History 213 (Spring 2004): Conquest and
Crusade in the Medieval Mediterranean
This course examines life in the Mediterranean from the disintegration of the
Roman empire in the fourth and fifth centuries through the Latin Crusades of
the Holy Land in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Books
The following books are available for purchase:
Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity
Mark Whittow, The Making of
Byzantium
Ira Lapidus, A History of Islamic
Societies
* William McNeill and Marilyn Waldman, The Islamic World
* Digenis Akritas:
The Two-Blood Border Lord
Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: A Short History
The books are also available on reserve, although asterisked (*) books will be
used in class.
E-reserves
All primary source texts, with the exception of those
in McNeill/Waldman, can be found as e-reserves. Please bring printed copies of
the source readings to class.
Requirements and Grading
You will be graded based on the following components:
One Primary Source Essay (4-5 pages) (20%)
A Research Paper (10-12 pages)
Final Paper (30%)
On-Time Completion of Research Paper Assignments (10%)
6 Short Response Papers (20%)
Class Participation (20%)
HIST 213 Course Conference
I have set up a course conference on First Class where you can find the course
syllabus, 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.
Please Check Course Conference for Changes in Reading Assignments
I. The End of the
1/29 Introduction: The Geography of
the
Mark Whittow,
The Making of Byzantinum, chapter
2
2/2 Modern-day Invocations of the Crusades
Edward Said, Covering Islam, xi-xlviii (reserve)
Samuel Huntington, "The Clash
of Civilizations" (http://www.alamut.com/subj/economics/misc/clash.html)
2/5 Constantine the Great and the Christianization of the Roman Empire
Peter Brown, The World of Late
Antiquity, preface, chapters i-ii, vii
Eusebius, Life of Constantine
(e-reserve)
Recommended: Averil
Cameron, The Later Roman Empire, chapter 4 (reserve)
Recommended: Selections from the
New Testament (e-reserve)
2/9 The Germanic Invasions of the Fourth
and Fifth Centuries
Brown, chapters ix-xi (recommended: chapter iii)
Eusebius, In Praise of Constantine,
chapters 1-3 (e-reserve)
Ammianus Marcellinus, Histories, Book 26: 4-5; Book 31: 1-9, 13-16
(e-reserve)
2/12 Monks and Asceticism
Brown, chapters iv-v, viii
(recommended: chapter vi)
William Cook and Ronald Herzman, The Medieval World View, pp. 42-46 (reserve)
Athanasius,
Life of St. Anthony, chapters 1-15 and chapters 72-80 or 81-92 (e-reserve)
2/19 Justinian
I and the Reconquest of Western Provinces
Brown, chapter xiv
Whittow,
pp. 38-53 and 96-98
Brown, chapters xii-xiii or Averil Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, chapter
5 (reserve)
Procopius,
Secret History, chapter XI (e-reserve)
Recommended: Procopius,
History of the Wars, vol. I, pp. 451-73 (e-reserve)
II. The Rise of Islam
2/20 Muhammad and the Rise of Islam
Ira Lapidus,
A History of Islamic Societies, chapter 2 (recommended: chapter 1)
Recommended: Whittow,
pp. 82-89
Ibn Ishāq, from Biography of the Messenger of God (McNeill/Waldman)
Qur'ān
(selections) (McNeill/Waldman)
Mahmoud Ayoub, The Qur'an and Its
Interpreters, vol. 2, pp. 1-8, 202-14 (e-reserve)
2/23 The Early Islamic Conquests
Lapidus,
chapter 3
Constitution of
Balādhurī
(McNeill/Waldman): read either the capitulation of Khaibar
or Najrān
2/26 The Rāshidūn
Caliphs and the Umayyad Dynasty
Lapidus,
pp. 45-55
Tabarī,
Death of Uthman, from The History of Prophets and
Kings (McNeill/Waldman)
Ziyād ibn Abīhī, Inaugural Speech
(McNeill/Waldman)
Hasan al-Basrī, Letter to 'Umar II
(McNeill/Waldman)
3/1 The Development of Islamic
Theology and the Sharī'a
Lapidus,
pp. 81-87
Fazlur Rahman, Islam, pp. 1-9 (reserve)
Shāfi'ī,
