten our existence. After all, how far have we come since
then in terms of morality, ethics, community, and love for one another? As the
biblical author says: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth
had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all
people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to
destroy both them and the earth’” (Genesis 6:11–13).
Of course, Noah and his family were saved, along with all the animals they
took on board their ark, as we know too well: “But I will establish my covenant
with you, and you will enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your
sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures,
male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every
kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will
come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten
and store it away as food for you and for them” (18–21). The rainbow that
emerged after the flood had receded then symbolized that God would no longer
take revenge upon evil humankind, promising in this covenant that mercy and
pity would rule (Genesis 9:13–16). However, whether people have truly improved
since then, especially with regard to our attitudes toward nature, seems a rather
precarious assumption. In fact, today we seem to be closer to causing our own
extinction than ever before, as many ancient flood stories and other myths have
long warned us about. Can the rainbow, or the covenant, save us in the future?
But let us leave this doomsday thinking behind for the time being, especially
because it depends on so many unpredictable factors not even scientists can take
all of them into account when outlining future-oriented perspectives regarding
global climate, water supply, food production, clean air, etc.5 Instead, we are fully

 Edward O. Wilson, The Future of Life (New York: Alfred F. Knopf, 2003); see also the contribu-
tions to The Future of Life and the Future of our Civilization, ed. Vladimir Burdyuzha (Dordrecht:
Springer Netherlands: Imprint: Springer, 2006). Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on
one’s perspective), recent scholarship in the Humanities and also research in the Natural Scien-
ces have deeply engaged with these existential questions; see now, for instance, Ben Rawlence,
The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2022).
4 Albrecht Classen

justified in firmly stating: all cultural studies require that we pay close attention
to the relationship between human society and nature, as we can observe it in
the Middle Ages and the early modern age, sometimes creating happy spaces (loci
amoeni; idylls in nature, bucolic pastures, edenic gardens, etc.), but also destroy-
ing pristine environments and failing to ensure the sustainability of those it
creates.
Human existence is frail and often subject to internal and external threats,
from war and social instability to economic scarcity and disease, from the raw
powers of catastrophic natural events to new dangers created by our own tech-
nologies and overpopulation. However, at least until today, (Mother) nature has
been mostly kind to us, providing food, shelter, medicine, and safety for most peo-
ple. This does not mean at all that there was less deep consciousness about the
need to cherish, protect, and interact with nature during antiquity or the modern
age; rather, the opposite seems to have been the case.
Each period, each human society, each culture has to cope with nature since
all life is predicated on it, whatever we might mean with the somewhat amorphous
term, ‘nature.’ Is there an equilibrium between both sides? Hardly, if ever, as we
would have to admit, as my points above and those raised by many of the contrib-
utors to this volume about catastrophes clearly underscore. Sometimes, one might
even wonder why or how humans have even managed to survive hurricanes, tidal
waves, or earthquakes in the past, not to speak of their own violence.
By the same token, considering the negative impact of human society on the
environment, nature has always been an overabundant resource, a cornucopia,
really, recovering even where humans have committed the worst abuse of the
earth. The scars left behind by countless wars from antiquity to the present are
mostly either completely gone or hardly visible. Nature has come back and recov-
ered in virtually all territories once ravaged by war (think of the battlefields of
WWI); rivers and lakes thought dead from toxic effluents have, once left in peace,
recovered, such as the Rhine or Lake Constance, the five Great Lakes in North
America, and so forth. The dead zone created by East Germany when they built
their horrible border to West Germany in 1961, a very long line of no-man land
with mines, fences, towers, guards, etc., disappeared in 1989 and has since then
been transformed into the largest national park in Germany, the “Grünes Band,”
or ‘Green Band.’6 However, nuclear explosions and accidents seem to have caused
almost irreversible damage to nature (and people).

