History 335/W The Early Middle Ages Fall 2002

Dr. Karen Jolly
University of Hawaii at Manoa Department of History
office: Sakamaki A408 or Sakamaki A203 hours: M 1:30-3 p.m., Th 9-11 a.m., or by appointment
voice: 956-7673 or 956-7687 email: kjolly@hawaii.edu
website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kjolly

Objectives

The purpose of this class is to introduce you to the formative years in the development of European society and to teach you historical thinking skills through the study of primary source materials. We will examine the diverse elements that combined to make medieval Europe distinctive: Graeco-Roman cultures of the Mediterranean, Judeo-Christian traditions of the ancient Near East, Celtic, Germanic, and Scandinavian cultures in western Europe, and the influences of Byzantine and Islamic civilizations. Class discussion and writing exercises geared around the primary sources will develop historical empathy and understanding of the past in context.

Format

The class meetings are discussion-oriented. Students are expected to do the readings assigned prior to coming to class and to be prepared to discuss them, especially the sourcebook selections available on the World Wide Web.
The online component of this course includes the primary source readings, a textbook website with exercises (optional), and a local webpage for online discussion.
This course is designated writing intensive: the writing assignments, both in class and outside class, will build skills in critical thinking and analytical writing. The designation writing intensive means that we will use writing to learn and will approach writing as a process.

Course Materials and Resources

Textbook: C. Warren Hollister and Judith M. Bennett, Medieval Europe: A Short History, 9th ed. (2002), hereafter abbreviated to ME. We will be reading half of this text this semester, with the remainder used next semester in History 336.
- Textbook website: http://www.mhhe.com/hollisterbennett9
Primary source readings: The Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
- This website is a large collection of primary sources in translation from which I have drawn select assignments, each directly linked below in the course outline. You are required to read these documents before coming to class, since they form the basis of discussion. You can read them online, download them to your computer, and/or print them out. Some sites have visual materials that don't print well, but we will project these in class.
Web Dialogue at the History Department Forum.
- Internet Access: You may access the web either from your own home machine or from one of the computer labs on campus. The PC lab is in Keller 213-214; the Mac Lab is in Keller 204; CLIC lab is in Sinclair Library 128; in addition, a few machines in Hamilton Library have web access. For lab hours see Information Technology Services at UH; for library hours, see UH Library mainpage.

Grading

Attendance and Participation: 15%

Attendance in class is assumed; explained absences and tardiness will be noted; points will be docked for unexplained absences and tardiness. Participation is not graded on quantity (talking a lot) but by active engagement in discussion and in writing exercises. In-class and online writing exercises of various kinds will build specific writing skills: analyzing primary sources, developing a thesis, organizing arguments, and using evidence. Paper Workshop days, noted in the outline below are mandatory: please come prepared to work on your paper (specific directions will be given ahead of time).

4 thought Papers: 60%

The 4 papers are designed to help you synthesize the readings and to build up your analytical skills over the semester. The questions are in the syllabus on the following pages. The papers get progressively longer and worth more as your skills increase through the semester. Paper lengths refer to number of pages typed, 12 point, double-spaced.

Paper 1 (3-4 pages; 5%) due 9/05: What defines "medieval Europe" and how do we study it? Explore the geographic, chronological, and cultural framework for early medieval Europe by looking at who, what, when, where, and how.
Paper 2 (4-5 pages; 15%) due 10/03: Explore the cultural interface between the Roman, Christian, and so-called "barbarian" traditions in late antiquity. How are they distinctive from one another in their origins and development? How do they affect each other in the period circa 300-500?
Paper 3 (5-6 pages; 20%) due 11/07: How does western Europe circa 500-700 develop in distinctly different ways compared with Byzantium and the Islamic world? Compare the cultural factors that make up each society.
Paper 4 (6-7 pages; 20%), due 12/17 (final exam): Analyze the emerging kingdoms in Europe in the period 700-1000. What do they have in common and how do they create distinct identities for themselves?

