1 HRS 131: MEDIEVAL CULTURE Professor Mary Doyno Fall 2017 Mondays and Wednesdays 3-4:15pm Alpine 218 Catalogue Description Decline of Rome to the Renaissance. Emphasis will be placed on the cultural development of the West from the Germanic invasions until the advent of Humanism with attention to theology, art, architecture and literature to illustrate the dynamics of these diverse years. Course Requirements and Learning Objectives This course provides an introduction to the cultural history of the Mediterranean world and northern Europe from the fall of Rome through the fourteenth century. In particular, we will study the transformation of the antique world and the development of European civilization in the early Middle Ages, the revolutions and innovations of the high Middle Ages, and the political, scholarly, and spiritual developments of the late Middle Ages that paved the way for the Renaissance and Reformation. No background in the study of this era is required. This course aims to introduce you not only to the cultural history of the Middle Ages but also to the skills and techniques of scholarship. We will work extensively with primary sources in translation. We will also discuss some of the scholarly debates that have been inspired by the major events of this period. You will write about both secondary and primary sources in three short written assignments. In your final paper, you will define and analyze a question or problem about medieval culture based on a primary source of your choice. Course Materials Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, forth edition [T] Barbara H. Rosenwein, Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, second edition [R] Online Course Reader, available on SacCT [OCR] Requirements and Grading Writing Exercise #1 (1-2 pages) 10% Writing Exercise #2 (2-3 pages) 15% Writing Exercise #3 (3-5 pages) 20% Midterm 15% Final 20% Course citizenship grade 20% 1. Writing Exercises These writing assignments will ask you to engage directly with both our primary and secondary sources. They will also ask you to integrate secondary material and to develop your critical thinking and writing skills. You will practice much of this work as you complete your primary source worksheets (part of your citizenship grade). 1
2 More detailed instructions and grading rubrics will be given out at least a week before each assignment is due. 2. Midterm and Final Exams The best preparation for these exams is thorough and consistent engagement with our readings, lectures, and discussions. I will also give lecture guides each week; these will be crucial material to help you study for the exams. Everything that we cover in this class is fair game for the exams, but the material on the lecture guides will be privileged. Finally, both exams will include primary source (both written and visual) identification and analysis work. 3. Citizenship Grade Please note your citizenship grade comprises 20% of your final grade. The Citizenship portion of your final grade will be evaluated using the following criteria and the accompanying grading scale. Citizenship Criteria The student is always on time and prepared. You are allowed up to two absences. Additional absences after that (unless accompanied by a doctor s note) will adversely influence your citizenship grade. The student brings a printed copy of the assigned primary source reading. The student has prepared the assigned primary source worksheet The student participates actively in class, consistently contributing thoughtful and thought-provoking comments and questions. The student directs his or her comments not only to the professor but also to other students. The student works energetically in small group or pair activities. The student adheres to the course device policy. The student overall, improves the day-to-day quality of the class for everyone. Grading Scale: A student who earns an A-range grade for citizenship meets or surpasses all of the above criteria in a striking way. A student who earns a B-range grade for citizenship commendably satisfies most or all of the above criteria. A student who earns a C-range grade for citizenship meets few of the above criteria. KEEP IN MIND: All formal written assignments must be typed in Times New Roman 12-point font, doublespaced, and with at least one-inch margins on all sides. All written work will be assessed for style, grammar, syntax, and spelling as well as content. Please proofread your work! Do not rely on your computer s spellchecker or grammar checker. 2
3 Late Work, Extensions, Academic Honesty, and Devices Students are expected to attend all classes. My policy is that assigned work is due in class on the days noted below. I do not grant extensions or make-up exams other than for exceptional and documented circumstances (for instance, an exam conflict, religious holiday, illness, or family emergency). All work should be handed in on time I give a day and an hour due date for each assignment. Thereafter, a penalty of one grade per day applies, including weekend days. Thus if a paper is due at the beginning of class (3 pm) on Monday, work handed in from after that time until 3 pm Tuesday will have a maximum possible grade of a B+, work handed in from 3:01 pm Tuesday to 3 pm Wednesday a maximum possible grade of C+, and so on. Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course, and all cases of suspected plagiarism will be reported. See the campus policy on academic dishonesty at: http://www.csus.edu/umanual/student/stu-0100.htm Please note that plagiarism does not merely involve direct quotation without citation it can include paraphrasing without citation, taking an author s ideas (but not their words) as your own, and so on. If you are not sure, ask! I make frequent use of internet search engines and other services to check for plagiarism. Any assignment in which even the slightest instance of plagiarism is detected will receive a grade of zero points. There will be no option to rewrite the assignment. **No electronic devices are to be used in class. This includes laptop computers and phones. This policy goes into effect the moment you enter the classroom. In an effort to create an engaged and lively intellectual community, I require that all devices (phones, computers, tablets, etc.) be put away before you enter the classroom. Since I am well aware of how strong the desire to check a device can be, I will provide a device box, where you can store your phones/devises during class. If I see you on an electronic device within our classroom (even before class has started), your final participation grade will drop by one full grade.** Getting in Touch Mendocino Hall 2026 Office hours: M/W 1:15-2pm and 4:15-5pm Office phone: 916-278-7329 Email: mary.doyno@csus.edu 3