 See, for instance, Reiner Cornelius, Wartburg – Werra-Rhön: Mensch und Natur am Grünen
Band Deutschlands. Vom Todesstreifen zur Lebenslinie (Niederaula: Auwei-Verlag, 2010); In this
book series, he has covered the entire former border line between East and West Germany; cf.
 Introduction 5

However, there can be easily a tipping point. The current condition with al-
ready more than eight billion people here on earth might overstress even the most
resilient natural forces, entities, or creatures. It also deserves to be pointed out that
nature is not simply the great enemy of human society. On the contrary, countless
nature poems, art works, musical compositions, philosophical treatises, gardening
activities, agriculture, medical examination of the human body and the appropriate
medicine, etc. have confirmed the profound interconnections between humans and
nature. We as people live because we are part of nature, use nature for our pur-
poses, and hence ought to be grateful to nature for its generosity.
Hardly any human activity can be imagined which has not been closely asso-
ciated with nature somehow in one way or the other. Correspondingly, human
culture can be directly identified through references to nature. Continuing with
our previous volumes in this series, “Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Mod-
ern Culture,” here we deal with fundamental issues once again pertaining to the
natural environment and humans’ interaction with it. However, as the reader
will easily recognize, and which is also the problem in most other studies dealing
with this or related topics, nature is a vast, amorphous, and almost incomprehen-
sible concept embracing virtually all and everything, all living creatures, all inan-
imate objects, space, and even time.
Both the anonymous author of the second- or fourth-century Physiologus and
Thomas of Cantimpré’s Liber de natura rerum (ca. 1225–1244), but then also the
many different authors of encyclopedias since the early Middle Ages (beginning
with Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, ca. 620–630), made huge efforts to recognize,
identify, and explain all and everything in the natural world. Many times, their
analysis was predicated on allegorical readings in accordance with the teachings
of the Church Fathers. This approach gave way to a more objective and analytic
approach only in the seventeenth century with the rise of modern science and
philosophy (Kepler, Galileo, Spinoza, Descartes, etc.). However, the same period
witnessed the emergence of various spiritual movements, such as Pietism, early
modern mysticism, hermeticism, and Rosicrucianism, all closely intertwined with
each other and deeply embedded in nature as the source of all inspirations. In
short, the perception of nature through the human lens continued to be multifac-
eted, multi-leveled and deeply complex concerning the symbolism and allegory of
all things natural. Intriguingly, the postmodern world seems to rediscover that
perspective once again in its turn away from traditional scientific-mechanistic
and mathematical models of world explanations.

also Reiner Cornelius, Gunhild Classen, and Albrecht Classen, Zur Rhön hinauf (Niederaula:
Auwel-Verlag, 2018).
6 Albrecht Classen

We can thus certainly agree that the topic of ‘Nature’ is of fundamental im-
portance for all scholars and scientists invested in the investigation of our mod-
ern world, and for Medieval and Early Modern Studies in particular. For that
reason, I organized the Twenty-First International Symposium dedicated to those
two research fields at the University of Arizona, Tucson, April 28–29, 2023, with
the specific title “Human and Natural Worlds in the Middle Ages and Early Mod-
ern Time: From Ecocriticism to Pre-Modern Anthropology.” As I noted in the call-
for-papers for that conference, “The topic has already been discussed from many
perspectives, so the challenge consists of developing innovative approaches and
discovering more in-depth the relationship of people with their natural environ-
ment through close readings of artworks, literary texts, legal documents, medical
treatises, etc.”
The symposium attracted twenty-two scholars from Germany, Austria, the
Czech Republic, Israel, France, Italy, and the United States, some of whom deliv-
ered their talks via Zoom, others in person. One contribution to this volume was
the result of a new submission after the symposium.7 Subsequently, I began com-
posing my introductory essay, which proved to be a very challenging task for
many reasons, some of which I have outlined above. Instead of studying simply
what pre-modern people thought about nature, the focus incrementally shifted to
the anthropological perspective toward nature, which represents an innovative
approach to this topic. This wider perspective constitutes, however, also huge
tasks because the focus thus became rather slippery and all-encompassing, as
when we hear about early modern cosmology and travels to outer space, or of
medical concepts of the human body within the larger context of the micro- and
macrocosm. Theologians such as Johann Arndt (1555–1621) derived much inspira-
tion from that old and new worldview when they developed their new spiritual-
ism, particularly within the Lutheran Church.
Other papers examined apocalyptic thinking in Old English and Old Norse lit-
erature or the role of gnomes and dwarfs in medieval narratives. Then, the topic
of natural disasters, especially flooding, in fourteenth-century Tuscany, and the
Black Death mattered as much as the discussion of Jewish proprietors of vine-
yards in the late Middle Ages. Moreover, the attention also turned to detailed
manuals for bee keeping, natural metaphors in mystical Spanish literature, the
notion of waste in the early and high Middle Ages, and nature as represented in
late medieval travelogues. I could also attract an art historian who looked at Man-
nerist paintings reflecting the huge power of nature over people. It is also possi-

