Department of History

Fall Semester

 HIST 417

MEDIEVAL EUROPE (500-1500)

The purpose of this course is to introduce the main developments in the history of western Europe from the end of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance. Within a broadly chronological context, we will examine the various political, religious and social changes in the West which occurred during that period.

Course Outline

1) The Late Roman Empire and the Germanic Invasions

· The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire -- the Germanic barbarians

2) Rome’s Heirs: The Barbarian Kingdoms

· The Merovingians -- Visigothic Spain -- Ostrogothic and Lombard Italy

3) Early Anglo-Saxon England

· Late Roman Britain -- the Anglo-Saxon invasions -- the early kingdoms

4) The Early Medieval Church

· Early Christianity -- origins of the Papacy -- monasticism

5) The Carolingians

· Charlemagne and his successors -- the Carolingian Renaissance

6) Europe under Siege: the Moors and the Vikings

· Islam and the Pirenne thesis -- the Vikings: raids, settlement, conquest and discovery

7) The Feudal Kingdoms

· The Capetians -- the Ottonians -- the Normans -- feudalism -- kingship

8) Papacy, Reform and Empire

· Ecclesiastical Reform -- the Holy Roman Empire

9) Europe in the East: the Crusades

· ‘nuff said . . .

10) Society and Economy in the High Middle Ages: I

· Social structures – rural society and agrarian economy -- chivalry

11) Society and Economy in the High Middle Ages: II

· Urban society – trade and manufacture – the universities

12) The Fourteenth Century: Times of Trouble!

· The Hundred Year’s War (1337-1453) -- The Great Schism – The Black Death13) The Renaissance

13) The Renaissance

· Europe in the Fifteenth Century 

General Bibliography

Most general works on medieval Europe are at D102-203; also see CB 351-355. The following books are general works dealing with all or most of the period covered by this course. Each individual week’s topic will have a separate, more specific bibliography. Note that Hollister is on RESERVE.

Backman, Clifford R., The Worlds of Medieval Europe (2003): D131.B33

Barber, Malcolm, The Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050-1320 (1992): CB351.B35

Barber, Richard, The Penguin Guide to Medieval Europe (1984): CB351.B57

Barraclough, Geoffrey, The Crucible of Europe (1976): D123 .B37 1976B

Bishop, Morris, The Middle Ages (1985): CB351.B48

*Brooke, Christopher, Europe in the Central Middle Ages 962-1154 (1987): D201.B7

Brown, R. Allen, The Origins of Modern Europe (1972): D117.B68

Cambridge Medieval History (both the Shorter and New editions): D117.C3 .N48 .P75

*Collins, Roger, Early Medieval Europe 300-1000 (1991): D121.C65

Cook, William R., The Medieval World View: An Introduction (2004): CB351.C58

*Davis, R.H.C., A History of Medieval Europe (1988): D118.D29

Heer, Freidrich, The Medieval World. Europe 1100-1350 (1962): D200.H413

*Hollister, C. Warren, Medieval Europe. A Short History (1990): D117.H6 [RESERVE]

Holmes, George, The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe (1988): D102.O94

Hoyt, Robert S., Life and Thought in the Early Middle Ages (1967): D118 .H65 1967

Innes, Matthew, An Introduction to Early Medieval Western Europe, 300-900 (2007): D121.I56

*Keen, Maurice, The Pelican History of Medieval Europe (1969): D118.K26

Koenigsberger, H. G., Medieval Europe 400-1500 (1993): D117.K62

Le Goff, Jacques, Medieval Civilization (1990), esp. pt. I: CB351.L413

Lewis, Archibald Ross, The High Middle Ages, 814-1300 (1970): D113 .L48

*Mundy, John H., Europe in the High Middles Ages 1150-1309 (1991): D200.M86

Nicholas, David, The Evolution of the Medieval World (1992): D117.N53

Peters, Edward, Europe and the Middle Ages (1989): D118.P452

Southern, The Making of the Middle Ages (1953): CB351.S6

Storey, R. L., Chronology of the Medieval World, 800 to 1491 (1973): D118 .S855

Strayer, Joseph R. and D. C. Munro, The Middle Ages 395-1500 (1959): D128.S773

Tierney, Brian & S. Painter, Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300-1475 (1983): D117.T6

Trevor-Roper, Hugh, The Rise of Christian Europe (1989): D117.T7

Waley, Daniel, Later Medieval Europe from Saint Louis to Luther (1964): D202.W35

*Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., The Barbarian West 400-1000, 3rd ed. (1988): D121.W3

For my guide to online resources, see also:

http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~tdavid/courses/hist508www.htm

Course Requirements and Assessment

This course will be assessed on the basis of your attendance and participation, as well as on the in-class presentations and the essays which you will be assigned.

Presentations: Each student will be required to give either one informal oral presentation: these should be about 20-25 minutes in length and should provide an overview of the topic you have been assigned. Each week you will be given a short bibliography of material relevant to the following week’s topic(s); even if you are not giving a presentation, you should try to do some reading.

Essays: The course will require two essays from every student: the first to be submitted by Friday 15 November 2013, and the second by Friday 3 January 2014 (that gives you about seven weeks for each essay). The purpose of this exercise is to train you in the basic skills of writing history as well as learn something about medieval Europe: therefore, the first essay will be a ‘trial run’ so that we can discuss any problems which you may encounter and which will hopefully be avoided in the second essay. The details of the essays will be found on a separate handout.

Participation: For each weekly topic, I will assign in advance a relevant primary source (in translation), of usually not more than about 10 pages. You should definitely read this material (and, if possible, some of the bibliography, as mentioned in no. 1. above) and be prepared to discuss it in class in the following week. Your participation in such discussion will be assessed.

Assessment: Your final grade for this course will be assessed according to the following criteria:

Attendance and participation: 10%

Presentations: 30%

Essay 1: 20%

Essay 2: 40%

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