Schedule of Lectures and Reading

Week I

• Tuesday, January 6
  Discussion: History and the Nature of Historical Sources
• Thursday, January 8
  Lecture: Religion and Politics: The Archaic Sacral Norm.
• Friday, January 9:
  Discussion: The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Cursing of Akkad in Perspectives pp. 12-28.

Week II

• Tuesday, January 13:
  Discussion: Sex and the City: The Epic of Gilgamesh
• Thursday, January 15:
  Lecture: Women and Society in the Ancient World
• Friday, January 16:
  Discussion: The Cursing of Akkad & Xenophon's Oeconomicus: "Home" Economics.
  For our discussion today, consider these texts from the point of view of economics. What can we learn from these texts about the economies of these two disparate civilizations.

Week III

• Tuesday, January 20
  Lecture: The Formation of Identity: Herodotus and Classical Ethnography
• Thursday, January 22
  Lecture: The Roman Empire and the Third Century Crisis
• Friday, January 23
  Library Presentation: We will meet today at Lemieux Library for an introduction to some of the research resources available to you through the Library.

Week IV

Please read this chapter with care and pay special attention to pp. 226-32, 236-37, 239-50. The collapse of the Roman Empire in the west creates conditions which greatly influence events in Europe during the early middle ages. Augustine is hard, but worth it. It is his understanding of Christian doctrine which the West inherits and its influence on medieval Europe is therefor great. Here is a different selection from the City of God. You might want to take a more complete look at this seminal work here: http://personal2.stthomas.edu/gwschlabach/docs/city.htm. Another very useful on-line resource for investigating Augustine is the work of James J. O'Donnell at the University of Pennsylvania: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html

• Tuesday, January 27
  Lecture: The World of St. Augustine
• Thursday, January 29
  Lecture: Romans and Barbarians
• Friday, January 30
  Discussion: What can we learn about Germanic kingship from Tacitus's Germania? Let's also consider the status of Christianity in the late Roman empire: Constantine's Oration and Augustine's City of God. How does Augustine explain the Visigothic sack of Rome in 410CE?

Week V

Given the fact that we've missed Tuesday, and that my voice is still not strong, what I propose is that I will lecture as briefly as I can on Thursday and Friday to catch up. On both days we will take some time to discuss Gregory, Bede and Einhard as suggested below, so be prepared!

• Tuesday, February 3
  Lecture: Conversion and Kingship: the Merovingian Dynasty
• Thursday, February 5
  Lecture: Carolingian Kings I
• Friday, February 6
  The primary source analysis / Rough draft is due today
  Discussion: For our discussions this week go back and review carefully Gregory of Tours's History of the Franks and consider it along with Bede's History of the English Church and People and Einhard's Life of Charlemagne. Charles the great constituted a new standard for Germanic kingship. How does he compare with Clovis of the Franks, or Edwin, the Anglo-Saxon king of Northumbria? What does conversion have to do with kingship?

Week VI

Chapter 9 will provide you with some necessary background in the social history of medieval Europe around the year 1000. Pay particular attention to the sections on agriculture and manorialism pp. 301-308. Also read with special care pp. 323-328 paying particular attention to the sections on Feudalism. The sections on "Feudal" monarchy will be especially relevant for week VIII. In addition to chapter 9 you should read or re-read the sections noted below for their respective lectures.

• Tuesday, February 10
  Lecture: Carolingian Kings II
  Re-read with care the section on the Carolingians pp. 288-294
• Thursday, February 12
  Lecture: The Ottonians and the Reform of the Church
  Re-read the section on the Ottonians pp. 294-298. And for today's lecture, look ahead to chapter 10, pp. 346-350.
• Friday, October 13
  No Class Today

Week VII

Note that the subject matter of the lectures will linger for a while in the period 1000-1300. So make sure you are completely familiar with chapters 9 & 10 in both the anthology and the textbook. Moreover, since your term paper is due soon, much of your reading should be devoted to your additional research.

• Tuesday, February 17
  Lecture: The Investiture Controversy.

  Read with care the section in the textbook on the investiture controversy (pp. 345-353). Consider this episode in light of what you learned of Germanic kingship from lecture and from the textbook pp. 295-6 & 336-340: Why did the obvious conflict of interest between Henry III and Leo IX not erupt into open conflict until the issue was joined between Henry IV and Gregory VII? (By the way, who was Matilda of Canossa, and what role did she play in these events?)

  Also, give some thought to the relationship between the investiture conflict and the first crusade (pp. 312-320): How was the Gregorian reform movement aided by Urban II's call for the first Crusade?

• Thursday, February 19
  Lecture: Twelfth Century Renaissance I.

  Read with special care the section in chapter 10 on "The Medieval Intellectual Revival" (pp. 363-380) and consider in general how intellectual movements can influence historical events. Can ideas have historical agency?

• Friday, February 20
  Discussion: Pope Gregory VII To Herman of Metz, in Defense of the Papal Policy Toward Henry IV (pp. 399-405); Pope Boniface VIII Unam Sanctam (pp. 405-407). Consider the review questions on p. 407, especially "How do his (Boniface VIII's) arguments and evidence differ from those of his predecessor Gregory VII"? Drawing together all of the pieces you've read for this period (Chapters 9 & 10: 1000-1300), consider the question: do ideas have historical agency? If so, what are some of the ideas at work in the 12th century renaissance as they appear in the primary source documents of the period?

Week VIII

• Tuesday, February 24
  Lecture: Twelfth Century Renaissance II
• Thursday, February 26
  Discussion: In the context of my remarks on 'feudalism' on Tuesday, have a good look at The Statutes of Lorris (Perspectives, p.359), The Charter Of Liberties for St. Omer (Perspectives, p.362), and especially Magna Carta (Perspectives, p.383).
• Friday, February 27
  Lecture: Feudal Monarchies? France and England

Week IX

In view of how the interests and themes of this course have developed, I'd like to suggest that you concentrate on chapter 14 in the textbook this week and chapter 15 next week. In order to provide a context for this week's lectures, however, make sure that you also review pp. 394 - 407 from chapter 11. We will not devote a specific day this week to discussion, but be prepared to offer your views on several primary sources as we go. In particular you should read with care and think about the documents of the conciliarist controversy in the textbook on pp. 397-8, and The Condemnation of Joan of Arc on p. 404. Consider also relevant sources in Perspectives such as the Papal Bull Unam Sanctam, and Christine de Pisan's Book of the City of Ladies

• Tuesday, March 2
  Term paper due today
  Lecture: Monarchy, Nationalism and the Church
• Thursday, March 4
  Lecture: Women and Society in Late Medieval Europe
• Friday, March 5
  Lecture: Great Schism and the Concilliarist Movement

Week X

• Tuesday, March 9
  Lecture: The Protestant Reformation
• Thursday, March 11
  Lecture: Counter-Reformation and Religious War
• Friday, March 12
  The Prospectus for Future Research is due today.
  Lecture: Conclusions
  Discussion: General discussion of the themes of the course and review for the final exam.

Final Exam