History 208 (Spring 2005):
Society and Culture of Medieval
This course examines life in medieval
Books
The following books are available for purchase:
R. H. C. Davies, A History of Medieval Europe
William Cook and Ronald Herzman, The Medieval
World View
Patrick Geary, Readings in Medieval History
The Letters of Abelard and Eloise
Requirements and Grading
You will be graded based on the following components:
A Paper due on 11/21 (6-8 pages) (20%)
A Midterm on 10/20 (20%)
A Final Examination (20%)
5 Short Response Papers (various due dates) (20%)
Class Participation (20%)
HIST 208 Course Conference
I have set up a course conference on First Class where you can find the course syllabus, e-reserves, paper topics, instructions for writing papers, and changes in reading assignments. Please be sure to check the conference before doing your readings as I do anticipate some modifications. I will also be posting messages from time to time.
E-reserves
All primary source texts, with
the exception of those found in Geary, can be found as e-reserves. Please bring
printed copies of the source readings to class.
Readings
(Please check History 208 Course Conference for changes to reading assignments)
I. The Christian Inheritance
9/8 Introduction: The Bible in the Middle Ages
9/12 The Church Fathers: Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome
Cook and Herzman, chapter 4 (recommended: chapters 1 and 3)
Ambrose, To the Emperor Theodosius (e-reserve)
Jerome, On Classical Literature (e-reserve)
Augustine, City of God, Geary, pp. 48-60
Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Geary, pp. 29-48, on one of the following topics:
- rules for interpreting the Scriptures (Preface) and the difference between use and enjoyment (Book I, chapters 1-4)
- superstition, magic, and divination (Book II, 19-25)
- pagan knowledge and human reason (Book II, 18; 31-32; 36-41)
9/15 Monasticism: St. Benedict and the Benedictine Rule
Cook and Herzman, chapter 6
Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue, Chapters 1-7, 33-35, 48, Geary, pp. 168-77, 183-84, 188-89
Life of St. Benedict (Gregory the Great, Dialogues), Chapters, 1-3, 6, 8, 11, 14-15, 17, 35,
Geary, pp. 199-203, 204, 204-06, 207, 208-09, 210, 217-18
II. The Frankish Empire
9/19 The Merovingians
Davis, Part I, chapters 1-2 (recommended: chapter 3)
Cook and Herzman, pp. 90-104
Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, Book II: chapters 27-33 and 37-43; Excerpts from
Books VII and IX, Geary, pp. 144-48, 150-53, 154-61
9/22 Charlemagne and the Establishment of the Carolingian Empire
Cook and Herzman, pp. 143-55
Einhard, Life of Charles the Great, Geary, pp. 282-96
9/26 Law, Politics, and the Economy under the Carolingians
Pierre Riché, The Carolingians, pp. 117-40 (e-reserve)
Salic Law, Titles II, III, XIII-XVII, XXIV, XXX, XLI, and LXII, Geary, pp. 129-36
Read one of the following groups of Capitularies (all found in Geary):
- Herstal, Paderborn, Mantua, and Concerning the Saxons, pp. 297-303
- The Synod of Frankfurt and On the Study of Literature, pp. 303-09
- De Villis, pp. 309-15
9/29 Women in Frankish Society
Lisa Bitel, Women in Early Medieval Europe (e-reserve)
Life of St. Balthild, Geary, pp. 162-67
Dhouda, Handbook for William (e-reserve)
III. Post-Carolingian Society
10/3 The Break-up of the Carolingian Empire
Davis, Part I, chapter 7
Hugh of Lusignan, Geary, pp. 387-92
Galbert of Bruges, Geary, pp. 393-406
10/6 The Debate over Feudalism
Cook and Herzman, pp. 165-74
Elizabeth Brown, “The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval
Europe,” in American Historical Review 79 (Oct. 1974), pp. 1063-88 (reserve)
Review Hugh of Lusignan
10/13 Otto I and the Saxon Emperors
Davis, Part II, chapter 1
Liudprand of Cremona, A Chronicle of Otto's Reign, Geary, pp. 600-07
10/17 Monasticism and Female Spirituality
Joseph H. Lynch, The Medieval Church, pp. 108-35 (e-reserve)
Foundation Charter of Cluny, Geary, pp. 321-23
Miracles of Saint Foy, Geary, pp. 328-35
Hroswitha of Gandersheim, The Fall and Repentance of Mary (e-reserve)
10/19 Review Session (optional)
10/20 Midterm
IV. Government and Religion in the High Middle Ages
10/24 Economic Revival and the Growth of Communes
N. J. G. Pounds, An Economic History of Medieval Europe, chapter 6 (e-reserve)
Cook and Herzman, pp. 178-84
Guibert of Nogent, The Uprising of the Laon Commune (e-reserve)
Urban Privileges in France and Italy (e-reserve)
10/27 The Investiture Controversy
Davis, Part II, chapter 2
The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII: Book III, 3; Book III, 10; Book III, 10(a);
Book IV, 2; Book IV, 3; Book IV, 12 in Geary, pp. 608-12, 615-19
The Correspondence of King Henry IV in Geary, pp. 624-30 (up through Henry IV's
"Promissio Oppenheimensis"), Henry's vow to Gregory VII at Canossa (Geary, pp.
