Chapter Two
The Revival of the Empire: Charlamagne to Henry III
Sam Foley
With Clovis as leader, along with the Merovingian kings, Franks conquered the former Roman Gaul.
Settled in the north-east [country between the Rhine and Paris] and south [where the Burgundians were overthrown and the Visigoths of Toulouse].
They owed their success to their military prowess and their acceptance of Latin Orthodoxy.
Early Merovingian kings adopted traditions of government of the late Roman Empire [weak upon inheritance].
Roman officials [counts] were salaried in lands.
Last survivors of Merovingian dynasty were removed by Charlemagne’s father [Pippin the Short].
Two consequences due to the changed dynasty: the centre of power moved eastward [Aix replaced Paris as the natural centre] and Pippin needed sanction and found it with the Pope, bringing the rulers of orthodox Franks closer to the Patriarch of the west.
“By his wars he so nobly increased the kingdom of the Franks which was great and strong when he inherited it from his father, that the additions he made almost doubled it. Charlemagne’s coronation as emperor: Christmas Day 800.
The initiative came from the Pope, therefore the revived empire was associated with the religious purposes of the Roman church.
Charlemagne died, son Louis [the Pious] took over.
Before Louis’ death, the empire was already beginning to fall. He died in 840.
His three sons fought with each other in an effort to secure a rich portion of their father’s land.
Treaty of Verdun [843] divided Frankish patrimony three ways.
West Francia [France from the Pyrenees to the line of the Somme, the Meuse, and the Rhone] went to the youngest, Charles the Bald. East Francia, Saxony, and Bavaria, and other Frankish lands beyond the Rhine, went to the next brother Lewis. The title of emperor went to the eldest son, Lothar, along with lands known as the Middle Kingdom [lands east and west of the Rhine between the kingdoms of his brothers, Burgundy and Provence [Rhone Valley], all the lands that Charlemagne and Louis the Pious had ruled in Italy; also included Rome, Pavia, and Aix].
When Lothar died, he split his land up between his three sons.
Before the end of Charlemagne’s reign, the Vikings raided.
The West Frankish kingdom received the brunt of their attacks over a sixty-year period.
The Hungarians invaded the eastern kingdom in 862.
Political Unity was out of the question.
The princes, Lothar and Berengar had very little power.
Rulers of eastern and western Francia stayed overwhelmed with maintaining control over their own, leading to division, and creating provinces.
Invaders had been looking for loot, so they stole from churches and monasteries.
919: [Duke of Saxony] Henry crowned king of Germany. His successor, son Otto, won victory over the still invading Hungarians; put a term to the raiding expeditions.
961: Otto crowned king of Lombardy.
962: Otto crowned emperor by Pope John XII.
Otto III succeeded his father when still a child; held impractical ideas which led to disaster.
Conrad II succeeded Henry, proved a strong and successful ruler in Italy and Germany.
When Conrad died, all the Otto III destroyed with over ambition, was restored.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 13
13th century crusades different from 12th century crusades: Frankish kingdom of Jerusalem and its fortunes no longer an interest; it ceased to function politically
Crusades focused on the ambitions and adventures of the princes of Europe in 13th century
In 1st half of century Franks still controlled most of the towns of the Syrian Coast
Weaknesses:
Could not get unanimous consent on policies
Rivalry of Templars and Hospitallers
Rivalry between the Venetians and the Genoese
Strength of Latins were in Cyprus and Greece
Cyprus important commercial center and advance post where crusaders made their final plans
The king of Cyprus took part in the 5th crusade and fought alongside Louis IX of France in 1249-50
Control of Cyprus important, Franks not strong enough to keep control on their own.
Latin Emperors of Constantinople weren’t strong enough to make any contribution to the crusades elsewhere
Venetians supported Latin emperor
Not enough, because in 1259 the empire was defeated at Pelagonia, now being ruled by a Greek emperor
The real center of Latin power was in Peloponnese, far from Constantinople
Franks of Greece joined St. Louis in his first expedition
William of Achaea taken prisoner of Pelagonia in 1259, released after Greek recapture of Constantinople
Latin Lordship looked impressive, but was weak because of disunity
Recurring theme in 13th century crusades: uniting Latin east in a great Mediterranean empire
Louis IX was more successful in winning Frankish aristocracy than Frederick II (king consort of Jerusalem)
The fortunes of the crusade had come largely to depend on Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX.
Meanwhile…
Ghenghis Khan born 1162, emperor of all Mongols 1206, led Mongolian conquests
Mongol invasions in the 13th century stretched the empire from the Dnieper to the China Sea, overran Russia, Persia, Baghdad, Damascus, Aleppo, but never occupied Hungary, gained control of Syria for a short time
After being driven back from Syria, Mongols contributed to the Greeks Resurgence.
The massacre of countless faithful Muslims struck terror in the whole Islam world.
The Muslims looked for aid in Egypt
After of resurgence of Greece, it led to a reunion of the Greek and Latin churches, but only for six years
Sultans of Egypt had no real interest in the maintenance of the weak Latin Kingdom as a third force in Syria. However, they worried about a Mongol-Christian Alliance from them and from the Greeks at Acre
The West had great hopes that this could be a possibility. Mongols were pagans up until the end of the 13th century.
They toyed with the idea of Christianity, but eventually became Muslim. However, the
West soon learned their only interest was in invasion and conquest, not crusading:
Mongols sent a letter to St. Louis saying that if they did not give them a yearly allowance of money, they would destroy them.
Before the coming of the Mongols, the fifth crusade (1218-1221) almost had chance.
At this time, those in the Syria were having internal quarrels.
The west experimented with a new strategy: directly attacking the powerhouse Egypt.
It worked: Damietta on the Nile was taken, Sultan ready to give back Jerusalem
Crusaders turned down the offer, and the Sultan cut off their bases at the Nile: they were at his mercy and had to give up
In 1229, Frederick II negotiated with Al Kamil of Egypt.
Al Kamil signed a ten year truce and would return the Holy City to the Christians
Frederick’s high-handed treatment of the barons of Syria and his contempt for the High Court led to a civil war between the Frankish aristocracy led by the Ibelins of Beirut, and the imperial legates whom he left to represent him when he returned to Europe.
October, 1244, the Egyptians defeated the crusaders and their Damascus allies at Gaza
Before this the Egyptians mercenaries sacked Jerusalem
Louis IX sailed out to Egypt to try another crusade
Same thing happened as in fifth crusade: Damietta was taken
1250, King’s forced advanced up the Nile
The Egyptian army overwhelmed the king’s forces
Louis and others not killed taken prisoner, Queen Margaret rallied to get Louis and his men back.
Egyptians handed over what was left (not many) of the prisoners and Louis for a ransom. The crusade was over
Still, Louis remained in the east until 1254, trying to get a Christian and Mongol alliance, but he was unsuccessful
Very important events happened during this period: rise of Baibars the Mameluke to be sultan of Egypt, the Mongol invasion of Syria, the Greek reconquest of Contanstinople.
Charles of Anjou, the most powerful Latin prince in Southern Europe, was looked to for another crusade
However, Charles had many enemies in Europe, so he could never be the great crusader Louis was
He conquered through arranged marriages and money:
1267: arranged marriage of daughter Beatrice to Phillip de Courtenay, the heir of Baldwin, emperor of Constantinople
His son arranged to marry Isabella, heir to William of Achaea
Ten years later, Charles bought the hereditary claim of Maria of Antioch for the kingdom of Jerusalem, and was accepted as king by the High Court
By 1281, his rights extended all over the Frankish territories of the east Mediterranean except for Cyrpus
Charles didn’t care about crusading, only political ambitions
He knew the recapture of Constantinople from the Greeks could give him an imperial title
He plans were halted for three reasons:
1. Conradin’s invasion of Italy
2. the last crusade of his brother Louis IX to Tunis in 1269, where the king died of fever
3. Pontificate of Gregory X, who rightly distrusted Charles, and wanted to reunite with the Greeks
1282- Martin IV blesses a crusade against Aragon, calling it “the restoration of the Roman empire unsurpassed by Palaeologus”
The church had become to involved and supported Charles to long to support it now, even though they realized it was for political gain.
While Charles fought against the Sicilians, Phillip II tried to dispose of King Peter of Aragon, but failed miserably.
While Phillip and Charles were fighting,
The soldiers of the Sultan of Egypt closed in on the remaining Frankish forts of Syria.
Acre fell May 18 1291.
Jerusalum belonged to no territories now.
The crusades were running out of steam.
Because of what happened in the East, men could no longer view the crusades in the same manner as their elders had.
One benefit of the crusades was it made Europeans more interested in geography and discovering new lands
The crusades were no longer a cherished idea amongst Europeans.
Crusades focused on the ambitions and adventures of the princes of Europe in 13th century
In 1st half of century Franks still controlled most of the towns of the Syrian Coast
Weaknesses:
Could not get unanimous consent on policies
Rivalry of Templars and Hospitallers
Rivalry between the Venetians and the Genoese
Strength of Latins were in Cyprus and Greece
Cyprus important commercial center and advance post where crusaders made their final plans
The king of Cyprus took part in the 5th crusade and fought alongside Louis IX of France in 1249-50
Control of Cyprus important, Franks not strong enough to keep control on their own.