4 Schedule of Meetings and Assignments [All readings and assignments are to be completed prior to the class for which they are listed] Week One: Introduction Mon 28 Aug Introduction and organization of the course Wed 30 Aug The Transformation of the Roman World in Late Antiquity Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, 1-35 Watch [links to these videos are to be found under the content folder videos ]: Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus Week Two: Cultural Change and Continuity I Mon 4 Sept. No Class Wed 6 Sept Rise of Christianity and Culture of Martydom Read: The Passion of SS Perpetua and Felicitas [OCR] Watch [links to these videos are to be found under the content folder videos ]: The Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome Week Three: Cultural Change and Continuity II Mon 11 Sept. Byzantium in the East Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, 39-50; Procopius, The Secret History [OCR] Watch: San Vitale, Ravenna Writing Assignment #1 Due in Class Wed 13 Sept. Merovingian Culture Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, 58-64; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 38-43, and 53-57 [Venantius Fortunatus, The Life of St. Radegund, and Gregory of Tours, History] Week Four: From Egypt to Arabia and Back Again Mon 18 Sept. The Foundation of European Monasticism Read: Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 27-34, and 17-25 [Athanasius, Life of St. Antony of Egypt, and The Rule of Saint Benedict] Wed 20 Sept. The Rise of Islam Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, 50-57, and 87-96; Reading the Middle Ages, pp 73-80 [ Qur an, The Treaty of Tudmir, and A Tax Demand in Egypt] 4
5 Week Five: Conversion of England and Rise of Carolingians Mon 25 Sept. Conversion of England Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages; pp. 64-75; Reading the Middle Ages, pp.94-105 [Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People] Watch: Sutton Hoo ship burial Wed 27 Sept. The Rise of the Carolingians; Carolingian Kingship Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 96-113; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 135-147 [Einhard, Life of Charlemagne] Watch: Charlemagne: An Introduction Week Six: Carolingian Culture Mon 2 Oct. Administering the Carolingian World Read: Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 148-150 [The Admonitio Generalis]; General Capitulary for the Missi, Spring 802 [OCR] Watch: Charlemagne and the Carolingian Revival Wed 4 Oct. The Carolingian Family Read: Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 150-158 [Dhouda, Handbook for her Son] Week Seven: Exam and Rise of Carolingians Mon 9 Oct. Midterm Exam Wed 11 Oct. From Carolingian to Ottonian Culture Watch: Santa Prassede, and Bronze Doors, Saint Michael s, Hildesheim Week Eight: Medieval Culture c. 900-1000 CE Mon 16 Oct Feudal Culture and Medieval Culture in Transition Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 127-135; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 175-181 [Donating to Cluny]; and Miracles of Saint Foy [OCR] Wed 18 Oct King Alfred of England Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 135-139; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 220-222 [King Alfred, Prefaces to Gregory the Great s Pastoral Care]; and Life of King Alfred [OCR] Week Nine: Revolutions of the Eleventh Century Mon 23 Oct. Papal Reform Movement Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 160-170; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 258-262 [Letters of Gregory VII and Henry IV] Wed 25 Oct. The First Crusade Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp 170-173; Pope Urban II s Call to Crusade [OCR]; and Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 267-277 [First Crusade Sources] Writing Assignment #2 Due in Class 5
6 Week Ten: Revolutions of the Twelfth Century Mon 30 Oct. Cathedral Schools and the Twelfth-Century Renaissance Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 178-195; Peter Abelard, History of My Calamities and prologue to the Sic et Non [OCR] Wed 1 Nov. The Growth of the University Ruth Mazo Karras, Using Women to Think With in the Medieval University [OCR] Week Eleven: Artistic Developments and Its Discontents Mon 6 Nov. Romanesque and Gothic Architecture Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 218-228 Watch: Durham Cathedral, and Pentecost and Mission to the Apostles Tympanum, Vézelay Wed 8 Nov. Monastic Change: The Cistercians Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 181-192; Reading the Middle Ages, pp 296-301 [Bernard of Clairvaux, Apologia, and Peter the Venerable, Miracles] Watch: Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory at St. Denis, and Reims Cathedral Week Twelve: The Thirteenth-Century Mon 13 Nov. The Pontificate of Innocent III (1198-1216) Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 228-239; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 363-368 [Decrees of Lateran IV] Wed 15 Nov. Lay Religious Life: The Vita Apostolica Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 244-252; and 258-264; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 368-372 [The Chronicle of Laon and The Life of Mary of Oignies] Week Thirteen: Thirteenth-Century Religious Movements and Culture Mon 20 Nov The Mendicants Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 252-258; Thomas of Celano, First Life of St. Francis of Assisi [OCR] Watch: Berlinghieri, St. Francis Altarpiece Wed 22 Nov A Holy King: St. Louis Read: Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 416-422 [Joinville, The Life of St. Louis] Watch: Sainte-Chapelle, Paris Writing Assignment #3 Due in Class 6
7 Week Fourteen: Noble Culture/Courtly Love Mon 27 Nov. Courtly Love in Literature Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 213-218 Wed 29 Nov. Courtly Culture/ Courtly Love Read: The Romance of Tristan and Iseult [OCR], and C. Bouchard Nobility and Chivalry [OCR] Week Fifteen: Disasters and Endings Mon 4 Dec. The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century Read: A Short History of the Middle Ages, pp. 283-286; Reading the Middle Ages, pp. 443-450 [Plague Documents] Wed 6 Dec. Ending the Middle Ages and Review for Final Final Examination: Monday, December 11 th 3-5pm 7