630-31), and Henry's letter to the clergy and people of Rome, 1081 (Geary, pp. 632-33)
Concordat of Worms, Geary, p. 635
10/31 Germany and Italy in the Twelfth Century: the Reign of Frederick Barbarossa
Davis, Part II, chapter 6
Otto of Freising, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, Geary, pp. 636-45
11/3 French Royal Power in the Twelfth Century: King Louis the Fat of France
Davis, Part II, pp. 284-93
Elizabeth M. Hallam, Capetian France, 987-1328, pp. 1-7, 15-25 (e-reserve)
Suger, The Deeds of Louis the Fat, chapters 2-4, 13-14, 18, 24, 30-31 (e-reserve)
11/7 The Creation of a Centralized Monarchy in France: Philip Augustus and Louis IX
Davis, Part II, pp. 293-300 and 363-70
Joinville, Life of St. Louis, Geary, pp. 691-704
Enquêts of King Louis, Geary, pp. 705-15 (read at least six)
V. Religious Reform and the Crusades
11/10 The First Crusade
Davis, Part II, chapter 4
Fulcher of Chartres, Geary, pp. 407-17
Ibn al-Athir, Geary, pp. 425-29
Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, Geary, pp. 430-32
11/14 Monasticism: Bernard of Clairvaux and Guibert of Nogent
Davis, Part II, chapter 3
Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon on the Song of Songs, Geary, pp. 350-59
Guibert of Nogent, Memoirs, chapters 1-7 and 12, Geary, pp. 360-71
11/17 Heretics, Jews, and the Fourth Lateran Council
Davis, Part II, pp. 326-37
Cook and Herzman, pp. 201-11
Peter Waldo and the Waldensians (e-reserve)
Ranier Sacconi: A Thirteenth-Century Inquisitor on Catharism (e-reserve)
Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council, canons 1, 3-6, 12-22, 42-54, and 67-71, Geary, pp. 443-
44, 445-47, 450-53, 458-62, 465-69
11/21 Paper Due
Library Visit
11/28 The Mendicant Movement: St. Francis and St. Clare
Davis, Part II, pp. 337-49
Cook and Herzman, chapter 10
St. Francis, Rule, Geary, pp. 470-73
Clare of Assisi, Testament, Geary, pp. 474-77
VI. Philosophy and the Culture of Love
12/1 Courtly Literature and Chivalry
Maurice Keen, Chivalry, Introduction (e-reserve)
Marie de France, Eliduc (e-reserve)
Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love, I, chapters 1-6 and II, chapter 8 (e-reserve)
12/5 Abelard and Heloise
Abelard’s Historia calamitatum (History of My Misfortunes) in The Letters of Abelard and
Heloise, pp. 3-43 (old edition, pp. 57-118) (recommended, Letter 2: Heloise to Abelard, pp.
47-55)
12/8 Love and Sexuality
Ruth Karras, Sexuality in Medieval Europe (e-reserve)
Songs of Female Troubadours (Thiebaux, pp. 241-76) (e-reserve)
12/12 Review Session