J400
Pagans and
Christians in the Early Middle Ages
spring
2010
Course
schedule
(subject
to change)
Note: for full references to readings, see the bibliography
|
Date |
Title |
Readings |
Discussion questions |
Book report |
|
Jan. 12 |
Introduction |
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|
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Jan. 14 |
Fletcher I |
Fletcher,
Chapters 1-2 (pp. 1-65) |
What is Fletcher's main thesis? What sorts of sources does he use? |
|
|
Jan. 19 |
Fletcher II |
Fletcher,
Chapters 3-5 (pp. 66-159) |
Write a list of questions you have about
specific parts of the text. |
|
|
Jan. 21 |
Fletcher III |
Fletcher,
Chapters 6-8 (pp. 160-284) |
Write a list of questions you have about
specific parts of the text. |
|
|
Jan. 26 |
Fletcher IV |
Fletcher,
Chapters 9-11 (pp. 285-416) |
Write a list of questions you have about
specific parts of the text. |
|
|
Jan. 28 |
Fletcher V |
Fletcher,
Chapters 12-15 (417-524) |
Write a list of questions you have about
specific parts of the text. |
|
|
Feb. 2 |
More general
thoughts on conversion |
Cusack, C. Conversion
Among the Germanic Peoples,
ch. 1, "The nature of conversion," pp.
1-29 (1998) Bankert, D. A. "Medieval
conversion narratives: research problems
and pedagogical opportunities" In The
Christian tradition in Anglo-Saxon England: approaches to current
scholarship and teaching,
ed. P. Cavill, pp. 141-152. (2004) Milis, L. "The
Conversion Process: Strategy,
Structure, or Mere Events" In Bonifatius - Leben und Nachwirken.
Die Gestaltung des christlichen Europa im FrŸhmittelalter, ed. F. J. Felten, pp. 9-22. (2007) |
paper topics due How do the ideas of Milis, Cusack, and
Bankert complement or contradict Fletcher's account of the conversion
of Europe? |
|
|
Feb. 4 |
Pagan religion: texts
I |
Bede: The
Conversion of England Church, S. D. "Paganism
in Conversion-Age Anglo-Saxon
England: The Evidence of Bede's Ecclesiastical History Reconsidered." History 93 (2008): 162-180. Demacopoulos, G. "Gregory
the Great and the Pagan Shrines of
Kent." Journal of Late Antiquity 1 (2008): 353-369. |
Having read the relevant passages in
Bede yourself, do you agree with Church and/or Demacopoulos about his
account of Anglo-Saxon paganism? |
Watts, Christians
and Pagans in Roman Britain (1991) |
|
Feb. 9 |
Pagan religion: texts
II |
Ibn Fadlan, selections from the Kitab, on the Rūsiyyah The Christianisation of Russia (988)
from the Russian Primary Chronicle [read AD
980 and AD 983] Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon: read
VI.22-25 Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum XIV, 39 The Heathen Temples of Uppsala, by Adam
of Bremen Wood, I. "Pagan
Religion and Superstitions East of the
Rhine from the Fifth to the Ninth Century." In After Empire: Towards an Ethnology of Europe's Barbarians, ed. G. Ausenda, pp. 253-68. (1995) |
Do you get the sense that the accounts
by these authors provide accurate information about pagan customs? Which text do you find the most convincing? Why? |
Slupecki, Slavonic
Pagan Sanctuaries(1994)
[must be ordered from Interlibrary Loan] |
|
Feb. 11 |
Pagan religion: texts
III |
Selections from the Poetic
Edda [read Voluspo, Thrymskvitha, and
Völundarkvitha] |
These are the only pre-Christian
religious texts to have "survived" in some fashion from northern
Europe; how much do you think they really tell us about pagan religion? What aspects of religion? |
Davidson, The
Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe (1993) |
|
Feb. 16 |
Pagan religion: archaeology
and material culture |
The Franks Casket and also here The Sutton Hoo Mound 1 ship burial (look at the "Related Objects" and read
the "Related articles") |
Preliminary bibliography due in class How far can we get from objects without
any texts to help explain them? How much
does each of the three items inform you about pagan religion? |
Wilson, Anglo-Saxon
Paganism (1992) |
|
Feb. 18 |
Missionaries I: Apostles
and Patrick |
Bible (any
version), Book of Acts Richter, M. "Models
of Conversion in the Early Middle
Ages." In Cultural Identity and Cultural Integration. Ireland and
Europe in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Doris Edel, pp. 116-128. (1995) Shanzer, D. "'Iuvenes
vestri visiones videbunt': visions
and the literary sources of Patrick's Confessio" Journal of Medieval Latin 3 (1993): 169-201. |
In what way does Patrick follow the
biblical model of missionaries? After
reading Richter and Shanzer, how does this change your answer to the
question? |
Thompson, Who
was Saint Patrick? (1999) Dumville/Abrams, Saint Patrick
493-1993 (1993) |
|
Feb. 23 |
Missionaries II: Boniface |
Willibald: the
Life of St. Boniface, and the Letter from Daniel to Boniface McKitterick, R. "Anglo-Saxon
Missionaries in Germany: personal
connections and local influences." In Frankish Kings and
Culture in
the Early Middle Ages,
pp. 1-40. (1995) |
Boniface's biography and his letters (as also described by McKitterick) give us different pictures of Anglo-Saxon missionaries in Germany and the challenges they faced. As sources, how do they complement each other?
