Indiana University
History
B352: Later Medieval History
Spring Semester 2005, 2nd 8 weeks Dr. Deborah M. Deliyannis
Place: Ballantine Hall 003 Office: Fine Arts 130
Time: MTWTh 1:00-2:15 pm Office Hours: Tuesday 10:30-12 or by appt.
Section: 6180 email: ddeliyan@indiana.edu
Western Europe from 1100 to 1500 contained many elements that we think of as typically "medieval": knights, feudalism, cathedrals, King Arthur, chivalry, the Inquisition, Crusades, etc. In this course we will examine the complex changes undergone by European society during this period, which resulted in the rise and (in some cases) the decline of the institutions mentioned above. The emphasis will be on western European developments, but we will also talk about Europe's increasing contacts with outsiders, and the way that these helped to transform western Europe.
Course requirements
The following are the requirements for this course:
Attendance and participation 10%
Three 5-7 page papers 36% (12% each)
Participation in debate 14%
Midterm exam 15%
Final exam 25%
Class meetings will consist of lecture and discussion. Readings from the textbooks are assigned in order to provide background and supplementary material to what happens in class. It is very important that you do the reading BEFORE the class for which it is assigned. Discussion, group activities, debates, and other types of exercises will take place at various points in the semester, and you will need to be prepared for these. Attendance will be taken, and your attendance and participation grade will be based on the percentage of your attendance AND your participation in class exercises.
Five papers are assigned in the course of the semester; you must write three of them. If you write a fourth and/or fifth, for each you will receive 1 point of extra credit on your semester average if you get a B-/B/B+, and 2 points if you get an A-/A. Descriptions of the papers may be found here. Each paper must be turned in in class on the day that it is due; in that class meeting, we will discuss the book. Note that even if you choose not to write the paper for a given book, you are still expected to read the book (and you will be tested on it).
On six Thursdays we will have a debate in which members from the class participate. The first week will be a class-wide debate; for the other debates you will be assigned to one team of 3-5 students for one debate. ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE MADE ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS. You will be graded individually on your participation, so each team must allow all its members to participate. A website has been created for each debate, with the debate topic, readings (or links to readings), images, and other materials. Further instructions for the debates can be found here.
The midterm and final
exams will be open-note tests; you may
NOT however use books or photocopies.
It behooves you, therefore, to attend class and take good notes;
also to
take good notes on readings and other materials.
Readings
The textbook for the class, from which readings are assigned on the syllabus, is:
Medieval Worlds: An Introduction to European History, 300-1492, by Jo Ann Hoeppner Moran Cruz and Richard Gerberding (Houghton-Mifflin, 2004).
There are also five full-length texts assigned, which can be bought in the bookstore:
The Poem of the Cid, trans. Rita Hamilton and Janet Perry (Penguin: 1984).
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, trans. M. T. Clanchy and B. Radice (Penguin, 2004).
The Life of Christina of Markyate: A Twelfth-Century Recluse, trans. C. H. Talbot (University of Toronto Press, 1998).
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error, trans. Barbara Bray (Knopf, 1979).
The Paston Letters: A Selection in Modern Spelling, ed. Norman Davis (Oxford University Press, 1999).
Four of these are primary sources; the fifth (Montaillou) is the work of a modern scholar. These readings will introduce us to the ways that medieval Europeans thought about their own culture and society.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Week
1
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 262-317,
324-349
Mar. 7 Introduction to the Middle Ages: who, what, where in 1100
Mar. 8 1100-1200: political outline
Mar. 9 The Crusades
Mar. 10 Church and State
debate:
Henry II vs.
Thomas Becket
Spring Break
Week 2
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 318-324,
350-375,
393-406
Mar. 21 Paper 1 due: The Poem of the Cid
Mar. 22
12th century government:
Feudalism? Political theory vs.
practice
Mar. 23
The rise of the cities and
the "twelfth century Renaissance"
Mar. 24 Gothic architecture and spirituality
Week 3
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 385-393,
439-458
Mar. 28 Paper 2 due: Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Mar. 29 The Upper Classes: Chivalry and Courtly Love
Mar. 30 Movie and discussion
Mar. 31 Movie and discussion
Week 4
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 378-385,
416-431
Apr. 4
Paper 3
due: The
Life of Christina of Markyate
Apr. 5
Peasants
and manorialism
Apr. 6 Political outline 1200-1300
Apr. 7 13th c. government
Week 5
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 407-416,
431-438,
458-466
Apr. 11 Midterm exam
Apr. 12 13th c. religion I: the papal monarchy, church reform and 4th Lateran
Apr. 13 13th c. religion II: religious orders and popular religion
Apr. 14 13th c. religion III: heresy
Week 6
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 469-498
Apr. 18 Paper 4 due: Montaillou
Apr. 19
Political
outline: 1300-1500
Apr. 20 The Black Death
Apr. 21 The Hundred Years' War and Joan of Arc
Week 7
Medieval
Worlds, pp. 499-535
Apr. 25 Paper 5 due: The Paston Letters
Apr. 26 The Late Medieval Papacy
Apr. 27 Late Medieval Spiritualities
Apr. 28
The end of the Middle
Ages
debate:
the
end of the Middle Ages?
Final Exam: Wednesday,
May 4, 5-7 pm, in the
regular classroom