History 1A Medieval Europe 800-1500

Medieval King Course code: 6RHU
Level 1, Semster 1

Introduction
Staff
Prerequisites
Timetable
Aims and intended learning outcomes
Prescribed and recommended texts
Assessment

Introduction

The overall course, of which Course A forms the medieval section, introduces students to the history of Europe from the Medieval period to the present day. It offers a fresh and stimulating approach to the major forces instrumental in the shaping of politics, society and culture in Europe.

Through a series of thematically linked lectures and seminars, students will be introduced to key factors determining changes in the European experience over time, as well as emphasising continuities from the Medieval world to the present day. Students will be encouraged to develop new insights and to sample new theoretical approaches to European history on a course which aims to stimulate both those who may already have studied a narrower timespan in some depth, and those approaching the subject for the first time.

History 1A will explore the rich diversity of the period covered, but the lectures and seminars of the two courses will share a common focus on the following key themes:

Race and Ethnicity
Order and Rebellion
State Formation
Urban Development and Environmental Change
Women and Gender
Temporal and Spiritual Power

Staff

The lecturers/tutors for this course are:

Students will have a tutor based at the Dumfries Campus.

Prerequisites

This is a 20 credit, level 1 one, contributing to the Liberal Arts degree designation.

There are no pre-requisites for this course.

Timetable

See the calendar and student timetable for latest timetable information.

The course will be taught by means of:

(a) 3 lectures per week;
(b) one seminar approximately each fortnight (one brief introductory meeting, 5 seminars thereafter in each course, focusing on two key themes); you are required to attend all seminars (see Assessment, below)
(c) a tutorial to help you with your essay and a tutorial in which your essay will be returned.

Lecutre hour and location

The class will meet at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for lectures.

You must keep this hour free of other commitments throughout the duration of the course. You are also asked to keep Fridays at 10 am free, as a fallback in case some lecture rescheduling is ever needed, for example, if your lecturer is ill.

Lectures are being 'beamed down' the fibre optic link from the Main Campus in Room Seminar 127.

Seminars

You will be allocated to a group at the start of the course, and this group will meet with a tutor approximately each fortnight (six times during each course). The first meeting will be introductory: two seminar themes will be chosen by your tutor, and the order in which they are covered agreed. Each seminar theme will be based on one of the 6 key themes listed at the start of this handout and each group will normally have two seminars on each theme. (In order to ensure sufficient use of GUL resources, themes will not necessarily follow lectures.) The sixth and final seminar will be devoted to revision through historiography and sources.

Aims and intended learning outcomes

Aims:

To provide you with a broad introduction to the main features of European history from AD 800 to 1500, taking into account that you may have not have covered most (or any) of this period before.
To offer you a fresh and stimulating approach to the major forces instrumental in the shaping of politics, society and culture in Europe.
To make you aware of the current approaches on European history, and of the areas of particular controversy and debate.
To encourage you to think broadly, comparatively and conceptually across a wide area and long period of time.
To provide a secure foundation of knowledge and skills which will enable you to proceed with confidence to Level 2.

On completion of the course, students will have achieved the following outcomes:

The development of a broad understanding of selected themes in European history from 800 to 1500.
The ability to make valid comparisons between different parts of Europe and across different historical periods, on the basis of sound historical evidence.
The ability to distinguish between information and argument, and to use both to reach conclusions based on clear and logical reasoning.
The capacity to situate the views of contemporaries in an appropriate historical context, and to be aware of the common characteristics of a range of different types of primary historical source material.
The gaining through group work of some skills in debating historical issues;
The development of appreciation of how specific information-handling skills might be applied in other appropriate contexts.

The teaching of this course is designed to guide you toward these outcomes; you will also work towards them, and demonstrate attainment of them, through a series of assessed exercises:

By discussing selected primary sources in a seminar group;
By writing an essay analysing a particular topic;
You will also be assessed in an examination (after the formal teaching of this course is concluded) which will enable you to demonstrate a level of proficiency in these outcomes.

Prescribed and recommended texts

There is no set text for History Level-1A, but there are good introductions to the medieval period in the books by R.H. Davis, D. Holmes and M. Keen listed below.

General Histories of Europe and the Idea of Europe:

Medieval Period

Malcolm Barber, The Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050-1320 (1992)

R. Bartlett, The Making of Europe (1993)

R.I. Moore, The First European Revolution (2000)

R.H.C. Davis, A History of Medieval Europe (1988)

John Hale, The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance (1993)

George Holmes, Oxford History of Medieval Europe (1992)

Maurice Keen, Penguin History of Medieval Europe (1991)

Norman Davies, Europe: A History (1996)

Modern Period

James Joll, Europe since 1870 (1983)

Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1988)

Donald Matthew, The Medieval European Community (1977)

John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe from the Renaissance to the Present (1996)

Norman Davies, Europe: A History (1996)

John Roberts, A History of Europe (1997)

David Thomson, Europe since Napoleon (1966)

John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe (1996). This will be the set text for History Level-1B