|
Cusack, Conversion
among the Germanic peoples
(1998) |
|
Feb. 25 |
Missionaries
IIII: Cyril and Methodius |
The Vita
of Methodius (PDF on Oncourse) Wood, I. "Missionary
Hagiography in the Eighth and
Ninth Centuries." In Ethnogenese und Überlieferung: Angewandte Methoden der
Frühmittelalterforschung, ed. K. Brunner, pp. 189-199. (1994) |
Given Wood's suggestions
about the various reasons that missionary biographies were
written, can you deduce anything from the Vita of Methodius about
why his biography was written in this way? |
Woods, The
Missionary Life (2001) |
|
Mar. 2 |
Rulers I: Constantine
and Clovis |
Eusebius, The Conversion of Constantine Gregory of Tours, the Conversion of
Clovis Shanzer, D. "Dating
the Baptism of Clovis: the Bishop of
Vienne vs the Bishop of Tours." Early
Medieval Europe 7
(1997): 29-57. Read pp. 29-31
and
50-57. Van Dam, R. "The
Many Conversions of the Emperor Constantine." In Conversion in Late
Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Seeing
and Believing, ed. K.
Mills, pp. 127-151. (2003) |
Eusebius'
account of the conversion of Constantine may not be "what really
happened", but it was an enormously influential narrative.
Likewise the story of Clovis. Given the skepticism expressed by
Shanzer and Van Dam, why are these stories so popular? |
Higham, The Convert Kings (1997) |
|
Mar. 4 |
Rulers II: Vladimir
and Olaf Tryggvason |
The Christianisation of Russia (988)
from the Russian Primary Chronicle Bagge, S. "The
Making of a Missionary King: The Medieval
Accounts of Olaf Tryggvason and the Conversion of Norway." Journal
of English and Germanic Philology 105 (2006): 473-513. |
Why do you think that, in the accounts
of Russia and Norway, so much
credit for conversion is given to the ruler? Who benefits from
these narratives? |
Berend, Christianization
and the Rise of the Christian Monarchy (2007) |
|
Mar. 9 |
Queens |
[cf. Bede,
Gregory of Tours] Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon: read
IV.55-56 Nolte, C. "Gender
and Conversion in the Merovingian
Era." In Varieties of Religious Conversion in the Middle Ages, ed. J. Muldoon, pp. 81-99. (1997) online
through IUCAT Consolino, F. E. "Christianising
Barbarian Kingdoms: Queens and Conversion
to Catholicism
(476-603)." In Christian and Islamic Gender Models in Formative
Traditions, ed. K. E.
Börresen, pp. 103-134. (2004) |
|
Harrington,
Christina. Women in a Celtic Church (2002) |
|
Mar. 11 |
The people? Conversion
and archaeology |
Burnell,
S./James, E. "The archaeology of
conversion on the continent in the sixth and seventh centuries : some
observations and comparisons with Anglo-Saxon England." In St.
