I chose the Maragrita Philosophica [pdf] (the philosophic pearl) as starting point for this course to provide historical perspective and imagination.
The Margarita is a magnificently illustrated encyclopedia compiled in 1503 by a Carthusian monk named Gregor Reisch (c.1467-1525). Reisch produced what is essentially the world’s first interdisciplinary textbook, covering all seven liberal arts and providing appropriate background across disciplines and courses.
Widely used as a university textbook in the early sixteenth century, particularly in Germany, it is a book of historical significance and sheds light on university curriculum and collective scientific knowledge at the close of the Middle Ages, 500-600 years ago.
Separated into twelve chapters, Maragrita Philosophica covers traditional subjects of the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy); and four chapters address natural philosophy, including the elements, meteorology, alchemy, the plant and animal kingdoms, optics and memory. The final sections and topics include heaven, hell, purgatory; and the book concludes with a chapter on moral philosophy, reflecting the period when church, state and education were closely integrated.