 For the program, see https://aclassen.faculty.arizona.edu/international-symposia/program-con

ference-2023/.
 Introduction 7

ble that for philosophers and theologians, the notion of nature proves to be so
vast that one can hardly pin it down in one paper or an article.8
Not all presentations subsequently translated into full contributions to this vol-
ume. Those, however, that are now contained in here, are the result of extensive
research, careful and multiple revisions upon my constant prodding, questioning,
and adding, then repeated editing, and expansions of the original versions. Despite
the great variety, the fundamental concept was the perception and role of nature
as seen through the human lens, and this in the Middle Ages and the early modern
age up to the late eighteenth century.
Following I will provide brief summaries of each individual paper. Alto-
gether, I believe that this volume perfectly fits into the concept of ‘Fundamentals,’
and hopefully, this book can then be yet another building block in the critical ex-
amination of the pre-modern world through a variety of new lenses, with the
help of innovative approaches, and by means of a focus on many different sour-
ces up until now either neglected or little studied. For the purpose of setting the
groundwork for all subsequent specialized articles, I developed a long reflective
essay in which I take stock of the relevant research as far as I could identify it,
discussed major literary, philosophical, and theological texts in which nature mat-
ters critically, and considered numerous art works from the pre-modern period
in light of what they have to say about nature. As mentioned above, that had orig-
inally been intended as the introduction, but it subsequently grew beyond the
limits of an introduction and now stands on its own grounds.

Summaries
The topic of nature has been of central concern for philosophers, theologians,
poets, scientists, medical doctors, and artists throughout time. But not just nature;
the critical point has always been the relationship between people and the natural
environment, a relationship that is currently falling out of sync with us, having en-
tered the life-threatening Anthropocene. In my own first contribution, I examine
the wide range of topics regarding nature addressed by a large chorus of voices

 See, for instance, the excellent monograph by Kurt Flasch, Das philosophische Denken im Mittel-
alter: Von Augustin zu Machiavelli (1986; Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun., 2013), who has a huge
number of references to nature in this one volume, but mostly meaning the ‘nature of things,’
or of ‘people.’ John Marenbon, Medieval Philosophy: An Historical and Philosophical Introduction
(London and New York: Routledge, 2007), examines nature occasionally, but mostly in a theologi-
cal context.
8 Albrecht Classen