THEMATIC READING LIST FOR MODULE A -
THE THREE ORDERS: MEDIEVAL EUROPE 800-1500

Race and Ethnicity

R. Bartlett, The making of Europe: conquest, colonization and cultural change, 950-1350 (1993)

J. Riley-Smith, The crusades: a short history (1987)

N. Housley, The later crusades: from Lyons to Alcazar (1992)

E. Roesdahl, The Vikings (1993)

N. Daniel, The Arabs and medieval Europe (1993)

D. Morgan, The Mongols (1986)

A. Mackay, Spain in the Middle Ages: from frontier to empire, 1000-1500 (1977)

G. Langmuir, History, Religion and Antisemitism (1990)

L. Poliakov, The History of Antisemitism vols I and II (1974)

Order and Rebellion

J. Le Goff (ed.), The medieval world (1990)

G. Duby, The three orders: feudal society imagined (1980)

C. Brooke, The structure of medieval society (1971)

M. Mollat & P. Wolff, Popular revolutions of the late Middle Ages (1973)

R. Hilton, Bondmen made free (1973)

M. Lambert, Medieval heresy (2nd edn. 1992)

N. Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium (1957)

N. Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons (1975)

R.I. Moore, The First European Revolution (2000)

State Formation

R. Collins, Early medieval Europe 300-1000 (1991)

M. Barber, The two cities: medieval Europe 1050-1320 (1992)

B. Guenée, States and rulers in later medieval Europe (1985)

Urban Development and Environmental Change

D.M. Nicholas, The growth of the late medieval city: from late antiquity to the early fourteenth century (1997)

D.M. Nicholas, The later medieval city 1300-1500 (1997)

F. Rorig, The medieval town (1967)

G. Duby, Rural economy and country life in the medieval West (1968; 2nd edn 1990)

N. Pounds, An economic history of medieval Europe (2nd edn. 1994)
R. Gottfried, The Black Death (1983)

R. Horrox, The Black Death (1994)

Women and Gender

E. Amt, Women's lives in medieval Europe: a sourcebook (1993)

H. Leyser, Medieval women: a social history of women in England 450-1500 (1995)

S. Shahar, The fourth estate: a history of women in the Middle Ages (1983)

D. Baker (ed.), Medieval Women (1978)

Temporal and Spiritual Power

R. McKitterick (ed.), Carolingian culture: emulation and innovation (1994)

C. Brooke, The twelfth-century renaissance (1973)

A. Piltz, The world of medieval learning (1981)

N. Pevsner, Outline of European architecture (1973)

A. Brown, The renaissance (2nd edn. 1999)

B. Hamilton, Religion in the medieval West (1986)

I.S. Robinson, The papacy 1073-1198: continuity and innovation (1990)

F. Oakley, The western church in the later Middle Ages (repr. 1988)

J. A. F. Thomson, The Western Church in the Middle Ages (1998)

C. Lawrence, Medieval monasticism (2nd edn. 1989)

A. Black, Political thought in Europe 1250-1450 (1992)

J. Canning, A history of medieval political thought, 300-1450 (1996)

M. Keen, Chivalry (1984)

B. Tierney, Crisis of Church and State 1050-1300 (1964)

D.R. Kelley, The beginnings of ideology (1981)

J. Riley-Smith, The Crusades a Short History (1987)

J. Riley-Smith, The Crusades, Ideal and Reality 1095-1274 (1987)

Assessment

Assessments are primarily set to enhance your learning: of subject knowledge and understanding, and of the means to express these clearly. This demonstration of your learning and skills is then marked by your tutor, who will apply considerable effort to give you careful feedback to maximise the learning value of the assessment. You should carefully extract those insights which will be of assistance next time, and reflect upon the comments made. By viewing assessments as part of the learning process, and as an opportunity to improve your skills, you will derive much more benefit from the assessment. You might also wish to use the services of the Effective Learning Adviser to enhance your skills: this will help you improve your marks, increase your confidence and help you engage even more effectively with your subject.

You will be required to write one essay for the course, max. 1500 words, by the date agreed with your tutor. This essay will account for 30% of your final mark for the course.

You must attend the six seminar meetings of the group to which you will be allocated. These seminar meetings will cover two key themes in each course, and you will be required to do some background reading for each theme. At the end of the seminar series you will be given a mark reflecting your participation in and contribution to the group. This mark will account for 10% of your total for the course.

There will be a one-and-a-half hour exam in week twelve/thirteen of the course. You will be required to answer two questions. The exam is worth 60% of your final assessment.

The minimum requirement for the award of credits for this course (except in certified special circumstances) is: ATTENDANCE AT ALL SEMINARS, COMPLETION OF ALL COURSE WORK WITHIN THE TIME-SCALE SPECIFIED, AND ATTENDANCE AT THE EXAMINATION. At the start of the course, you will agree with your tutor the deadline for the assessed work for this course. Because of the continuous assessment system, all deadlines must be strictly adhered to.

UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW