History 204/ Religion 218
The Later Middle Ages
Spring Term 2000
Professor: Deeana Klepper
Office and Hours:
Stetson H12
ext. 2125
Monday 10-12, or by appointment
e-mail: deeana.c.klepper@williams.edu
Schedule: February March April May
Course Description: An introduction to the history of Western Europe from the beginning of the eleventh century through the fifteenth century. We will explore the social order in ideal and reality, the rise of urban economy and culture, including the rise of universities, the development of centralized secular and papal monarchies, critique and reform of the Church, the evolution of Christian and national identities and the definition and persecution of marginal groups, and, finally, the widespread social and economic upheaval that marked "the autumn of the Middle Ages," the "renaissance," and the transition to early modern Europe.
In addition to familiarizing students with some of the most important aspects of later medieval European culture and introducing some of the most important historiographical problems and debates related to the study of this period, the course is also designed to provide students with the opportunity to work with primary sources and to improve their ability to think, read and write critically.
Required Texts: Available for purchase at Water St. Books and on 24 hour reserve in the Sawyer Library:
J. Benton, ed., Self and Society in Medieval France: The Memoirs of Abbot Guibert of Nogent
G. Duby, William Marshal. The Flower of Chivalry
Patrick Geary Readings in Medieval History, vol. 2
L. K. Little, Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy
Tierney and Painter, Western Europe in the Middle Ages (6th ed.)
Tierney, The Crisis of Church and State 1050-1300
Also: a course pack of readings, available in the History Office (abbreviated as CP below)
Please bring all reading materials to class on the day(s) they are assigned.
Course Requirements: Students are expected to attend and participate in every class. All reading is to be completed before the class for which it is assigned. The class participation grade will be based on the level of your preparedness and involvement in discussion. Written work for the class will include two 5-7 page papers, a final exam, and a required but non-graded 2-3 page written response to a selected work of historical fiction (see official class list). The grading for the course will be as follows: 20% for class participation, 25% for each of the two papers, and 30% for the final exam. Please note that students must complete all written work in order to receive a passing grade for the class.
Catholic Encyclopedia On Line helpful reference for medieval Church and Christianity
Medieval On Line Reference Book Guide to Medieval Terms [this is a fairly large file -146 kb]
Netserf's Guide to Medieval Terms
Labyrinth web guide to medieval studies
1. Thursday, February 3 Introduction: The Middle of What? Defining the Middle Ages
2. Monday, Feb 7 Those Who Fought (and the women who supported them)
Assignment: Patrick Geary, Readings in Medieval History, 56-62; G. Duby, William Marshal; The Flower of Chivalry, chs. 1, 4, and 5; The Rebellion of Christina of Markyate, in E. Amt, ed., Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe. A Sourcebook, 136-142 (CP)
3. Thursday, Feb 10 Those Who Worked
Assignment: Gies and Gies, Life in a Medieval Village, 6-18; 129-154; "English Coroners’ Rolls," in E. Amt, ed., Women’s Lives in Medieval Europe. A Sourcebook, 188-192 (CP)
4. Monday, Feb 14 Those Who Prayed
Assignment: Tierney and Painter, 227-44 and 299-306; Tierney, The Crisis of Church and State, 31-52; 85-95; Bernard of Clairvaux, "Sermons on the Song of Songs" in P. Geary, Readings, 22-30
Web doc: Song of Songs (translation from the medieval Vulgate Bible text-you don’t need to read the whole thing; just get a sense of its content)
Film: The Return of Martin Guerre
5. Thursday, Feb 17 Crusade and the Crusading Ideal
Assignment: Tierney and Painter, 249-269; Four descriptions of the First Crusade, P. Geary, Readings, 76-110
Web doc: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood
6. Monday, Feb 21 The Commercial Revolution and Urban Society
Assignment: H. Pirenne, Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade, pp. 130-212 ; R. Lopez, The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, 56-102 (CP)
Web doc: Jews and the growth of Speyer
7. Thursday, Feb 24 Putting Things Together: Guibert of Nogent’s Autobiography
Assignment: Guibert of Nogent, Self and Society in Medieval France, Books I and III
8. Monday, Feb 28 Intellectual Culture and the Growth of Universities
Assignment: J. W. Baldwin, The Scholastic Culture of the Middle Ages, 15-57; (CP)
Web doc: Peter Abelard, The Story of My Misfortunes
Film: Stealing Heaven
9. Thursday, March 2 England and France: The Rise of Administrative Monarchies
Assignment: Tierney and Painter, 321-338; C. W. Hollister and J. W. Baldwin, "The Rise of Administrative Kingship," 867-905 (CP)
Web doc: The Dialogue of the Exchequer
10. Monday, Mar 6 The Holy Roman Empire
Assignment: Tierney and Painter, 210-217 and 338-344; G. Barraclough, Origins of Modern Germany, 167-186 (CP); Otto of Freising, "The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa," in P. Geary Readings, 289-297
11. Thursday, Mar 9 Papal Monarchy
Assignment: Tierney and Painter, 313-319 and 349-366; Tierney, The Crisis of Church and State, 97-138
12. Monday, Mar 13 Putting Things Together: Church and State in Conflict—the Case of Thomas Becket
Assignment: English Historical Documents, 2: 702-776 (CP)
Films: Becket, The Lion in Winter
PAPER I DUE
13. Thursday, Mar 16 Christian Identity and Social Boundaries
Assignment: "Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215," in P. Geary, Readings, 111-136; R. I. Moore, The Formation of a Persecuting Society, 1-5; 124-153; J. Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance, 3-12; 37-47; J. Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, 269-302 (CP)
14. Monday, April 3 Religious Dissent and Institutional Response
Assignment: L. Little, 113-145; Anonymous of Lyon and Stephen of Bourbon on Waldo, in Readings in Western Civilization 4: Medieval Europe, 258-261; E. Peters, ed., Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, 103-107; 121-163 (CP)
15. Thursday, Apr 6 St. Francis, St. Dominic and the Evolution of Christian Spirituality
Assignment: Little, 146-169, 197-220; "The Rule of St. Francis," St. Clare of Assisi "Testament," in P. Geary, Readings, 137-144; Jordan of Saxony, "On the Origins of the Order of Preachers" in Readings in Western Civilization 4: Medieval Europe (CP)
Web doc: Thomas of Celano’s Lives of Saint Francis
16. Monday, Apr 10 Magna Carta and after: Representative Government in England
Assignment: P. Geary, Readings, 422-434; G. O. Sayles, The Medieval Foundations of England, 379-408; 431-465 (CP)
17. Thursday, Apr 13 Christian Identity, the Church, and the Rising Nation-State
Assignment: Tierney, Crisis of Church and State, 172-192, J. Strayer, The Reign of Philip the Fair, 237-283 (CP)
18. Monday, Apr 17 Adversity in the 14th Century: Famine and Plague
Assignment: Tierney and Painter, 471-479
Web docs: Famine of 1315; Boccaccio’s description of the plague in Italy, Introduction to the Decameron; Jews and the plague
19. Apr 20 Passover, No Class; self-scheduled film viewing
Film: The Sorceress
20. Monday, Apr 24 The Devil at Work: Fear of Jews and Witches
Assignment: R. Kieckhefer, European Witch Trials, 47-102; J. Trachtenberg, The Devil and the Jews, 57-75 (CP)
21. Thursday, Apr 27 Adversity in the 14th Century: The Hundred Years War
Assignment: Froissart, "Chronicles" and "The Trial of Joan of Arc," in P. Geary, Readings, 365-403
22. Monday, May 1 Adversity in the Fourteenth Century: Social Upheaval
Assignment: R. Dobson, The Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, 153-187 and 199-230 (CP) Also, go back and read Froissart on the Jacquerie in Geary, Readings
PAPER II DUE
23. Thursday, May 4 Reform of the Church: The Rise of Conciliarism
Assignment: F. Oakley, Western Church in the Later Middle Ages, 23-70; St. Catherine of Siena and the Great Schism, in Readings in Western Civ, 422-429; M. Spinka, Advocates of Reform, 106-148 (CP)
24. Monday, May 8 The Renaissance?
Assignment:
Web docs: Petrarch’s Letters; Boccaccio, The Decameron, tenth day, tenth tale (Grizelda); Letter from Petrarch to Boccaccio on his Decameron; Peter Paul Vergerius, The New Education (ca. 1400); Vasari’s Lives of the Artists (select ONE individual "life" of your choice from the index to read)
25. Thursday, May 11 Conclusion and Review
FICTION RESPONSE PAPERS DUE
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