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Department
Winter '02
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HISTORY 100: EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION, 325-1517. Washington and Lee University, Fall, 2001. MWF, 9:00 and 10:00 AM: Newcomb 36D. Professor: David Peterson, Newcomb 33, tel. 463-8094, e-mail petersond@wlu.edu. Office Hours: M, W, 11:00-12:00; T, Th, 1:00-2:00, and by appointment. Welcome to History 100! This is an introductory survey of the history and culture of Europe from Late Antiquity, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, down to the Reformation. The over-arching theme of the course will be the rise and decline of the ideal of uniting Europe as a single religious, political, and social polity, "Christendom." To develop this, we will consider the development of political and ecclesiastical institutions, the history of ideas, religious beliefs and practices, warfare, the development of social and economic structures, law, gender roles, tensions between dominant and subordinate groups, and Europe's relations with neighboring societies. SCOPE AND MODALITIES OF THE COURSE. The course is divided into eleven topics, or units. For each unit, about two of the class periods will be LECTURES, and one will be devoted to DISCUSSION. The lectures will be most helpful if you get each unit's reading assignment done beforehand. In addition to a TEXTBOOK, we will read a selection of historical DOCUMENTS and TEXTS from the periods we are studying that will be the focus of the class discussions. For each unit, I will pass out STUDY QUESTIONS in advance to guide you with the reading. EXAMINATIONS. You will take THREE 50 minute exams, two in class on 1 October and 9 November, and a 50 minute final examination, each covering a third of the course. The examinations will offer you some CHOICES: you will be asked to IDENTIFY four out of six items (20 minutes), and you will write an ESSAY on one of two topics (30 minutes). Each identification will count 10%, the essay 60% of the examination grade. In making identifications, you should indicate as nearly as possible the time, location, and above all the historical significance of the four things, persons, events, or quotations from the documents and texts that you have chosen to discuss. Essay topics will be focused, but will draw on several or all of the preceding three or four units of the course. The thought, analysis, and organization of your answers will be as important as the supporting evidence you bring to your arguments. PAPERS. You will also write THREE 4 page essays, due on 28 September, 31 October, and 7 December. These will not require any additional reading. You are to establish a topic or problem centering on one of the major texts that we will be examining in the course by authors such as Augustine, Abelard, or Machiavelli, signaled by asterisks (*) in the schedule of topics and assignments below. Rather than try to summarize the whole work, you should write an essay on some aspect of the text's meaning or significance that you think is particularly important, and support your interpretation with evidence (quotes) from the text itself. You may draw on material in the Tierney documents book and class discussion as well. But you need not, and should not, do any additional reading. This is an exercise in your ability to define a problem and develop an argument with the materials at hand. You may use the study questions as a guide, and should meet with me to discuss your topic at least a week in advance of the deadline. The quality of your writing will count as much as the content of your paper: you are free to seek help from the University's Writing Center in Payne Hall. GRADES. Each exam and essay will count 15% of your final grade: the final (crucial) 10% will be based on your participation in CLASS DISCUSSION. I encourage you to see me to discuss the results of your writing assignments and exams. If you are anxious about exam-taking or your writing ability, remember that active participation in class discussions is also a way to demonstrate your knowledge: the 10% credit for class participation can raise your final grade a full step. You will never be graded down for participating. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. Washington and Lee's Honor Code of course prohibits not only cheating on exams, but PLAGIARISM from books as well as from other students in writing essays: that is, you may not transcribe, paraphrase, or closely summarize another author's work without using quotation marks or making attribution (a footnote). You may not present someone else's words or thoughts as though they were your own. COURSE MATERIALS The following BOOKS are available for purchase at the Campus Store: Thomas F. X. Noble, Barry S. Strauss, Duane J. Osheim, et. al. (NSO). Western Civilization: The Continuing Experiment. Vol. I: to 1715. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. (This is the textbook for the course.) Brian Tierney. The Middle Ages. Volume I: Sources of Medieval History. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. (This is a selection of historical documents.) Augustine. Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. The Song of Roland. Trans. Patricia Terry. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1992. The Letters of Abelard and Heloise. Trans. Betty Radice. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1974. Christine De Pizan. The Book of the City of Ladies. Trans. Earl Jeffrey Richards. New York: Persea Books, 1982. Niccolò Machiavelli. The Prince. Trans. Thomas Bergen. Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan-Davidson, 1947. You should also purchase a COURSE PACKET (CP) that contains the following readings: Gertrude Himmelfarb. "Some Reflections on the New History." American Historical Review 94, 3 (1989), pp. 661-670. Joan Wallach Scott. "History in Crisis? The Others' Side of the Story." American Historical Review 94, 3 (1989), pp. 680-692. Clare of Assisi. "The Testament of St. Clare." In Regis J. Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady, eds., trans. Francis and Clare. The Complete Works. New York: Paulist Press, 1982, pp. 226-232. Thomas Aquinas. Basic Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Ed. Anton Pegis. 2 vols. New York: Random House, 1948, vol. I, pp. 109-111, 879-883; vol. II, pp. 694-697. Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart. A Modern Translation. Trans. Raymond Blakney. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1957, pp. 95-102. Francesco Petrarca. "The Ascent of Mont Ventoux." In Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar Kristeller, and John Herman Randall, Jr., eds. The Renaissance Philosophy of Man. 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965, pp. 36-46. Leonardo Bruni. "Panegyric to the City of Florence." In Benjamin G. Kohl and Ronald G. Witt, eds. The Earthly Republic. Italian Humanists on Government and Society. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978, pp. 149-154, 168-175. Martin Luther. "Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans." In Martin Luther. Selections From His Writings. John Dillenberger, ed., trans. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, Doubleday and Co., 1961, pp. 19-34. "Counter-Reformation Documents." In Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder, eds. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 205-221.
SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS. Introduction (7 September): European Civilization: For Whom, About What? CP: Gertrude Himmelfarb, "Some Reflections," pp. 661-670. CP: Joan Scott, "History in Crisis?" pp. 680-692. (We will discuss these readings, along with those of Unit I, on 14 September.)
Unit I (10, 12, 14 September): Politics, Culture, and Society in Late Antiquity. NSO, pp. 193-213, 227-233, 235-237, 240-243. Tierney, Sources, pp. 3-10. (We will also discuss Himmelfarb and Scott.)
Unit II (17, 19, 21 September): Christianity, the Church, and the Transformation of the Roman World. NSO, pp. 213-221, 233-235, 237-240, 254-262. Tierney, Sources, pp. 11 (Nicene Creed), 16-17 ("Edict of Milan"), 22-25, 42-44 (Canons of Nicea), 50-51 (Leo I). * Augustine, Confessions, Book I, chapters i, v-xvii, xix-xx; Bk. II, all; Bk. III, chs. i-vi, xi; Bk. IV, i-iv, vii-ix, xii-xvi; Bk. V, iii, v-viii, x-xiv; Bk. VI, i, iii-v, vii-viii, xv-xvi; Bk. VII, i-vi, ix-xxi; Bk. VIII, i-ii, v-xii; Bk. X, xxviii-xxxi.
Unit III (24, 26, 28 September): From the Mediterranean to the North: Charlemagne's Empire. NSO, pp. 243-254, 264-265, 267-296, 304-305. Tierney, Sources, pp. 27-34, 36-42, 48, 54-56, 59-66, 76-80, 84-88, 94-95.
FIRST PAPER DUE: 28 September.
EXAMINATION I: 1 October, on units I-III.
Unit IV (3, 5, 8 October): Early Medieval Europe: Agriculture, Commerce, and Feudal Society. NSO: 296-302, 307-320. Tierney, Sources, pp. 114-116 (Peace and Truce of God). * The Song of Roland, pp. 3-146
Unit V (10, 15, 17 October): Popes, Emperors, and Kings: the Conflict between Sacred and Temporal Power. NSO, pp. 320-339, 350-51. Tierney, Sources, pp. 117-130, 200-210.
Unit VI (19, 22, 24 October): Geographical, and Cultural Expansion: Crusades and Renaissance. NSO, pp. 339-348. Tierney, Sources, pp. 133-142, (bottom of) 151-158, 187-199, 222-226. * The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, pp. 57-118.
Unit VII (22, 29 October): Order, Discipline, and Resistance: The High Medieval Syntheses. NSO, pp. 353-355, 370-386, 390-391 [19] Tierney, Sources, pp. 216-222, 227-238, 273-278. CP: Clare of Assisi, pp. 226-232. CP: Thomas Aquinas, vol. I, pp. 109-111, 879-883; vol. II, pp. 694-697.
SECOND PAPER DUE: 31 October..
Unit VIII (2, 5, 7 November): Medieval Foundations of Constitutional Government. NSO, pp. 355-369, 386-389. Tierney, Sources, pp. 239-258, 287-298.
EXAMINATION II: 9 November, on units IV-VIII.
Unit IX (12, 14, 16 November): Breakdown and Reorganization in the Fourteenth Century. NSO, read pp. 395-423, 434-435; skim pp. 423-431. Tierney, Sources, pp. 303-310, 316-322, 325-329, 335-337, 339 (Haec Sancta). CP: Meister Eckhart, "A Sermon," pp. 95-102. * Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, pp. 3-32, 62-64, 86-89, 110-113, 117-120, 153-155, 184-186, 217-218, 251-257.
Unit X (26, 28, 30 November): The Italian Renaissance. NSO, pp. 437-456, 462-471; optional, pp. 475-504. CP: Francesco Petrarca, pp. 36-46. CP: Leonardo Bruni, pp. 149-154, 168-75. * Machiavelli, The Prince, pp. 1-9, 13-26, 29-38, 41-60, 65-68, 71-78.
Unit XI (3, 5, 7 December): Europe Reforms and Divides. NSO, pp. 456-462, 509-543. CP: Martin Luther, "Preface," pp. 19-34. CP: "Counter-Reformation," pp. 272-282.
THIRD PAPER DUE: 7 December.
EXAMINATION III: to be taken during the examination period, on units VII-XI. |
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