from The Treatise (McNeill/Waldman)
Group work:
Hadīth
and Sunna in the Early Period: Rahman,
pp. 43, 50-58
Al-Shāfi'ī
and the Development of the Science of Hadīth: Rahman, pp. 43, 58-67
The Structure of the Sharī'a: Rahman, pp. 68-79
Law and State: Rahman,
pp. 68, 75-84
3/4 The 'Abbasid Caliphate
Lapidus,
pp. 56-66, 94-98
Tabarī,
from The History of Prophets and Kings (McNeill/Waldman)
3/8 Religion and Philosophy in the
'Abbasid Era
Lapidus,
pp. 77-80, 87-94, 99-102 (recommended: pp. 67-77)
Ash'arī,
from Elucidation of Islam's Foundations (McNeill/Waldman)
Ash'arī
(e-reserve)
Ibn Hanbal (e-reserve)
Farābī,
from Attainment of Happiness (McNeill/Waldman)
Recommended: 'Abd
al-Jabbār al-Mu'tazilī
(e-reserve)
III. Byzantine Resurgence and the Turkish Conquests
3/11 The Reign of Basil II, 976-1025
Whittow,
chapter 10
Michael Psellus
on Basil II (e-reserve)
3/15 'Abbasid Decline and the Buyids
Lapidus,
chapter 8
Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age
of the Caliphate, pp. 200-17 (recommended: 217-36) (reserve)
Jāhiz,
Merits of the Turks, pp. 110-19 (McNeill/Waldman)
Ibn Miskawaih, from Experience of the Nations, pp. 178-80
(McNeill/Waldman)
3/18 Primary Source Paper Due
In-Class Film: Simon of the Desert
(director, Luis Buńuel)
3/29 The Turkish Successor States: Ghaznavids, Qarakhanids, and Saljuks
Lapidus,
pp. 112-25
Encyclopedia of Islam, articles on Ghaznawids or Karākhānids (Ilek-khāns) or Marshall
Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, on
the Seljuks, vol. II, pp. 42-55
The Book of Dede
Korkut (e-reserve)
IV. Religion and Culture in the
4/1 Islamic Literature
Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of
Islam, vol. 1, pp. 444-51 and pp. 451-57 or 457-64 (reserve)
Tanūkhī,
from Ruminations and Reminiscences (McNeill/Waldman)
Jāhiz,
Merits of the Turks, (McNeill/Waldman)
Mutanabbī,
Four Poems (McNeill/Waldman)
4/5 Philosophy and Mysticism
Ghazālī,
Confessions (e-reserve)
Ibn Rushd, The Decisive Treatise Determining the Nature of the
Connection between
Religion and Philosophy (e-reserve)
or
Maimonides,
Guide to the Perplexed (e-reserve)
4/8 Byzantine Literature
Digenis Akritas: The Two-Blood Border Lord
Research Questions and
Bibliographies Due
V. The Crusades
4/12 The First Crusade: Latin Perpectives
Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades:
A Short History, pp. 1-34
Selections from Fulcher
of Chartres and Bar Solomon (e-reserve)
Robert the Monk, Council of
Clermont (e-reserve)
4/15 The First Crusade: Byzantine and
Muslim Perspectives
Carole Hillenbrand, The Crusades:
Islamic Perspectives, pp. 31-54 (reserve) or
Amin Maalouf, The Crusades through Arab Eyes, pp. 3-18, 37-55
(reserve)
Ibn al-Athir and Anna Comnena
(e-reserve)
Ibn al-Qalānisi in Gabrieli, pp. 24-30
(e-reserve)
Revised Questions and
Bibliographies Due
4/22 The Latin Crusader States,
1096-1204
Joshua Prawer,
Crusader Institutions, pp. 2-8 + pp. 20-35, 85-101, or 201-14 (reserve)
James Brundage,
Crusades: A Documentary History, chapter 5 (e-reserve)
4/26 Muslims and Christians in the
Crusader States
Hillenbrand, pp. 329-36, 354-65
(reserve)
Usāma,
Memoirs (McNeill/Waldman)
Ibn al-Athīr, Ibn al-Qalānisi,
and Sibt Ibn al Jauzi in Gabrieli, pp. 41-48,
56-72 (e-reserve)
4/29 Salah
al-Din and the Third Crusade
Riley-Smith, pp. 109-18
Maalouf, pp.
176-200 (reserve)
Ibn al-Athīr and 'Imād ad-Din in Gabrieli, pp. 114-25, 139-47 (e-reserve)
Recommended: Bahā'
ad-Din found in Gabrieli, pp. 87-113 (e-reserve)
5/3 The Fourth Crusade and the
Capture of Constantinople
Riley-Smith, pp. 109-30
Edward Peters, Christian Society
and the Crusades, chapter 1 (e-reserve)
Rough Draft or Outline for Final
Paper Due (optional)
5/6 Journalistic Views of the
Crusades
Andrew Curry, "The First Holy
War," U. S. News & World Report, 2002
5/14 Final Papers Due