from late antiquity to the early modern age, framing all that with reflections on
medieval and modern philosophical concepts of what being – philosophically
speaking – and matter actually mean (Heidegger). In this process, I am trying to lay
the foundation for all subsequent articles, identifying major narratives and art-
works where nature, in its own self and in its (involuntary) interaction with hu-
mans assumes central importance both in material and in epistemological terms.
Both human spirituality and dietary and medical concepts depend deeply on the
perception of nature, as countless pre-modern authors determined. But nature
does not seem to care about us people; it can be a deadly force (tsunamis, hurri-
canes, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.), and it is also the basic source of all human ex-
istence (food, shelter, protection). Little wonder that virtually every medieval and
early modern poet, and many artists, interacted in one or the other way with na-
ture. Although many modern people tend to assume that the study of nature was
rather primitive and even ignorant in the pre-modern period, we can now assert
that the major difference to us was, apart from our many more refined research
methods and tools, a different way of reading nature, primarily through an allegor-
ical lens.
Understanding the material properties of nature was simply not enough; in-
stead, studying the symbolic, moral, or theological meanings of all plants and ani-
mals, but also of stones, water, air, and fire (the four elements) was the ultimate
goal of such investigations, which attempted to see the divine essence under the
material cloak. Focusing on the depiction of nature in art history and literature,
but also in the medical sciences, for instance, allows us to trace the evolution of
human perceptions of the environment and the development of philosophical
and theological approaches. The focus on nature makes it possible to identify the
fundamental epistemological strategies prevalent at a certain time, so we also
gain deep insights into the cultural-historical, mental, and emotional components
of a given society or of individuals and their audiences.
It seems quite likely that post-modern sciences and pre-modern studies of na-
ture might meet in the middle again by recognizing the metaphorical quality of
all nature, beyond its material manifestations. The Priest Amîs’s laughter about
the foolish bishop in Der Stricker’s eponymous Middle High German verse narra-
tive (ca. 1220) might signal more than we expected, that is, that critical thinking
about nature was already fully in place in the high Middle Ages, and this on the
basis of centuries of more allegorical and moral readings of nature.
Unfortunately, the interactions between humans and nature have never been
unproblematic, and the current situation looks rather grim with some form of
collapse looming on the horizon. But already early medieval poets voiced consid-
erable concern, reflecting their understanding of the deep dangers of abusing na-
 Introduction 9

ture for its resources, as Fidel Fajardo-Acosta points out in his contribution ded-
icated to the Old English Beowulf and its biblical sources.
The coming of an apocalypse was sensed by the anonymous Beowulf poet, al-
though he expressed his concerns in literary and figurative terms derived from
the most ancient narratives. Already Gilgamesh had to learn the hard lesson that
pomposity, selfishness, and arrogance in the face of nature and the gods did not
take him anywhere. Beowulf, and other early medieval heroes like him, almost
superhuman in shape and power, overcomes his opponents but then dies in the
battle against the dragon, apparently because he had not asked for help from his
retainers, but, more substantially, because he had angered God by violating the
order on which all life, nature, and creation depend.
Beowulf believes the Grendels and the dragon represent the otherworld that
he has to overcome, to clear the path, so to speak, and make room for a new cul-
ture to emerge from the riots in King Hrothgar’s lands, that is, the threat of nature
against civilization. The epic and its biblical sources, canonical and pseudepi-
graphical narratives, stress the reality of the brute forces (cannibalism, murder,
fratricide) active in human society and threatening both nature and humanity
with strong echoes in Old Testament and pseudepigraphical versions of Genesis,
telling of figures and events like Cain’s murder of Abel, and the rise of the
Nephilim).
The figures of giants take us thus back to the origin of humankind and the
creation of nature, which modern humans, the new giants who defy God’s laws,
threaten in its very existence through their hubristic and destructive actions.
Thus Fajardo-Acosta correlates the earliest biblical narratives about fighting and
destruction (1 Enoch, Jubilees) with the imminent apocalypse of our earth as a re-
sult of human impact. Beowulf’s deeds, killing both Grendels with the sword of
the giants, and then killing and being killed by the dragon, much later also serve
as ominous reminders of the potential end of human culture in face of the omi-
nous and overwhelming power of nature that always wants to restore its own
order and equilibrium to the world. Once the giants and monsters, are gone, the
hero has to succumb to his death as well.9

 I have argued somewhat along the same lines in an earlier study; see Albrecht Classen, “The
Epistemological Function of Monsters in the Middle Ages: From The Voyage of Saint Brendan to
Herzog Ernst, Marie de France, Marco Polo and John Mandeville. What Would We Be Without
Monsters in Past and Present!” Lo Sguardo: Rivista di filologia 9.2 (2012): 13–34; online at: https://
www.losguardo.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Spazi_del_mostruoso.pdf (last accessed on Jan. 18,
2024); see now id., “Bestiality in the West: Geraldus of Wales’s Sexual Fantasies about the Irish
Borderlands: A Medieval Colonialist’s Worldview,” Global Journal of Cultural Studies 3 (2024):
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 Microbiology - Exam Preparation
Winter 2022 - School