A Note on Plagiarism:

Plagiarism, a form of cheating punishable under the UHM Student Conduct Code, is the use of someone else's words or ideas without citation or acknowledgement. This includes exact/unique phrases without quote marks; interpretive arguments (as opposed to general knowledge information) made to sound as your own when they are not; and sentences, paragraphs, or whole papers copied or downloaded into your paper. Any paper submitted to me that violates this standard will receive an automatic F (0 points) with no resubmission. We can discuss the case, but if we fail to agree on whether plagiarism occurred, the case will have to go to the Dean of Students, where the penalty if guilt is found is worse than an F on a paper.

Midterm (Oct. 10) 10%

The midterm covers ME, chapters 1-3 and primary source readings assigned through Oct. 3. The test asks you to identify and give the significance of key concepts and documents (a choice of 10 out of 15). A longer master list of items will appear in the midterm study guide.

Final exam: 15%

The final exam consists of a take-home portion, paper #4, due on the day of the final (counted in the points above). Like the midterm, the in-class final exam (15%) will test your understanding of key concepts and select documents (15 out of 20). A master list of concepts and documents is in the final exam study guide.

Attendance and Withdrawal Policies

Attendance and participation are a significant part of the learning process in the course and in the grading. Since much of the learning involves discussion, borrowing notes will not help much, and your absence also hurts other students who do come to class and need your input. Although I encourage you to come to class even if you did not complete the reading assignment, I will give pop quizzes if too many students show up unprepared and discussion lags. Participation includes engaging in dialogue, listening to others, asking questions, and doing in-class and online writing exercises. Poor attendance and lack of participation will negatively affect not only the 15% attendance/participation portion of the grade, but also your ability to do well on the papers and tests. If you miss class, please contact me (preferably ahead of time).
I will sign Withdrawal (W grade forms) during the Restricted Withdrawal Period (Sept. 4-Oct. 25) only with a documented excuse as to why you are unable to complete the course work (e.g., illness, family emergency), but will not sign forms simply because you are not doing well in the course. However, if you are struggling with keeping up or comprehending the material, I am more than willing to work with you to help you with study strategies.
Incomplete ("I") grades at the end of the semester are given only with a documented excuse for students who are otherwise passing and current in the coursework (more than 50% turned in). If something comes up in the semester that may keep you from completing the semester's work, please let me know as soon as possible so we can work out a plan.

Course Outline

I Studying History

08/27 Introducing Medieval Europe

08/29 Doing History: Primary and Secondary Sources

ME, pp. v-xxi, 1-7; preview textbook.
A Sense of History
Using Primary Sources
Paleography on the Web: Medieval Manuscripts in Process

Paper 1 (3-4 pages; 5%) due 9/05:
What defines "medieval Europe" and how do we study it? Explore the geographic, chronological, and cultural framework for early medieval Europe by looking at who, what, when, where, and how.

II Romans, Christians, and Barbarians, circa 300-500

09/03 Late Antiquity
- ME chap. 1
- A Visual Tour through Late Antiquity and An Overview of Late Antiquity
09/05 Romans and Christians
09/10 Christians and Romans
09/12 Augustine of Hippo
- Augustine, Confessions
- Augustine, City of God
09/17 Romans and Barbarians
- ME chap. 2
- Tacitus, Germania (long: skim)
- Salvian, Romans and Barbarians, c. 440
- Ammianus Marcellinus, The Luxury of the Rich in Rome, c. 400
- Waiting for the Barbarians
09/19 Barbarians and Romans
- Huns:
- Visigoths
  - Sidonius Apollinaris, A Civilized Barbarian and a Barbarous Roman
  - Visigothic Code (long: skim and select)
- Ostrogoths:
  - Jordanes, on Theodoric
  - Cassiodorus, Letters of Theodoric
09/24 Boethius
- Consolation of Philosophy

09/26 Paper 2 Workshop

Paper 2 (4-5 pages; 15%) due 10/03:
Explore the cultural interface between the Roman, Christian, and so-called "barbarian" traditions in late antiquity. How are they distinctive from one another in their origins and development? How do they affect each other in the period circa 300-500?

