Course Description
A history of the political, economic, intellectual, and environmental changes across Europe and the Mediterranean, from the expansion and contraction of the Roman Empire to the tragedies and transformation of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Athena Title
MIDDLE AGES
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
Introduction The Late Roman Empire Early Christianity Christianity and the Roman World Decline of the West The Germanic kingdoms Rise of the Western Church Monasticism Byzantium Rise of Islam Byzantium & Islam The Franks Charlemagne New Invaders The Post-Carolingian West The Ottonians Medieval Society The Secular Orders of Society Church reform / Investiture controversy Investiture controversy / Innocent III Heresies & Mendicants Expansion of Europe / The First Crusade First Crusade Later Crusades Crusaders, Muslims and Greeks High Medieval Monarchy Limitations on Government Rise of Universities & Scholasticism New Intellectual Expressions High Medieval Literature and Architecture The Fourteenth Century The Hundred Years’ War and Late Medieval States War and Rebellion Late Medieval Church and Christian Society Conciliarism and Religious Unrest End of an Era?
Syllabus