Prepared by: Associate Prof. Jones

Date: August 12, 2025

Results 1: Practical applications and examples

Learning Objective 1: Ethical considerations and implications
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Learning Objective 2: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Learning Objective 3: Current trends and future directions
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Learning Objective 4: Experimental procedures and results
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Learning Objective 5: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 5: Key terms and definitions
• Current trends and future directions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Literature review and discussion
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Historical development and evolution
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Definition: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Current trends and future directions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 9: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 9: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Abstract 2: Critical analysis and evaluation
Practice Problem 10: Current trends and future directions
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Remember: Theoretical framework and methodology
• Problem-solving strategies and techniques
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 12: Historical development and evolution
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 13: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Note: Literature review and discussion
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 14: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Ethical considerations and implications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Important: Current trends and future directions
• Key terms and definitions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 16: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Note: Study tips and learning strategies
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 18: Problem-solving strategies and techniques
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 19: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 20: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Lesson 3: Case studies and real-world applications
Key Concept: Experimental procedures and results
• Key terms and definitions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 22: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Key Concept: Best practices and recommendations
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Important: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Important: Key terms and definitions
• Comparative analysis and synthesis
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Important: Literature review and discussion
• Current trends and future directions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 27: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Problem-solving strategies and techniques
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Important: Practical applications and examples
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Module 4: Best practices and recommendations
Key Concept: Key terms and definitions
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 31: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Historical development and evolution
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 32: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Literature review and discussion
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Key Concept: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Best practices and recommendations
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 35: Theoretical framework and methodology
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Problem-solving strategies and techniques
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Literature review and discussion
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 38: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 38: Statistical analysis and interpretation
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Ethical considerations and implications
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 40: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Unit 5: Practical applications and examples
Key Concept: Research findings and conclusions
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 41: Practical applications and examples
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Research findings and conclusions
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Study tips and learning strategies
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 44: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Example 44: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Definition: Key terms and definitions
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 46: Ethical considerations and implications
• Key terms and definitions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
[Figure 47: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Important: Practical applications and examples
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
[Figure 48: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 48: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Case studies and real-world applications
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Section 6: Best practices and recommendations
Important: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Historical development and evolution
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Practical applications and examples
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 53: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 54: Best practices and recommendations
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 55: Key terms and definitions
• Problem-solving strategies and techniques
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 56: Experimental procedures and results
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Case studies and real-world applications
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 58: Case studies and real-world applications
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Definition: Historical development and evolution
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Lesson 7: Learning outcomes and objectives
Remember: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Important: Experimental procedures and results
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 62: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Note: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Current trends and future directions
• Comparative analysis and synthesis
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Practical applications and examples
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 66: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 66: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Current trends and future directions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Definition: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Current trends and future directions
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Conclusion 8: Experimental procedures and results
Remember: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Ethical considerations and implications
• Current trends and future directions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Important: Experimental procedures and results
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 75: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Research findings and conclusions
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 77: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Literature review and discussion
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Remember: Problem-solving strategies and techniques
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 80: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Unit 9: Learning outcomes and objectives
Example 80: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Comparative analysis and synthesis
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Example 81: Practical applications and examples
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 82: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 83: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Case studies and real-world applications
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 84: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Important: Ethical considerations and implications
• Ethical considerations and implications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 85: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Literature review and discussion
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Study tips and learning strategies
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Key terms and definitions
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Research findings and conclusions
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
References 10: Practical applications and examples
Example 90: Current trends and future directions
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 91: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 92: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Practice Problem 93: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Definition: Experimental procedures and results
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 95: Statistical analysis and interpretation
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 96: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Literature review and discussion
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
[Figure 97: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Ethical considerations and implications
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 99: Statistical analysis and interpretation
• Research findings and conclusions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Section 11: Current trends and future directions
Note: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 101: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
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