III Divergent Legacies, circa 500-700

10/01 Byzantium
- ME chap. 3
- icons
- Byzantine Art at Dumbarton Oaks
10/03 Age of Justinian
10/08 Early Western Christendom: Celts
10/10 Midterm
- ME, chapters 1-3
- primary source readings through 10/03
10/15 Monks and Popes: Pope Gregory the Great
10/17 Merovingian Gaul: Gregory of Tours
10/22 Anglo-Saxon England: Bede's World
- Bede's Ecclesiastical History (whole): Book I; Book II; Book III; Book IV; Book V.
- Bede, Conversion of England (selections)
- Anglo-Saxon Laws, AEthelbert
- St. Hild
- Anglo-Saxon Charms
- Escomb
10/24 Islam
10/29 Expansion and Contact: Iberia

10/31 All Hallow's Eve Paper 3 Workshop

Paper 3 (5-6 pages; 20%) due 11/07
How does western Europe circa 500-700 develop in distinctly different ways compared with Byzantium and the Islamic world? Compare the cultural factors that make up each society.

IV Early Medieval Cultures, circa 700-1000

11/07 Rise of the Carolingians
- ME, chap. 6
- Pope Gregory II, Appeal to Charles Martel
- Pepin, The Annals of Lorsch
- The Donation of Constantine
- Boniface (see also Correspondence of Boniface)
11/12 Charlemagne
- Einhard, Life of Charlemagne (excerpts)
- Einhard, The Wars of Charlemagne
- Summons to Army
- Capitulary for Saxony
- Capitulary of the Missi
- Capitulary De Villis
- Demarcation of the See of Bremen
- Charlemagne, Letter to Baugaulf of Fulda
- Asnapium Carolingian household inventory
- Aachen images: Carolingian Architecture; The Aachen Cathedral; The Carolingian and Ottonian periods; chapel interior
- full text of Einhard's Life of Charlemagne (long)
- Monk of St. Gall's Life of Charlemagne (long)
11/14 Carolingian Culture
11/19 The 9th Century Invasions
- ME, chap. 7
- The Annals of Xanten, 845-853
- Three Sources on Ravages of the Northmen in Frankland
- Viking and Hungarian Raiders
- Ibn Fadlan, Risala
- Anskar, Apostle of the North
- conversion of Russia: Russian Primary Chronicle, 988
11/21 Recovery: Anglo-Saxon England
- Asser, Life of Alfred
- Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum
- Laws of King Alfred
- Asser's Life of King Alfred (full text)
- AEthelred Unready, Laws of London (money)
- Bayeux Tapestry (password needed)
- Domesday Book: Hecham
11/26 West Francia
11/28 Thanksgiving Holiday
12/3 Feudalism?
- fidelity oaths
- ordeals
- Fulbert of Chartres on mutual obligations
- peace of God
- truce of God
- Charter of Cluny
- Monastery (St. Gall and Monkwearmouth-Jarrow)
12/5 Germany and Italy
- Otto the Great, Gift of a Tax to a Convent, 958
- Otto I, Grant of a Market to Bremen
- Grant of Market, Coinage, and Taxation Privileges to Bishopric of Osnabr�ck,952
- Liutprand of Cremona, visit to Constantinople
- Life of Burchard of Worms
- lex familia, Burchard of Worms
12/10 Europe at the Millenium
- Center for Millenial Studies
- Wulfstan, Sermo Lupi (go to translation)
- Ralph Glaber, The Year 1000
- images of Medieval Tournai (see "a stratified society")
- The Dialogue between Master and Disciple, On Laborers, c. 1000
- Richer of Rheims, Journey to Chartres
- Burgundy betrothal endowment 994

12/12 Paper 4 workshop

Paper 4 (6-7 pages; 20%), due 12/17 (final exam)
Analyze the emerging kingdoms in Europe in the period 700-1000. What do they have in common and how do they create distinct identities for themselves?

12/17 12-2 p.m. Final Exam:

Turn in Paper #4
Exam: Short answer identifications of concepts and documents (15%).

kjolly@hawaii.edu 11/25/02