The High Middle Ages
Fall Semester 1997

Frank Luttmer
108 Classic Hall
M W F: 10-11, 12-1
866-7205
historians@hanover.edu


Course Description and Objectives

This course is a discussion-oriented seminar on the history of Western Europe from roughly the eleventh- through the thirteenth-centuries, with particular emphasis given to political, religious, and cultural history. Readings include a standard introductory text for background, a historical synthesis of the Crusades, an interpetive study of architecture and learning, and a wide variety of primary texts. The course is designed not only to promote a historical understanding of the High Middle Ages but also to encourage the development of the skills of historical research and writing. Seminar members will be expected to analyze primary documents carefully and thoughtfully, develop and defend their own interpretations, and write a substantive research paper.


Required Readings

Edward Peters, Europe and the Middle Ages
Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades
Charles Radding and William Clark, Medieval Architecture, Medieval Learning
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Electronic Texts and Resources from the Internet


Grades

Final grades will be based on an evaluation of the following.

1. Two mid-term exams (15% each) and a final exam (20%)

2. A Research paper submitted in two drafts (15% for the first draft and 20% for the second)

3. Class participation and daily writing assignments (15%)



Schedule

Sept. 3
The Early Middle Ages
Peters, 105-134; Benedictine Rule

Sept. 5
The Early Middle Ages
Peters, 135-171; Charlemagne; Carolingian Capitularies

Sept. 8
The Material Foundations of Medieval Society
Peters, 180=195; Guibert de Nogent; Charter of Lorris; Wharram Percy

Sept. 10
Lordship and Kingship
Peters, 196-212; Charter of Homage and Fealty; Chronicle of
the Counts of Anjou
; Laws of William the Conqueror; The Bayeux Tapestry

Sept. 12
Church Reform and Conflict with the Empire
Peters, 212-225; Dictatus Papae; Henry IV; Gregory VII; Bernard

Sept. 15
The Byzantine Empire
Peters, 75-92, 171-174; John of Damascus; Iconoclastic Council

Sept. 17
Islam
Peters, 93-118, 125-129; Quran

Sept. 19
The First Crusade
Peters, 225-229; Riley-Smith, xxvii-xxx, 1-17; Fulcher of Chartres;
Ekkehard of Aurach; Anna Comnena

Sept. 22
The Latin East
Riley-Smith, 18-87

Sept. 24
The Crusades in the 12th Century
Riley-Smith, 88-108; Eugene III; Aymeric

Sept. 26
FIRST EXAM

Sept. 29
New Learning and New Architecture
Peters, 231-249; Anselm and Gaunilo

Oct. 1
New Learning and New Architecture
Radding and Clark, 1-33

Oct. 3
New Learning and New Architecture
Radding and Clark, 34-54; Images of Romanesque Art and Architecture

Oct. 6
New Learning and New Architecture
Radding and Clark, 57-76; Suger

Oct. 8
Abelard and Heloise
Letters, 57-106

Oct. 10
Abelard and Heloise
Letters, 109-182

Oct. 15
Abelard and Heloise
Letters, 183-269

Oct. 20
The Papacy and the Fourth Lateran Council
Peters, 250-255; Fourth Lateran Council

Oct. 22
Heresy, the Mendicant Orders, and Popular Religion
Peters, 256-261; Thomas of Celano; Sermon Stories

Oct. 23
FIRST DRAFT OF PAPER DUE

Oct. 24
Heresy and the Inquisition
Peters, 261-263; Reinarius Saccho; Peter Waldo; Inquisition Records

Oct. 29
Jews in the Middle Ages
Peters, 263-270; Canons on Jews; Maimonides

Oct. 31
Central Europe
Peters, 271-282; The Besançon Episode 1157; The Struggle Between
Frederick Barbarossa and Alexander III, 1160-1177
; Frederick II

Nov. 3
England
Peters, 282-288; Constitution of Clarendon; Grim;
Assizes of Clarendon;Magna Carta and at the British Library;
Summonses to Parliament, 1295

Nov. 5
SECOND EXAM

Nov. 7
Iberia and France
Peters, 288-301; Joinville; Louis IX

Nov. 12
Crusading at its Height
Riley-Smith, 109-151; Villehardouin

Nov. 14
The Crusades and the East
Riley-Smith, 152-221, 255-257

Nov. 17
Aristotle and the Schools
Peters, 302-308; Radding and Clark, 81-95;
Statutes; Curriculum; Students; Errors

Nov. 19
Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas

Nov. 21
Urban Culture and Literature
Peters, 321-324; Dante

Nov. 24
Court Culture, Women, and Literature
Peters, 314-320, 324-327; The Marriage of Sir Gawain; Letter to Eleanor

Dec. 1
Gothic Architecture
Peters, 308-314; Radding adn Clark; 143-150; Images of Gothic Architecture

Dec. 3
Music

Dec. 5
Music
FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE

Dec. 10
FINAL EXAM




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