HIST 417: Medieval Europe (500-1500)

Course Outline

The purpose of this course is to introduce the main developments in the history of Western Europe from the end of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance. Within a broadly chronological context, we will examine the various political, religious and social changes in the West which occurred during that period.

1. The Late Roman Empire and the Germanic Invasions
   • The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – the Germanic barbarians
2. Rome’s Heirs: The Barbarian Kingdoms
   • The Merovingians – Visigothic Spain – Ostrogothic and Lombardic Italy
3. Early Anglo-Saxon England
   • Late Roman Britain – the Anglo-Saxon invasions – the early kingdoms
4. The Early Medieval Church
   • Early Christianity – origins of the Papacy – monasticism
5. The Carolingians
   • Charlemagne and his successors – the Carolingian Renaissance
6. Europe under Siege: the Moors and the Vikings
   • Islam and the Pirenne thesis – the Vikings: raids, settlement, conquest and discovery
7. The Feudal Kingdoms
   • The Capetians – the Ottonians – the Normans – feudalism – kingship
8. Papacy, Reform and Empire
   • Ecclesiastical Reform – the Holy Roman Empire
9. Europe in the East: the Crusades
10. Society and Economy in the High Middle Ages: I
    • Social structures – rural society and agrarian economy – chivalry
11. Society and Economy in the High Middle Ages: II
    • Urban society – trade and manufacture – the universities
12. The Fourteenth Century: Times of Trouble!
    • The Hundred Year’s War (1337-1453) – The Great Schism – The Black Death
13. The Renaissance
    • Europe in the Fifteenth Century

Course Requirements and Assessment

This course will be assessed on the basis of your attendance and participation, as well as on the in-class presentations and discussions, plus the essays which you will be assigned.

1. Presentations:

Each student will be required to give one oral presentation, which should be about 20-25 minutes in length and should provide an overview of the topic you have been assigned. Each week you will be given a short bibliography of material relevant to the following week’s topic(s); even if you are not giving a presentation, you should try to do some reading (see also no. 3. below!).

2. Essays:

The course will require two essays from every student: the first to be submitted by Monday 15 November 2021, and the second by Monday 3 January 2022 (that gives you about seven weeks for each essay). The purpose of this exercise is to train you in the basic skills of writing history as well as learn something about medieval Europe: therefore, the first essay will be a ‘trial run’ so that we can discuss any problems which you may encounter and which will hopefully be avoided in the second essay. The details of the essays will be found on a separate handout.

3. Participation:

For each weekly topic, I will assign in advance a relevant primary source (in translation), of usually not more than about 10 pages. You should definitely read this material (and, if possible, some of the bibliography, as mentioned in no. 1. above) and be prepared to discuss it in class the following week. Your participation in such discussion will be assessed.

Assessment:

Your final grade for this course will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Attendance and participation:  10%
• Presentation: 30%
• Essay 1: 20%
• Essay 2: 40%