Augustine and the Conversion of England, ed. R. Gameson, pp. 83-106. (1999) Hoggett, R. "Charting
Conversion: Burial
as a Barometer of Belief?" In Early Medieval Mortuary Practices: New Perspectives, ed. S. Semple, pp. 28-37. (2007) |
We have read a lot of texts about
conversion. How much do you
feel you know about "the people" from those texts, and to what extent
do you think that archaeological evidence provides more evidence?
|
Dunn, The
Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons (2009) |
|
Mar. 23 |
Discussion: developing
a thesis |
|
Preliminary thesis sentence due |
|
|
Mar. 25 |
Responsa: the
Anglo-Saxons and the Bulgars |
The responses of Pope Nicholas I to the
questions of the Bulgars, AD 866, selections Sullivan, R. "Khan
Boris and the conversion of Bulgaria: a
case study of the impact of Christianity on
a Barbarian Society." Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 3 (1966): 53-139. |
More than any other document we have seen, these responses show the potential impact of Christianity upon daily life. How do they compare to the concerns of other missionaries that we have seen (Daniel to Boniface, e.g., or the letters in Bede)? |
|
|
Mar. 30 |
The use of force
I: Charlemagne |
Charlemagne: Capitulary
for Saxony, 775-790 Duggan, L. G. "'For
Force Is Not of God?' Compulsion and
Conversion from Yahweh to Charlemagne." In Varieties of Religious
Conversion in the Middle Ages, ed. James Muldoon, pp. 49-62.
(1997) online through IUCAT |
How forceful were the provisions in
Charlemagne's Capitulary? How do they compare with other examples
documented by Duggan? |
Russell, The
Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity (1994) |
|
Apr. 1 |
The use of force
II: Livonia |
The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia
(selections) Pope Eugenius III, April 11, 1147, Divini
dispensatione II Favreau-Lilie,
M.-L. "Mission to the heathen in Prussia
and Livonia: the attitude of the religious military orders toward
christianization." In Christianizing Peoples and Converting
individuals, ed. Guyda
Armstrong, pp. 147-154. (2000) |
Rough drafts due no
reponse paper today |
Fonnesberg-Schmidt, The Popes and the Baltic Crusades
(1147-1254) (2007) |
|
Apr. 6 |
Pagan reactions: Bulgaria,
Bohemia, Poland |
Ziemann, D. "The
rebellion of the nobles against the
baptism of Khan Boris (865-866)." In Post-Roman Towns, Vol. 2:
Byzantium, Pliska, and the Balkans, ed. Joachim Henning, pp. 613-624. (2007) Lübke, C. "Before
Colonization: Christendom
at the Slav Frontier and Pagan Resistance." In The Germans and the
East, ed. Charles W.
Ingrao, pp. 17-26. (2008) |
Given what you learn from Ziemann and
Lubke about resistance in Bulgaria and the Slav frontier, would you say
that other regions we have studied might also have experienced
resistance to Christianity? Can you think of any hints? |
|
|
Apr. 8 |
Discussion: Peer
review of drafts |
|
Peer reviews due |
|
|
Apr. 13 |
Pagan survivals
I |
Boniface, letter to Pope Zacharias, and
reply Wulfstan, the so-called "Canons of
Edgar" (selections) Dierkens, A. "The
Evidence of Archaeology." In The
Pagan Middle Ages, ed.
Ludo Milis, pp. 39-64. (1998) Hen, Y. "Paganism
and Superstitions in the Time of
Gregory of Tours: Une question mal
posée." In The World of Gregory of Tours, ed. Kathleen Mitchell, pp. 229-240.
(2002) |
Which examples of possible "pagan
survival" do you find the most convincing? Do you think that, as
Dierkens proposes, "the form remained but the content
eroded"? Should it then be considered a pagan survival? |
Filotas, Pagan
Survivals, Superstitions, and Popular Cultures (2005) |
|
Apr. 15 |
Pagan survivals
II |
Mazo Karras, R. "Pagan
Survivals and Synchretism in the
Conversion of Saxony." Catholic HIstorical Review 72 (1986): 553-572. O'
Cathasáigh, D. "The Cult of Brigid: A Study of Pagan-Christian Syncretism in
Ireland." In Mother Worship: Theme and
Variations, ed. James J.
Preston, pp. 75-94. (1982) |
What is the difference between "pagan
survival" and popular Christianity? How much time must have
passed after conversion for a practice to be seen as a Christian
practice rather than a pagan survival? or do you not think that
distinction makes sense? |
Flint, The
Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe (1983) |
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Apr. 20 |
Presentations |
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Apr. 22 |
Presentations |
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Apr. 27 |
Presentations |
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Apr. 29 |
Presentations |
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Papers due
(by email)
on Thursday, May 6, 5:00 pm (the final exam slot for this class)