Latin Emperors of Constantinople weren’t strong enough to make any contribution to the crusades elsewhere
Venetians supported Latin emperor
Not enough, because in 1259 the empire was defeated at Pelagonia, now being ruled by a Greek emperor
The real center of Latin power was in Peloponnese, far from Constantinople
Franks of Greece joined St. Louis in his first expedition
William of Achaea taken prisoner of Pelagonia in 1259, released after Greek recapture of Constantinople
Latin Lordship looked impressive, but was weak because of disunity
Recurring theme in 13th century crusades: uniting Latin east in a great Mediterranean empire
Louis IX was more successful in winning Frankish aristocracy than Frederick II (king consort of Jerusalem)
The fortunes of the crusade had come largely to depend on Charles of Anjou, brother of Louis IX.
Meanwhile…
Ghenghis Khan born 1162, emperor of all Mongols 1206, led Mongolian conquests
Mongol invasions in the 13th century stretched the empire from the Dnieper to the China Sea, overran Russia, Persia, Baghdad, Damascus, Aleppo, but never occupied Hungary, gained control of Syria for a short time
After being driven back from Syria, Mongols contributed to the Greeks Resurgence.
The massacre of countless faithful Muslims struck terror in the whole Islam world.
The Muslims looked for aid in Egypt
After of resurgence of Greece, it led to a reunion of the Greek and Latin churches, but only for six years
Sultans of Egypt had no real interest in the maintenance of the weak Latin Kingdom as a third force in Syria. However, they worried about a Mongol-Christian Alliance from them and from the Greeks at Acre
The West had great hopes that this could be a possibility. Mongols were pagans up until the end of the 13th century.
They toyed with the idea of Christianity, but eventually became Muslim. However, the
West soon learned their only interest was in invasion and conquest, not crusading:
Mongols sent a letter to St. Louis saying that if they did not give them a yearly allowance of money, they would destroy them.
Before the coming of the Mongols, the fifth crusade (1218-1221) almost had chance.
At this time, those in the Syria were having internal quarrels.
The west experimented with a new strategy: directly attacking the powerhouse Egypt.
It worked: Damietta on the Nile was taken, Sultan ready to give back Jerusalem
Crusaders turned down the offer, and the Sultan cut off their bases at the Nile: they were at his mercy and had to give up
In 1229, Frederick II negotiated with Al Kamil of Egypt.
Al Kamil signed a ten year truce and would return the Holy City to the Christians
Frederick’s high-handed treatment of the barons of Syria and his contempt for the High Court led to a civil war between the Frankish aristocracy led by the Ibelins of Beirut, and the imperial legates whom he left to represent him when he returned to Europe.
October, 1244, the Egyptians defeated the crusaders and their Damascus allies at Gaza
Before this the Egyptians mercenaries sacked Jerusalem
Louis IX sailed out to Egypt to try another crusade
Same thing happened as in fifth crusade: Damietta was taken
1250, King’s forced advanced up the Nile
The Egyptian army overwhelmed the king’s forces
Louis and others not killed taken prisoner, Queen Margaret rallied to get Louis and his men back.
Egyptians handed over what was left (not many) of the prisoners and Louis for a ransom. The crusade was over
Still, Louis remained in the east until 1254, trying to get a Christian and Mongol alliance, but he was unsuccessful
Very important events happened during this period: rise of Baibars the Mameluke to be sultan of Egypt, the Mongol invasion of Syria, the Greek reconquest of Contanstinople.
Charles of Anjou, the most powerful Latin prince in Southern Europe, was looked to for another crusade
However, Charles had many enemies in Europe, so he could never be the great crusader Louis was
He conquered through arranged marriages and money:
1267: arranged marriage of daughter Beatrice to Phillip de Courtenay, the heir of Baldwin, emperor of Constantinople
His son arranged to marry Isabella, heir to William of Achaea
Ten years later, Charles bought the hereditary claim of Maria of Antioch for the kingdom of Jerusalem, and was accepted as king by the High Court
By 1281, his rights extended all over the Frankish territories of the east Mediterranean except for Cyrpus
Charles didn’t care about crusading, only political ambitions
He knew the recapture of Constantinople from the Greeks could give him an imperial title
He plans were halted for three reasons:
1. Conradin’s invasion of Italy
2. the last crusade of his brother Louis IX to Tunis in 1269, where the king died of fever
3. Pontificate of Gregory X, who rightly distrusted Charles, and wanted to reunite with the Greeks
1282- Martin IV blesses a crusade against Aragon, calling it “the restoration of the Roman empire unsurpassed by Palaeologus”
The church had become to involved and supported Charles to long to support it now, even though they realized it was for political gain.
While Charles fought against the Sicilians, Phillip II tried to dispose of King Peter of Aragon, but failed miserably.
While Phillip and Charles were fighting,
The soldiers of the Sultan of Egypt closed in on the remaining Frankish forts of Syria.
Acre fell May 18 1291.
Jerusalum belonged to no territories now.
The crusades were running out of steam.
Because of what happened in the East, men could no longer view the crusades in the same manner as their elders had.
One benefit of the crusades was it made Europeans more interested in geography and discovering new lands
The crusades were no longer a cherished idea amongst Europeans.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 18
The Penguin History of Medieval Europe
Chapter 18: Politics and Political Society in an Age of Wars
1330-1460
Free Companies and the Influence of Chivalry
• “Without war you cannot live and do not know how to;” Sir John Chandos.
• 14th Century; France versus England wars create dramatic increase in armed forces, despite limited finances.
• ’free companies’ independent bands of soldiers; think of Robin Hood and his Merry Men!
• Had great draw due to the culture of chivalry inherent to the times; adventure and profit. Knights considered high social class worthy of even doing ‘combat with a king’, therefore something to aspire to and stick to—free companies moved on from one battle to another.
• would continue to influence the wars of 14th-15th centuries; as supply of soldiers often exceeded demand, battles would spill over. Even The 100 Year War (France vs. England) was seen as a series of battles of territory/lordship rather than a war of 2 nations.
Dynastic Wars and the Lords that Fought Them
• Most lordships/dominions were inherited. The right to own land and govern the inhabitants was not sovereign; it could be bought, sold, won or lost. Lords could make grants of land to others in their favor, or gain land through marriage. Competition resulted.
• All this combined with the surge of free companies equaled constant states of insecurity. The soldiers did not often leave with the lords until hired out again, adding to the confusing political landscape.
• Ex: King Edward III’s quest for the French crown and subsequent dukes’ invasions of Italy to win Naples from Duke Louis, who in turn was promised the kingdom of Adria, territory of the Pope of Rome—by the Pope of Avignon!
• Duke John of Lancaster’s efforts to win Castile and ‘to build castles in Spain’ due to inherent rights of his wife as daughter of a former king.
Battles of Spain
• Mid-13th Century; Castile and Aragon were the 2 main Christian kingdoms after the Reconquest from the Muslims. Andalusia was the only Moorish territory left. Castile largely fought over by nobility.
• Alfonso XI’s defeat of Moorish invaders in 1340 and son Pedro II’s reign of 1349-69 reinstated power of monarchy.
• Pedro’s brother Henry driven out of Castile to France, then returned in 1366 as head of French free companies. For 20 years on Castile and the Anglo-French war would be entangled.
• 1367 Battle of Najera Pedro and the Black Prince defeat Henry—but with no money to pay soldiers, Pedro is killed a year later by Henry and the French.
• Castilian efforts to appease French powers as well as continued competition over crown causes serious damage to Spain. However, Aragon manages to avoid war while serving Frederic, king of Sicily. This eventually leads to increased trading power amongst Mediterranean ports when the soldiers take over Aragonese Sicily for themselves.
Free Companies of Italy
• Free companies played an even larger role in Italy than in Spain, between native companies and German mercenaries intent on taking over. The Anglo-French War continued to complicate things.
• Soldiers referred to as ‘condotierres’.
• Only the richest Italian cities like Florence, Milan, and Venice were able to afford condotierres, then swallow up the small and poor cities.
• Condotierres could become despots, and vice versa. Money was the key. Ex: Cosimo de Medici of Florence, 1389-1464, obtained office and ruled the city by wealth. Condotierro Francesco Sforza, 1401-66, came to rule Milan by serving the Visconti and marrying a duke’s daughter.
• By 1401 all of central Italy could’ve been devastated by condotierre, but the deaths of Milanese Giangaleazzo Visconti (1402) and King Ladislas of Naples (1414) disorganized the soldiers. This lead to 5 main powers of Italy—Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence, and the Papacy. All were largely independent military states within Italy.
Burgundy and France
• By acquiring so many lordships, Burgundy became a near-independent power from France. Philip the Bold (1363-1404) and his son John the Fearless (1404-19) secured Burgundy’s power through marriage and English alliance, while still keeping influence in France.
• John would attract soldiers to fight for his lordship. However, his successor Philip the Good would prove too ambitious in his battles with France, Switzerland, and Lorraine, losing 2 armies then dying himself in 1477.
• After these defeats, Burgundy was weakened and divided between France’s Louis XI and Maximilian of Austria.
• Burgundy is yet another example of how free companies could both make and break a state. The influence of chivalry would leave its mark on the culture—look at the court life of Versailles and the emphasis on both aristocracy and militia. Everything from politics to arts and fashion would be affected by the romance of chivalry.
Chapter 18: Politics and Political Society in an Age of Wars
1330-1460
Free Companies and the Influence of Chivalry
• “Without war you cannot live and do not know how to;” Sir John Chandos.
• 14th Century; France versus England wars create dramatic increase in armed forces, despite limited finances.
• ’free companies’ independent bands of soldiers; think of Robin Hood and his Merry Men!
• Had great draw due to the culture of chivalry inherent to the times; adventure and profit. Knights considered high social class worthy of even doing ‘combat with a king’, therefore something to aspire to and stick to—free companies moved on from one battle to another.
• would continue to influence the wars of 14th-15th centuries; as supply of soldiers often exceeded demand, battles would spill over. Even The 100 Year War (France vs. England) was seen as a series of battles of territory/lordship rather than a war of 2 nations.
Dynastic Wars and the Lords that Fought Them
• Most lordships/dominions were inherited. The right to own land and govern the inhabitants was not sovereign; it could be bought, sold, won or lost. Lords could make grants of land to others in their favor, or gain land through marriage. Competition resulted.
• All this combined with the surge of free companies equaled constant states of insecurity. The soldiers did not often leave with the lords until hired out again, adding to the confusing political landscape.
• Ex: King Edward III’s quest for the French crown and subsequent dukes’ invasions of Italy to win Naples from Duke Louis, who in turn was promised the kingdom of Adria, territory of the Pope of Rome—by the Pope of Avignon!
• Duke John of Lancaster’s efforts to win Castile and ‘to build castles in Spain’ due to inherent rights of his wife as daughter of a former king.
Battles of Spain
• Mid-13th Century; Castile and Aragon were the 2 main Christian kingdoms after the Reconquest from the Muslims. Andalusia was the only Moorish territory left. Castile largely fought over by nobility.
• Alfonso XI’s defeat of Moorish invaders in 1340 and son Pedro II’s reign of 1349-69 reinstated power of monarchy.
• Pedro’s brother Henry driven out of Castile to France, then returned in 1366 as head of French free companies. For 20 years on Castile and the Anglo-French war would be entangled.
• 1367 Battle of Najera Pedro and the Black Prince defeat Henry—but with no money to pay soldiers, Pedro is killed a year later by Henry and the French.
• Castilian efforts to appease French powers as well as continued competition over crown causes serious damage to Spain. However, Aragon manages to avoid war while serving Frederic, king of Sicily. This eventually leads to increased trading power amongst Mediterranean ports when the soldiers take over Aragonese Sicily for themselves.
Free Companies of Italy
• Free companies played an even larger role in Italy than in Spain, between native companies and German mercenaries intent on taking over. The Anglo-French War continued to complicate things.
• Soldiers referred to as ‘condotierres’.
• Only the richest Italian cities like Florence, Milan, and Venice were able to afford condotierres, then swallow up the small and poor cities.
• Condotierres could become despots, and vice versa. Money was the key. Ex: Cosimo de Medici of Florence, 1389-1464, obtained office and ruled the city by wealth. Condotierro Francesco Sforza, 1401-66, came to rule Milan by serving the Visconti and marrying a duke’s daughter.
• By 1401 all of central Italy could’ve been devastated by condotierre, but the deaths of Milanese Giangaleazzo Visconti (1402) and King Ladislas of Naples (1414) disorganized the soldiers. This lead to 5 main powers of Italy—Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence, and the Papacy. All were largely independent military states within Italy.
Burgundy and France
• By acquiring so many lordships, Burgundy became a near-independent power from France. Philip the Bold (1363-1404) and his son John the Fearless (1404-19) secured Burgundy’s power through marriage and English alliance, while still keeping influence in France.
• John would attract soldiers to fight for his lordship. However, his successor Philip the Good would prove too ambitious in his battles with France, Switzerland, and Lorraine, losing 2 armies then dying himself in 1477.
• After these defeats, Burgundy was weakened and divided between France’s Louis XI and Maximilian of Austria.
• Burgundy is yet another example of how free companies could both make and break a state. The influence of chivalry would leave its mark on the culture—look at the court life of Versailles and the emphasis on both aristocracy and militia. Everything from politics to arts and fashion would be affected by the romance of chivalry.
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 16
CHAPTER 16
Economic and Social Developments
In the Later Middle Ages (1330-1460)
Ryan Schwingler
The age of expansionism had drawn a close; new period of stabilization and even recession.
Example, the decline of crusader states and rise of national communities (England and France)
Invasion of government into social and economic relations
People began to realize the importance of organizing and uniting, as opposed to individual effort.
Conquests weren’t won by individuals but by bands of soldiers, this carried into economic and social structure.
14th century saw countless alliances form from leagues of nobleman, to peasant revolts.
Three factors to the invasion of government
1.) European commercial expansion reached its limits
2.) War and Black Plague (War as a way of life, natural)
3.) Advance in production and commercial exchange techniques
Europe = Cloth export and Spices/Silks imports
Caused major metropolis development in the 12th century
Need for an internal government arose, fulfilled by governors in 12th century
Bar was raised for commercial expansion by stabilizing trade. Led to major competition between rival cities. War was inevitable (Venice and Genoa), By the time conflict had been won by Venice, flow of trade had been disrupted by a bigger war Tartar and Ottoman Empires.
German cities faced the same rivalries during this time, but found a peaceful means of resolving them.
A powerful league built up controlling the Baltic Sea, and North Sea and the Rhine River.
In 1360 over 80 cities in the league (not a sovereign state) pooled together recourses in order to fend off Scandinavian and English merchants from entering their markets.
Other Germanic leagues were formed under the same principals, mostly to protect their merchants from being plundered on the rivers, and to avoid paying tolls imposed by local dukes and princes.
After seeing the success of the town leagues the same approach was taken inside of each city, and thus guilds were formed.
With a hierarchy structure of officials ruling over decisions to be made regarding the terms of sale of their products, the prices of their products and wages to be given out, guilds were in essence a Corporation
Separation of Classes- Master controls several Laborers
Masters united under a guild shared a pool of monetary resources, as well as a common scheme to train in new apprentices.
Without unity between different masters of said trade, the monopolistic structure of society would have never happened.
Guild members wanted to make sure their posterity would be successful so they only allowed family members the right of entry into the Guild, outsiders would have to be lucky and find a master who would apprentice them, this was very rare. Any type of relative always had the advantage
All of this made it almost impossible for a person to climb the social class ladder. From Laborer to Master
Prices of goods were often high (Effect of a plague or a famine) so laboring class was perpetually being oppressed.
Laboring class takes after their masters, they form alliances of their own (Labor Unions)
Feeling threatened by these unions, Masters, using their political power outlawed these groups, but when the going got tough the tough got going. The Unions reappeared every time conditions worsened, sometimes disguising themselves as religious groups.
Every time the groups of craftsmen were put down, they became more and more aggravated eventually leading to outright revolts.
This pattern happened in both Flanders, and Florence
In Florence they guilds proved strong enough to silence their craftsmen, but in Flanders it wasn’t until the Valios Dukes (parental government) took control that the fighting stopped. There were riots and revolts by the proletarian class for Nearly 100 years before peace. Sometimes-outright civil war taking place.
Of course these weren’t the only cities which the pattern took place,
In France King Louis XI took the markets of Bordeaux and Rouen under his protection after seeing they were in the same circumstance Florence and Flanders were in. Under the Monarchy there was even more money to be shared, and also greater protection.
The plague had similar, but more extreme, effects than the inherent wars had on Italy
When the plague hit in the Middle of the 14th century the idea of the Monarchs was to pin wages, and price of goods, which had skyrocketed, to their pre-plague levels. Thus preventing men from leaving their jobs is search of higher pay.
Both France and England, not long after the Black Plague took its toll, saw their first peasant class revolts.
Surely these revolts weren’t entirely caused by the economically limiting legislation or the Black Plague itself. However they were the proverbial last straw(s).
Hindsight has us wondering if these revolts would have taken place had either of these to occurrences not taken place.
Gap between social classes caused by no longer exchanging work for shelter, landlords now wanted rent money, also caused by landlords because of increased commercial abilities being able to afford nicer shit.
Because they had a steady source of income the landowners became the Noble or Gentry class in France and England respectively.
The Peasant class had faired inversely to the higher (Land Owning) class, they were forced into slavery by the Noble class.
Intervention of the government to save the socially and economically helpless
Again the monarch saves the day, the Valois, in Italy, King in France, and the courts of England (not until 15th century) freed their peasant class from serfdom (slavery)
Bank System was beginning to develop in Tuscany, carrying cash proved to be dangerous
Deposit money in London, carry a letter of credit to Rome, instead of cash, and withdraw local currency. The company whom you deposit/withdrew money to/from charges you a fee.
This allows the agent in London to make purchases, which may lead to profit.
Banks began to appoint agents in towns that didn’t already have one, making it much easier to trade in many new cities.
People started depositing money long term, so banks rewarded them with a small sum of money for letting the bank use their money. The same concept applied to the private party; he was able to loan money from the bank but had to pay a sum of money based on the risk of the loan. (Interest)
It became such a large scale that banks were able to loan money to noblemen and princes to finance governments in need.
Government often borrowed more than they could pay back, causing the banks to go Bankrupt.
Some bankers only did it as a supplement to another occupation such as being a merchant.
Lords mostly borrowed money so that they could go to war, which was becoming increasingly expensive. Due to the development of new technologies such as plate armor, shipbuilding, and later gunpowder.
The increased borrowing by the Royal class led to an increase in taxation, specifically the development of taxation of purchased goods.
After some time the Kings and Monarchs realized that it was in their best interests to protect their subjects. Because it was from their subject they got all of their money.
Full circle-
European commercial expansion reached its limits; Parental Government finds a common good and stops war.
War and Black Plague (War as a way of life, natural)- Parental Government saves Peasants from serfdom
Advance in production and commercial exchange techniques, Parental Government protects its Subjects.
Economic and Social Developments
In the Later Middle Ages (1330-1460)
Ryan Schwingler
The age of expansionism had drawn a close; new period of stabilization and even recession.
Example, the decline of crusader states and rise of national communities (England and France)
Invasion of government into social and economic relations
People began to realize the importance of organizing and uniting, as opposed to individual effort.
Conquests weren’t won by individuals but by bands of soldiers, this carried into economic and social structure.
14th century saw countless alliances form from leagues of nobleman, to peasant revolts.
Three factors to the invasion of government
1.) European commercial expansion reached its limits
2.) War and Black Plague (War as a way of life, natural)
3.) Advance in production and commercial exchange techniques
Europe = Cloth export and Spices/Silks imports
Caused major metropolis development in the 12th century
Need for an internal government arose, fulfilled by governors in 12th century
Bar was raised for commercial expansion by stabilizing trade. Led to major competition between rival cities. War was inevitable (Venice and Genoa), By the time conflict had been won by Venice, flow of trade had been disrupted by a bigger war Tartar and Ottoman Empires.
German cities faced the same rivalries during this time, but found a peaceful means of resolving them.
A powerful league built up controlling the Baltic Sea, and North Sea and the Rhine River.
In 1360 over 80 cities in the league (not a sovereign state) pooled together recourses in order to fend off Scandinavian and English merchants from entering their markets.
Other Germanic leagues were formed under the same principals, mostly to protect their merchants from being plundered on the rivers, and to avoid paying tolls imposed by local dukes and princes.
After seeing the success of the town leagues the same approach was taken inside of each city, and thus guilds were formed.
With a hierarchy structure of officials ruling over decisions to be made regarding the terms of sale of their products, the prices of their products and wages to be given out, guilds were in essence a Corporation
Separation of Classes- Master controls several Laborers
Masters united under a guild shared a pool of monetary resources, as well as a common scheme to train in new apprentices.
Without unity between different masters of said trade, the monopolistic structure of society would have never happened.
Guild members wanted to make sure their posterity would be successful so they only allowed family members the right of entry into the Guild, outsiders would have to be lucky and find a master who would apprentice them, this was very rare. Any type of relative always had the advantage
All of this made it almost impossible for a person to climb the social class ladder. From Laborer to Master
Prices of goods were often high (Effect of a plague or a famine) so laboring class was perpetually being oppressed.
Laboring class takes after their masters, they form alliances of their own (Labor Unions)
Feeling threatened by these unions, Masters, using their political power outlawed these groups, but when the going got tough the tough got going. The Unions reappeared every time conditions worsened, sometimes disguising themselves as religious groups.
Every time the groups of craftsmen were put down, they became more and more aggravated eventually leading to outright revolts.
This pattern happened in both Flanders, and Florence
In Florence they guilds proved strong enough to silence their craftsmen, but in Flanders it wasn’t until the Valios Dukes (parental government) took control that the fighting stopped. There were riots and revolts by the proletarian class for Nearly 100 years before peace. Sometimes-outright civil war taking place.
Of course these weren’t the only cities which the pattern took place,
In France King Louis XI took the markets of Bordeaux and Rouen under his protection after seeing they were in the same circumstance Florence and Flanders were in. Under the Monarchy there was even more money to be shared, and also greater protection.
The plague had similar, but more extreme, effects than the inherent wars had on Italy
When the plague hit in the Middle of the 14th century the idea of the Monarchs was to pin wages, and price of goods, which had skyrocketed, to their pre-plague levels. Thus preventing men from leaving their jobs is search of higher pay.
Both France and England, not long after the Black Plague took its toll, saw their first peasant class revolts.
Surely these revolts weren’t entirely caused by the economically limiting legislation or the Black Plague itself. However they were the proverbial last straw(s).
Hindsight has us wondering if these revolts would have taken place had either of these to occurrences not taken place.
Gap between social classes caused by no longer exchanging work for shelter, landlords now wanted rent money, also caused by landlords because of increased commercial abilities being able to afford nicer shit.
Because they had a steady source of income the landowners became the Noble or Gentry class in France and England respectively.
The Peasant class had faired inversely to the higher (Land Owning) class, they were forced into slavery by the Noble class.
Intervention of the government to save the socially and economically helpless
Again the monarch saves the day, the Valois, in Italy, King in France, and the courts of England (not until 15th century) freed their peasant class from serfdom (slavery)
Bank System was beginning to develop in Tuscany, carrying cash proved to be dangerous
Deposit money in London, carry a letter of credit to Rome, instead of cash, and withdraw local currency. The company whom you deposit/withdrew money to/from charges you a fee.
This allows the agent in London to make purchases, which may lead to profit.
Banks began to appoint agents in towns that didn’t already have one, making it much easier to trade in many new cities.
People started depositing money long term, so banks rewarded them with a small sum of money for letting the bank use their money. The same concept applied to the private party; he was able to loan money from the bank but had to pay a sum of money based on the risk of the loan. (Interest)
It became such a large scale that banks were able to loan money to noblemen and princes to finance governments in need.
Government often borrowed more than they could pay back, causing the banks to go Bankrupt.
Some bankers only did it as a supplement to another occupation such as being a merchant.
Lords mostly borrowed money so that they could go to war, which was becoming increasingly expensive. Due to the development of new technologies such as plate armor, shipbuilding, and later gunpowder.
The increased borrowing by the Royal class led to an increase in taxation, specifically the development of taxation of purchased goods.
After some time the Kings and Monarchs realized that it was in their best interests to protect their subjects. Because it was from their subject they got all of their money.
Full circle-
European commercial expansion reached its limits; Parental Government finds a common good and stops war.
War and Black Plague (War as a way of life, natural)- Parental Government saves Peasants from serfdom
Advance in production and commercial exchange techniques, Parental Government protects its Subjects.
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 8
The Penguin History of Medieval Europe
By: Maurice Keen
Chapter 8: The Twelfth-Century Revolution in Government
Presented By: Rebecca Boe
-Revival of city life and commerce in the eleventh and twelfth century gave new importance to money, as a medium of exchange. Development of a systematic approach was taking place in the schools. These two things made possible an advance in the range and methods of government.
-Shift in the balance of power:
*Past: Local lord held power. (Feudal State: A system of rights and duties between lords and their vassals – those who are protected. In return for a piece of land, the vassals had to perform military duties and pay certain rents and dues. Peasants worked on the vassals land in return for protection)
*Present Time: Due to a new promising government (rulers personal intervention necessary less often – king, or a noble) a ruler was now able to govern over more land, which meant they had more money to build castles and pay men to defend them
Ways a ruler could extend resources:
*Easier to gain land through marriage, then by sword.
*Take over land of a vassal who died without heirs.
-In the twelfth century, Sicily had the most highly developed government in Latin Christendom.
*Sicily inherited an administration whose framework was Byzantine, based on the practices of the late Roman Empire.
*Roger II claimed himself King in 1130 - Omni competence of royal authority – power was not fragmented (he held all the power) – multi-racial composition of Rogers kingdom contributed to his exceptional power (Greek, Norman, and Arab alike).
-Another highly organized government was the Norman kingdom of England. (Normans were descendents of the Vikings who had settled in northern France).
*Domesday Book was produced in 1085 – William the Conqueror decided to find out who owned land and property and how much tax they should pay on it. (His officials toured England recording the names of landowners, their holdings, and how much their possessions were worth).
*Financial administration saw an important advance during the reign of Henry I (1100-35) The king’s treasury was organized into a rudimentary government accounting department, the Exchequer. Through the sheriffs the king had an annual account of all that was due to him and all he paid out, and a means of checking the activities of officials whom he seldom met.
*Henry II reign (1154-89) – people expected him to provide justice. Welfare was left to the church and family. Royal authority began to become something more meaningful to a wide range of people (began to shape a common law of all of the land).
*Henry gained land in France through family ties, which caused tension with the King of France. Henry’s successors, Richard and John, had to strain at their resources to keep their land.
*John stretched his royal right beyond reason to keep land (lost most of his land) – 1215 his subjects forced him to seal a Great Charter (Magna Carta), which put limits over his rights. The growth of royal power ended by forcing the king to acknowledge boundaries on their power.
-The French monarchy went from having very little power to having a great deal of power long before the signing of the Magna Carta.
-Louis VI (1108-37) focused on getting rid of the rich near Paris, who were illegally charging his citizens. (Possibly through tolls or taxing). This idea was wide spread and also carried out in other areas by Count Geoffrey and Count Charles. Due to Louis actions he guaranteed his successors money and men for defending themselves.
-The French monarch now thought through their decisions more carefully before they acted. Louis grandson decided to model their decision making process after the English Kings.
-Phillips land, France, was divided into districts, each which was supervised by a bailli (a person who was responsible for taxing the people, listening to complaints, and discussed with the Kings council any matters of great difficulty).
-The Kings court eventually became the Parliament of Paris, the highest court in France.
-Phillip forcefully gained control over the King of England’s land in the areas of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine – this doubles his land and made him more powerful.
(Phillip was able to gain this control because court systems were able to decide things more quickly and the other powerful rulers in the area were absent at the time)
-Phillip defeated Johns armies, during Johns attempt to save his land. Phillip
power was now secure, but he still was not a good of a ruler as the King of England.
-At the time, the Church was the most efficient form of government. (Similar to the bailli’s) Traveling legates would hear cases in the Pope’s name from the surrounding areas. (Go back to Pope with any cases that they could not resolve)
-Case hearings were not efficient enough with the Legates – small groups made up of local church members were appointed to solve the cases.
-The Pope felt it was to time consuming to hear all cases (getting to petty) so he decided he and his officials would only hear cases in the areas of: marriage, breach of oath, questions of legitimacy, testamentary disposition, and church endowments.
- The Church felt that all people should follow their laws – no boarders (All mighty power). Although they did not have the man power to enforce their laws, the church had the moral authority needed to enforce laws (going to hell).
- Rome was turbulent at the time (people were uprising). The Pope often had to move elsewhere to avoid death. While in hiding they had to depend on militaries provided by princes. Even though they were under threat, people still found them popular because they were recruiting for the Crusades.
- An emperor, Henry IV, challenged the aristocratic authority (rich ruling) – in 1077 Rudolf of Swabia was elected as an anti king by the people. (People started moving to their community and now all of a sudden Henry told them they must start reporting to him – people were upset and wanted to know why all of a sudden things were changing – Though Henry was greedy)
-Henry V died childless, which beginning a period of time when hereditary succession was not in existence. The empire was not able to build up because there was no family to pass power to. (No connection between the people and the leader)
-Empire lost power in Germany and Italy.
-1183 Treaty of Constance was signed by Barbosa (Rest of Europe’s Magna Carta) – Gave the cities a greater independence.
By: Maurice Keen
Chapter 8: The Twelfth-Century Revolution in Government
Presented By: Rebecca Boe
-Revival of city life and commerce in the eleventh and twelfth century gave new importance to money, as a medium of exchange. Development of a systematic approach was taking place in the schools. These two things made possible an advance in the range and methods of government.
-Shift in the balance of power:
*Past: Local lord held power. (Feudal State: A system of rights and duties between lords and their vassals – those who are protected. In return for a piece of land, the vassals had to perform military duties and pay certain rents and dues. Peasants worked on the vassals land in return for protection)
*Present Time: Due to a new promising government (rulers personal intervention necessary less often – king, or a noble) a ruler was now able to govern over more land, which meant they had more money to build castles and pay men to defend them
Ways a ruler could extend resources:
*Easier to gain land through marriage, then by sword.
*Take over land of a vassal who died without heirs.
-In the twelfth century, Sicily had the most highly developed government in Latin Christendom.
*Sicily inherited an administration whose framework was Byzantine, based on the practices of the late Roman Empire.
*Roger II claimed himself King in 1130 - Omni competence of royal authority – power was not fragmented (he held all the power) – multi-racial composition of Rogers kingdom contributed to his exceptional power (Greek, Norman, and Arab alike).
-Another highly organized government was the Norman kingdom of England. (Normans were descendents of the Vikings who had settled in northern France).
*Domesday Book was produced in 1085 – William the Conqueror decided to find out who owned land and property and how much tax they should pay on it. (His officials toured England recording the names of landowners, their holdings, and how much their possessions were worth).
*Financial administration saw an important advance during the reign of Henry I (1100-35) The king’s treasury was organized into a rudimentary government accounting department, the Exchequer. Through the sheriffs the king had an annual account of all that was due to him and all he paid out, and a means of checking the activities of officials whom he seldom met.
*Henry II reign (1154-89) – people expected him to provide justice. Welfare was left to the church and family. Royal authority began to become something more meaningful to a wide range of people (began to shape a common law of all of the land).
*Henry gained land in France through family ties, which caused tension with the King of France. Henry’s successors, Richard and John, had to strain at their resources to keep their land.
*John stretched his royal right beyond reason to keep land (lost most of his land) – 1215 his subjects forced him to seal a Great Charter (Magna Carta), which put limits over his rights. The growth of royal power ended by forcing the king to acknowledge boundaries on their power.
-The French monarchy went from having very little power to having a great deal of power long before the signing of the Magna Carta.
-Louis VI (1108-37) focused on getting rid of the rich near Paris, who were illegally charging his citizens. (Possibly through tolls or taxing). This idea was wide spread and also carried out in other areas by Count Geoffrey and Count Charles. Due to Louis actions he guaranteed his successors money and men for defending themselves.
-The French monarch now thought through their decisions more carefully before they acted. Louis grandson decided to model their decision making process after the English Kings.
-Phillips land, France, was divided into districts, each which was supervised by a bailli (a person who was responsible for taxing the people, listening to complaints, and discussed with the Kings council any matters of great difficulty).
-The Kings court eventually became the Parliament of Paris, the highest court in France.
-Phillip forcefully gained control over the King of England’s land in the areas of Normandy, Anjou, and Maine – this doubles his land and made him more powerful.
(Phillip was able to gain this control because court systems were able to decide things more quickly and the other powerful rulers in the area were absent at the time)
-Phillip defeated Johns armies, during Johns attempt to save his land. Phillip
power was now secure, but he still was not a good of a ruler as the King of England.
-At the time, the Church was the most efficient form of government. (Similar to the bailli’s) Traveling legates would hear cases in the Pope’s name from the surrounding areas. (Go back to Pope with any cases that they could not resolve)
-Case hearings were not efficient enough with the Legates – small groups made up of local church members were appointed to solve the cases.
-The Pope felt it was to time consuming to hear all cases (getting to petty) so he decided he and his officials would only hear cases in the areas of: marriage, breach of oath, questions of legitimacy, testamentary disposition, and church endowments.
- The Church felt that all people should follow their laws – no boarders (All mighty power). Although they did not have the man power to enforce their laws, the church had the moral authority needed to enforce laws (going to hell).
- Rome was turbulent at the time (people were uprising). The Pope often had to move elsewhere to avoid death. While in hiding they had to depend on militaries provided by princes. Even though they were under threat, people still found them popular because they were recruiting for the Crusades.
- An emperor, Henry IV, challenged the aristocratic authority (rich ruling) – in 1077 Rudolf of Swabia was elected as an anti king by the people. (People started moving to their community and now all of a sudden Henry told them they must start reporting to him – people were upset and wanted to know why all of a sudden things were changing – Though Henry was greedy)
-Henry V died childless, which beginning a period of time when hereditary succession was not in existence. The empire was not able to build up because there was no family to pass power to. (No connection between the people and the leader)
-Empire lost power in Germany and Italy.
-1183 Treaty of Constance was signed by Barbosa (Rest of Europe’s Magna Carta) – Gave the cities a greater independence.
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 7
The Penguin History of Medieval Europe
By: Maurice Keen
Chapter 7: New Movements in Thought and Letters
Presented By: Rebecca Boe
-A new outburst of intelligence and literary activity occurred in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which generated multiple forces and a many sided movement.
-A spirit of curiosity created a demanding why and wherefore for old values and assumptions – “New Movement in Thought”
-Traditional centers of learning were in the monasteries, but cathedral chapters were beginning to flourish, especially in northern France.
-Cathedrals had certain advantages over the monasteries because they could develop more freely, more speculative, and they studied logic.
-Aristotle and Porphyry showed a means by which statements, meanings, and argument could be categorized, classified, and valued - First time in centuries scholars were familiarized with intellectual standards which were completely “human and rational”.
-Viewing sacred truths in the eyes of everyday human reason could be seen as improper – Conservative minded saw it as questioning the teaching which Christian society had adopted as its “guiding light”.
-Even in the monasteries, the Cistercians were opening their studies to the “literate lay brothers”.
-Abelard was the greatest philosopher is his day and Bernard was the most influential Cistercian of history. He began to question the doctrines and wanted them to be reviewed with logic.
-Peter Lombard wrote “The Sentences”, which became a companion to the bible and the standard theological text book of the Middle Ages. His text systematically addressed the inconsistencies in scriptures and Christian doctrines and became the starting point for all theological study and controversy for three hundred years. Lombard taught in School of Paris, along with Abelard.
-Gratian, a contemporary of Abelard and Lombard, taught canon law at Bologna. His book, “Concordance of the Discordant” played the same role in the study of canon law as “The Sentences” by Lombard in theology.
-There were two problems facing the canon law student: (1) How to decide what was authoritative and what was not and (2) How to reconcile the conflicts in the remaining body of the authoritative legislation.
-John of Salisbury and Hugh of St Victor were able to present a systematic Christian view of society based on an examination of its nature components and functions. Their methods for analyzing could be used for any problem. This was the beginning to break free of thinking dominated by theology.
-At the same time writings began to appear about Arthur and the kings of Britain. These writings were of feelings, woman, men, and the story of the Holy Grail. However, the basis of authority was Christian teachings.
By: Maurice Keen
Chapter 7: New Movements in Thought and Letters
Presented By: Rebecca Boe
-A new outburst of intelligence and literary activity occurred in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which generated multiple forces and a many sided movement.
-A spirit of curiosity created a demanding why and wherefore for old values and assumptions – “New Movement in Thought”
-Traditional centers of learning were in the monasteries, but cathedral chapters were beginning to flourish, especially in northern France.
-Cathedrals had certain advantages over the monasteries because they could develop more freely, more speculative, and they studied logic.
-Aristotle and Porphyry showed a means by which statements, meanings, and argument could be categorized, classified, and valued - First time in centuries scholars were familiarized with intellectual standards which were completely “human and rational”.
-Viewing sacred truths in the eyes of everyday human reason could be seen as improper – Conservative minded saw it as questioning the teaching which Christian society had adopted as its “guiding light”.
-Even in the monasteries, the Cistercians were opening their studies to the “literate lay brothers”.
-Abelard was the greatest philosopher is his day and Bernard was the most influential Cistercian of history. He began to question the doctrines and wanted them to be reviewed with logic.
-Peter Lombard wrote “The Sentences”, which became a companion to the bible and the standard theological text book of the Middle Ages. His text systematically addressed the inconsistencies in scriptures and Christian doctrines and became the starting point for all theological study and controversy for three hundred years. Lombard taught in School of Paris, along with Abelard.
-Gratian, a contemporary of Abelard and Lombard, taught canon law at Bologna. His book, “Concordance of the Discordant” played the same role in the study of canon law as “The Sentences” by Lombard in theology.
-There were two problems facing the canon law student: (1) How to decide what was authoritative and what was not and (2) How to reconcile the conflicts in the remaining body of the authoritative legislation.
-John of Salisbury and Hugh of St Victor were able to present a systematic Christian view of society based on an examination of its nature components and functions. Their methods for analyzing could be used for any problem. This was the beginning to break free of thinking dominated by theology.
-At the same time writings began to appear about Arthur and the kings of Britain. These writings were of feelings, woman, men, and the story of the Holy Grail. However, the basis of authority was Christian teachings.
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 6
Chapter 6: The Expansion of Europe
Towns and trade had begun to revive, new lands were being brought under cultivation, and the frontiers of Europe were expanding
• Inhabitants increasing
o Between 1000 and 1300 population increased at least two folds
o Population increase maybe due to:
• Improvements in agricultural techniques
• Development of harness for horse plowing
• Adoption of three field rotation of crops (more land more productively)
o Impossible to offer any factual explanation
• The land is having to support more people
o Canals and dykes cut to drained swamps being built, clearing of land and trees began
o Not only more labor induced but the need for more laborers (much work of reclamation was evidently due to the undirected initiative of peasants)
• Lords (William I of England) imposing “forest laws” to prevent agricultural uprising
o Count of Vedosome burned houses of those who participated in agricultural expansion
• Lords created strict rules:
o Cistercian houses were to be built in waste places; monks were to accept no settled land, but to labor for their upkeep with their own hands
• Cistercian lay brothers, sworn to poverty and chastity did not found homesteads or raise families
• France
o Count of Maine gave to Church of St. Vincent of Le Mans
• “Leave to build a Bourg:” to build about the new church a little town and rent the houses to countrymen who would agree to cultivate the land around it
o others imitated the churches
• Lords had land to offer; they learned to encourage colonization because they found it made them richer
• Offered greater freedom
• Was protected and privileged by charter of its founder
• Paid rent of some kind
• Were not bound to soil
• The larger the city the better the defense system
o The manorial system of the previous age began to decay but at the same time the gap between those who owned land and those who tilled it grew wider
• Crusade to the Holy Land
o Spain had fueros-like French bourgs
• Settlers from far afield
o Christian expansion to the South continued steadily
• Germany
o Over lordship and tribute had been the prime German objective, the settlement of conquered land began to take pride of place
o 1147 campaign during second crusade to Palestine:
• “Let the God who is in Heaven be our God and it will suffice”
o German settlement was being pushed further east and south
• Expansion of Normandy
o Not peasants who responded to increased population
o Fortunes were Hautevilles to be won in the service of Greeks and Lombards
• Hautevilles taught the Normans they could win these lands for themselves
o Conquests of the Normans
• Lead by Roger and Roger II, gained land in Italy and Sicily, Roger II became king of Sicily
• Conquest of England in 1066
• Restless aristocracy made their influence not with peasants
• Norman conquests and German colonization reflect at different social levels, responses to identical pressures
o Externally and internally, Christian Europe was expanding
Discovery of Commerce and Revival of City Life
• Cities grew more than countryside
• New influences in the way of life of medieval Christendom
• Merchant’s success was by knowing where to find goods and production
o Associations, native home and travels to where he could buy and sell
o Goods came from outside
• (orient) silks, spices
• Italian merchants carried most of these goods
• Goods produced in Europe were clothes
• Flanders, north Italy and Champagne:
o These were the nodal points of commerce
o Italy excelled all others in wealth and enterprise
o Most goods coming into Europe came through Constantinople; on this trade merchants of Venice were growing rich
o Earliest achievements were due to individual enterprise
• Pisa, Genoa, and Venice built up wide commercial empires
o Merchants raised money on the security of his own land and a partner to load cargo
• They shared risk and profit
• Success increased demands for goods to be exported and stimulated a circulation of means of exchange, currency
• Nobles began to leave their homes to pursue the money in trading, buying and selling
o Men drawn in from the countryside by the lure of opportunity
• Flemish cities never achieved the same independence as the Italians
o In the long run their culture was less rich and individual and depended more on the protection of noble rulers
o Class of citizens in commerce had no place in the social framework
o No understanding of problems for commercial men
• Questions of contract and debt
• Regulation of wages and prices
• Conditions of labor and sale
o Only dealt with by the citizens themselves
o Right to self-government was vital
o Gained right “to chose their own laws”
o Gained independence (new force of the life of Christian society, the bourgeoisie)
• Cities became bastions of liberty
o Buildings, churches, cathedrals and guildhalls testify to public spirit born of pride of achievement
o They did not think of other cities as allies but as rivals
o The natural tendency of city government was towards quarrelsome oligarchy
• Independence had its downfalls
• Effects of civil and commercial revival
o Increased commercial exchange stimulated a great revival in currency circulation
o Long-term – steady depreciation of money
• government became more businesslike as money came to count more than land
• Christendom-internal change brought the spread of new ideas
• Capital cities in certain countries developed
• Christian society
o Promoted a more common level of culture
Towns and trade had begun to revive, new lands were being brought under cultivation, and the frontiers of Europe were expanding
• Inhabitants increasing
o Between 1000 and 1300 population increased at least two folds
o Population increase maybe due to:
• Improvements in agricultural techniques
• Development of harness for horse plowing
• Adoption of three field rotation of crops (more land more productively)
o Impossible to offer any factual explanation
• The land is having to support more people
o Canals and dykes cut to drained swamps being built, clearing of land and trees began
o Not only more labor induced but the need for more laborers (much work of reclamation was evidently due to the undirected initiative of peasants)
• Lords (William I of England) imposing “forest laws” to prevent agricultural uprising
o Count of Vedosome burned houses of those who participated in agricultural expansion
• Lords created strict rules:
o Cistercian houses were to be built in waste places; monks were to accept no settled land, but to labor for their upkeep with their own hands
• Cistercian lay brothers, sworn to poverty and chastity did not found homesteads or raise families
• France
o Count of Maine gave to Church of St. Vincent of Le Mans
• “Leave to build a Bourg:” to build about the new church a little town and rent the houses to countrymen who would agree to cultivate the land around it
o others imitated the churches
• Lords had land to offer; they learned to encourage colonization because they found it made them richer
• Offered greater freedom
• Was protected and privileged by charter of its founder
• Paid rent of some kind
• Were not bound to soil
• The larger the city the better the defense system
o The manorial system of the previous age began to decay but at the same time the gap between those who owned land and those who tilled it grew wider
• Crusade to the Holy Land
o Spain had fueros-like French bourgs
• Settlers from far afield
o Christian expansion to the South continued steadily
• Germany
o Over lordship and tribute had been the prime German objective, the settlement of conquered land began to take pride of place
o 1147 campaign during second crusade to Palestine:
• “Let the God who is in Heaven be our God and it will suffice”
o German settlement was being pushed further east and south
• Expansion of Normandy
o Not peasants who responded to increased population
o Fortunes were Hautevilles to be won in the service of Greeks and Lombards
• Hautevilles taught the Normans they could win these lands for themselves
o Conquests of the Normans
• Lead by Roger and Roger II, gained land in Italy and Sicily, Roger II became king of Sicily
• Conquest of England in 1066
• Restless aristocracy made their influence not with peasants
• Norman conquests and German colonization reflect at different social levels, responses to identical pressures
o Externally and internally, Christian Europe was expanding
Discovery of Commerce and Revival of City Life
• Cities grew more than countryside
• New influences in the way of life of medieval Christendom
• Merchant’s success was by knowing where to find goods and production
o Associations, native home and travels to where he could buy and sell
o Goods came from outside
• (orient) silks, spices
• Italian merchants carried most of these goods
• Goods produced in Europe were clothes
• Flanders, north Italy and Champagne:
o These were the nodal points of commerce
o Italy excelled all others in wealth and enterprise
o Most goods coming into Europe came through Constantinople; on this trade merchants of Venice were growing rich
o Earliest achievements were due to individual enterprise
• Pisa, Genoa, and Venice built up wide commercial empires
o Merchants raised money on the security of his own land and a partner to load cargo
• They shared risk and profit
• Success increased demands for goods to be exported and stimulated a circulation of means of exchange, currency
• Nobles began to leave their homes to pursue the money in trading, buying and selling
o Men drawn in from the countryside by the lure of opportunity
• Flemish cities never achieved the same independence as the Italians
o In the long run their culture was less rich and individual and depended more on the protection of noble rulers
o Class of citizens in commerce had no place in the social framework
o No understanding of problems for commercial men
• Questions of contract and debt
• Regulation of wages and prices
• Conditions of labor and sale
o Only dealt with by the citizens themselves
o Right to self-government was vital
o Gained right “to chose their own laws”
o Gained independence (new force of the life of Christian society, the bourgeoisie)
• Cities became bastions of liberty
o Buildings, churches, cathedrals and guildhalls testify to public spirit born of pride of achievement
o They did not think of other cities as allies but as rivals
o The natural tendency of city government was towards quarrelsome oligarchy
• Independence had its downfalls
• Effects of civil and commercial revival
o Increased commercial exchange stimulated a great revival in currency circulation
o Long-term – steady depreciation of money
• government became more businesslike as money came to count more than land
• Christendom-internal change brought the spread of new ideas
• Capital cities in certain countries developed
• Christian society
o Promoted a more common level of culture
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 5
Chapter 5: Empire and Papacy-the Beginning of the Struggle
• Henry III had power in Europe; he was “head of the church in Europe.”
• The church was publicly deflowered and polluted
o Before 1046 the Roman aristocracy had used control of the bishopric of Rome as a pawn in their family feuds.
o 1046 Henry III went into Italy and freed the church of corruption.
o New religious popes under Henry III’s rule used contemporary instincts in coming up with Canon Law: the antique rules governing the lives of clerks and their relations with the laity.
• Dedication to the church
Canon Law
• Bishops and the church turned to the emperor for assistance to impose higher standards on their clergy and to protect independence from aristocrats.
• Objective of Leo IX and his associates establishing this idea was to use this primacy to establish throughout the Western Church the standards of clerical life and independence to which they themselves had been trained.
• By the time (1054) Leo died the Christians in the east acknowledged his primacy equal with those of the west.
• When Henry III died in 1056, the pope and his advisors were left to defend their new system and claims alone.
Henry IV took rule as a 6 year old boy.
• 1059 members of the clergy, during crisis concerning the political confusion of a minority, took two great steps in order to protect themselves:
o Alliance with the leaders of the Norman adventurers
• To turn to the Normans was an evolutionary step
o New rules for the election of a pope which gave decisive voice to the cardinals.
• Decree concerning election was more important still, constituting for the papacy a kind of declaration of independence.
• Emperor was a layman: in principle the same objections could be raised against his choosing a pope, as to the choice of some local family.
Simony: the sin by which ecclesiastical office is obtained for money
• Cardinal Humbert of Moyenmoutier wrote “three books against simonials”
• Essence of Simony-“lay not in the fact that money had changed hands, but in that spiritual office was conferred as a result of wholly material considerations”
• Whenever lay influence dictated preferment, there was a suspicion of simony
Casus Belli: the proud and ancient archbishopric of Milan; key archbishopric in political terms, controlling the passes which connected imperial Germany and Lombardy
Gregory VII became Pope
• Henry in weakness submitted matter to the “apostolic judgment” of the pope
• One year later went back on his submission
• Gregory must either give way to the emperor or uphold principles of freedom in the church
o If he gave way:
• Papacy’s dependence on the empire would be made known
• Whole endeavor of last 20 years would be endangered
o If stood ground:
• Alliance with the empire, the traditional ally would be broken
• Claims of revolutionary tenor
o Meant decisions of the Bishop of Rome would override any secular authority
o Gregory drawn between spiritual and secular matters
• Would have to claim that ultimate decisions lay with himself as Peter’s vicar and not the emperor
• Went with the spiritual office by laymen
o Henry replied by charging him with usurpation of the papacy
o Gregory in return excommunicated Henry
• Put Henry outside of the church which had made him king
• Could no longer claim any right “by the Grace of God”
• Both reconciled eventually and three years later Gregory excommunicated Henry again
o Gregory asserted superiority of the monarchy of the papacy over the monarchy of the empire
o The pope’s position was well founded in Canon Law
• Dictatus Papae: a kind of aide-memoir on the canonical authority of the papacy
o “no council (or decree) is to be held general without the pope’s approval”
o came up with articles from documents that were forged
o Gregory was weak in law
• Henry insisted on ruling as his ancestors did
o After second excommunication Gregory deposed Henry formally and recognized Rudolph as King and emperor
o 1084 Henry and his soldiers stormed into Rome and at his orders Guibert of Ravenna was set up as Pope Clement III
• Gregory was declared deposed
• Gregory’s successors
o Whole empire in civil war
• Henry’s son decided to break from his father and find agreement with Roman pope
• But estates of the church were scattered too widely and closely tied with the lay mobility for any kingdom to survive settlement.
• 1122 compromise was extended to the empire
• end of the civil war
• established principle of fundamental importance:
o there was a difference between the allegiance men owed to spiritual and to secular authorities
• Henry gained rule but only because pope approved of it
• Church gained most by struggle and settlement
• Henry died with no blood related successor
• Popes capitalized on the same universal ideals
o Had not gained complete freedom of the church under the monarchy of the Romans
• Henry III had power in Europe; he was “head of the church in Europe.”
• The church was publicly deflowered and polluted
o Before 1046 the Roman aristocracy had used control of the bishopric of Rome as a pawn in their family feuds.
o 1046 Henry III went into Italy and freed the church of corruption.
o New religious popes under Henry III’s rule used contemporary instincts in coming up with Canon Law: the antique rules governing the lives of clerks and their relations with the laity.
• Dedication to the church
Canon Law
• Bishops and the church turned to the emperor for assistance to impose higher standards on their clergy and to protect independence from aristocrats.
• Objective of Leo IX and his associates establishing this idea was to use this primacy to establish throughout the Western Church the standards of clerical life and independence to which they themselves had been trained.
• By the time (1054) Leo died the Christians in the east acknowledged his primacy equal with those of the west.
• When Henry III died in 1056, the pope and his advisors were left to defend their new system and claims alone.
Henry IV took rule as a 6 year old boy.
• 1059 members of the clergy, during crisis concerning the political confusion of a minority, took two great steps in order to protect themselves:
o Alliance with the leaders of the Norman adventurers
• To turn to the Normans was an evolutionary step
o New rules for the election of a pope which gave decisive voice to the cardinals.
• Decree concerning election was more important still, constituting for the papacy a kind of declaration of independence.
• Emperor was a layman: in principle the same objections could be raised against his choosing a pope, as to the choice of some local family.
Simony: the sin by which ecclesiastical office is obtained for money
• Cardinal Humbert of Moyenmoutier wrote “three books against simonials”
• Essence of Simony-“lay not in the fact that money had changed hands, but in that spiritual office was conferred as a result of wholly material considerations”
• Whenever lay influence dictated preferment, there was a suspicion of simony
Casus Belli: the proud and ancient archbishopric of Milan; key archbishopric in political terms, controlling the passes which connected imperial Germany and Lombardy
Gregory VII became Pope
• Henry in weakness submitted matter to the “apostolic judgment” of the pope
• One year later went back on his submission
• Gregory must either give way to the emperor or uphold principles of freedom in the church
o If he gave way:
• Papacy’s dependence on the empire would be made known
• Whole endeavor of last 20 years would be endangered
o If stood ground:
• Alliance with the empire, the traditional ally would be broken
• Claims of revolutionary tenor
o Meant decisions of the Bishop of Rome would override any secular authority
o Gregory drawn between spiritual and secular matters
• Would have to claim that ultimate decisions lay with himself as Peter’s vicar and not the emperor
• Went with the spiritual office by laymen
o Henry replied by charging him with usurpation of the papacy
o Gregory in return excommunicated Henry
• Put Henry outside of the church which had made him king
• Could no longer claim any right “by the Grace of God”
• Both reconciled eventually and three years later Gregory excommunicated Henry again
o Gregory asserted superiority of the monarchy of the papacy over the monarchy of the empire
o The pope’s position was well founded in Canon Law
• Dictatus Papae: a kind of aide-memoir on the canonical authority of the papacy
o “no council (or decree) is to be held general without the pope’s approval”
o came up with articles from documents that were forged
o Gregory was weak in law
• Henry insisted on ruling as his ancestors did
o After second excommunication Gregory deposed Henry formally and recognized Rudolph as King and emperor
o 1084 Henry and his soldiers stormed into Rome and at his orders Guibert of Ravenna was set up as Pope Clement III
• Gregory was declared deposed
• Gregory’s successors
o Whole empire in civil war
• Henry’s son decided to break from his father and find agreement with Roman pope
• But estates of the church were scattered too widely and closely tied with the lay mobility for any kingdom to survive settlement.
• 1122 compromise was extended to the empire
• end of the civil war
• established principle of fundamental importance:
o there was a difference between the allegiance men owed to spiritual and to secular authorities
• Henry gained rule but only because pope approved of it
• Church gained most by struggle and settlement
• Henry died with no blood related successor
• Popes capitalized on the same universal ideals
o Had not gained complete freedom of the church under the monarchy of the Romans
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 4
Chapter 4
Religious and Political Ideals
Common religious belief and outlook were drawing men together almost as strongly as social pressures and the shocks of invasions were forcing men apart. The monasteries recorded a man entering into serfdom; which spoke of them giving themselves and their labor to god and the church. The exchange of ideas was traveling faster than trade. Children were introduced into the life of prayer well before they reached the years of discretion. During these times this was the only way ensuring the child would lead a useful life. The serfs also gave themselves to god and the church in hopes to be looked favorably upon.
The monasteries were directly associated with the religious beliefs of the lord who founded it. Gift giving in the monastery was used to elevate status of families. Monastery influence was moral not political however, this changed when a group of scholars interpreted the old testament as saying the king is the head of the church and chosen by god to rule his people. The king was able to appoint men to authority within the church. As a result the church had become intertwined with politics unlike it when it began as separate entities.
Religious and Political Ideals
Common religious belief and outlook were drawing men together almost as strongly as social pressures and the shocks of invasions were forcing men apart. The monasteries recorded a man entering into serfdom; which spoke of them giving themselves and their labor to god and the church. The exchange of ideas was traveling faster than trade. Children were introduced into the life of prayer well before they reached the years of discretion. During these times this was the only way ensuring the child would lead a useful life. The serfs also gave themselves to god and the church in hopes to be looked favorably upon.
The monasteries were directly associated with the religious beliefs of the lord who founded it. Gift giving in the monastery was used to elevate status of families. Monastery influence was moral not political however, this changed when a group of scholars interpreted the old testament as saying the king is the head of the church and chosen by god to rule his people. The king was able to appoint men to authority within the church. As a result the church had become intertwined with politics unlike it when it began as separate entities.
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 3
Chapter 3
Feudalism and Serfdom
Feudalism began after the break up of the Carolingian Empire. Trade decline and the downfall of town life were key factors. None of the main Carolingian government hubs were prominent trade centers. Lack of communication among regions resulted in a weak central government. This caused regions to split into their own self-sufficient domains versus the ‘great domain’ of the Carolingian Empire.
A domain was an estate in, or a series of estates. A landlord controlled the domain. Landlords were kings, monasteries, powerful noblemen ect. The estate was divided into two sections, a smaller one for the needs of the lord and the rest divided up into holding among his tenants. The tenants worked the land for the lord as well as themselves. This system had evolved naturally. The tenants’ sought protection granted by the lords in exchange for self-sufficiency given by the tenants who worked the land on agreement never to leave or be kicked out by the lord. The need for protection is how many became serfs. Serfs not only gave up their freedom but the freedom of their descendants as well (although not the same as a slave).
A vassal gave his verbal homage to the lord. Unlike the vassal from the Carolingian Empire they passed their status on through kin. Vassals were granted control of their own “smaller domain” it was not uncommon for vassals to appoint their own vassals and so forth. The concept of lords, vassals and serfs is what makes up the feudal system. Decision-making was left to the aristocracy of the top. The force of heredity perpetuated their authority and privileged position and what they did with these advantages depended very much on individual character.
Feudalism and Serfdom
Feudalism began after the break up of the Carolingian Empire. Trade decline and the downfall of town life were key factors. None of the main Carolingian government hubs were prominent trade centers. Lack of communication among regions resulted in a weak central government. This caused regions to split into their own self-sufficient domains versus the ‘great domain’ of the Carolingian Empire.
A domain was an estate in, or a series of estates. A landlord controlled the domain. Landlords were kings, monasteries, powerful noblemen ect. The estate was divided into two sections, a smaller one for the needs of the lord and the rest divided up into holding among his tenants. The tenants worked the land for the lord as well as themselves. This system had evolved naturally. The tenants’ sought protection granted by the lords in exchange for self-sufficiency given by the tenants who worked the land on agreement never to leave or be kicked out by the lord. The need for protection is how many became serfs. Serfs not only gave up their freedom but the freedom of their descendants as well (although not the same as a slave).
A vassal gave his verbal homage to the lord. Unlike the vassal from the Carolingian Empire they passed their status on through kin. Vassals were granted control of their own “smaller domain” it was not uncommon for vassals to appoint their own vassals and so forth. The concept of lords, vassals and serfs is what makes up the feudal system. Decision-making was left to the aristocracy of the top. The force of heredity perpetuated their authority and privileged position and what they did with these advantages depended very much on individual character.
PENGUIN STUDY GUIDE CH. 1
CHAPTER 1: Louise Mengelkoch
The Middle Ages and their heritage: The idea of the unity of Christendom
Middle Ages: 800-1440 AD
Middle Ages named by later historians of the Renaissance as a pejorative term
800: Charlemagne takes throne as Holy Roman Emperor
1449: Council of Basle dissolved
These dates mark the beginning and end of Church authority for a united western Europe
Common history and common objectives
British Isles alone resisted rule
Kingdom included what is now Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Germany, France, Bohemia, Poland, into Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Sicily, most of Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, etc.
Peak: 13th century
That’s when the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire most closely matched those of Latin Christendom
Dream of popes, emperors, subjects and servants: The restoration of the world-wide domination of Rome
Which actually ended in 476
Roman Empire got so extended that they depended more and more on barbaric tribes to defend borders (became “federate” tribes)
Their numbers increased because they were driven into the empire by the Huns from steppes of Asia
The barbarians penetrated everywhere
Lombards: Italy
Visigoths: Spain
Franks: Gaul (which became France) and parts of Germany
Marked the decline of urban prosperity, reduction of commerce, retreat of wealthy to estates, breakdown in communications
Deepened the gulf that already existed between eastern and western provinces
However, barbaric kings still respected emperor in Constantinople; just remote
Significance of Charlemagne’s coronation in 800 A.D.
The empire’s center moved from Constantinople to Franks
east to west; Greek to barbarians
They wanted the peace and unity of the Roman Empire, but had little understanding of the things on which it was based
Signified unity of Christians in the west
Unity went beyond religion. . .However,
Their religious and political aspirations owed much to the Roman past
Social attitudes and organization owed much to ancient Germany (did not think abstractly)
Ideas which colored the historical outlook of Middle Ages
Saw the classical achievements and biblical history as one: continuous
In other words, Greek and Roman culture and the story of the Jewish nation was all part of the great Christian scheme -- God’s plan
People thought the world was “growing old” and the end would come soon
The reality: tribalism
Vendettas
Importance of blood relations
But you could leave your kin for others
Threat of force always in background
Germanic idea of lordship: noble birth
Protection and generosity, not efficient administration expected
courage and loyalty important
Magnificence of strength and riches displayed
Militaristic and aristocratic
Peace was not the natural condition in the Middle Ages
“A society in which martial prowess is held in such high social esteem is not likely to remain long at peace.”
Problems caused: hard to preserve a sense of unity
Common Latin culture and religious beliefs brought people together, but martial instinct and loyalties divided them still more deeply
The Middle Ages and their heritage: The idea of the unity of Christendom
Middle Ages: 800-1440 AD
Middle Ages named by later historians of the Renaissance as a pejorative term
800: Charlemagne takes throne as Holy Roman Emperor
1449: Council of Basle dissolved
These dates mark the beginning and end of Church authority for a united western Europe
Common history and common objectives
British Isles alone resisted rule
Kingdom included what is now Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Germany, France, Bohemia, Poland, into Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Sicily, most of Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, etc.
Peak: 13th century
That’s when the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire most closely matched those of Latin Christendom
Dream of popes, emperors, subjects and servants: The restoration of the world-wide domination of Rome
Which actually ended in 476
Roman Empire got so extended that they depended more and more on barbaric tribes to defend borders (became “federate” tribes)
Their numbers increased because they were driven into the empire by the Huns from steppes of Asia
The barbarians penetrated everywhere
Lombards: Italy
Visigoths: Spain
Franks: Gaul (which became France) and parts of Germany
Marked the decline of urban prosperity, reduction of commerce, retreat of wealthy to estates, breakdown in communications
Deepened the gulf that already existed between eastern and western provinces
However, barbaric kings still respected emperor in Constantinople; just remote
Significance of Charlemagne’s coronation in 800 A.D.
The empire’s center moved from Constantinople to Franks
east to west; Greek to barbarians
They wanted the peace and unity of the Roman Empire, but had little understanding of the things on which it was based
Signified unity of Christians in the west
Unity went beyond religion. . .However,
Their religious and political aspirations owed much to the Roman past
Social attitudes and organization owed much to ancient Germany (did not think abstractly)
Ideas which colored the historical outlook of Middle Ages
Saw the classical achievements and biblical history as one: continuous
In other words, Greek and Roman culture and the story of the Jewish nation was all part of the great Christian scheme -- God’s plan
People thought the world was “growing old” and the end would come soon
The reality: tribalism
Vendettas
Importance of blood relations
But you could leave your kin for others
Threat of force always in background
Germanic idea of lordship: noble birth
Protection and generosity, not efficient administration expected
courage and loyalty important
Magnificence of strength and riches displayed
Militaristic and aristocratic
Peace was not the natural condition in the Middle Ages
“A society in which martial prowess is held in such high social esteem is not likely to remain long at peace.”
Problems caused: hard to preserve a sense of unity
Common Latin culture and religious beliefs brought people together, but martial instinct and loyalties divided them still more deeply
Monday, February 26, 2007
ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENTS IN LIEU OF 2ND WORKSHOP WEEKEND
The results of my informal survey were pretty clear: most of you had work or social commitments for next weekend, or no vehicle or no place to live or some other reason prohibiting you from attending a rescheduled workshop. So. . .I've decided to complete it as best we can via e-mail and this blog. Here's what we'll do:
1. Be sure you send me your chapter notes from the Penguin Medieval history book for posting to this blog. If you don't see yours on the blog at this point, it means I did not receive it. Please send it to get credit. If you also did a PowerPoint presentation on your chapter, e-mail that to Prof. Truedson for posting, and I will give you the extra credit.
2. Send your PowerPoint presentation about your Easter break trip idea to Prof. Truedson (jtruedson@bemidjistate.edu). He will post them and I will have a link from this blog to them.
3. E-mail me a message (400-600 words) with a plan for how you will do the reading for your other Oxford classes. Who, for example, shares your other classes? Have you discussed with them how to share the study plan? Which books do you have to read? Are they novels? Are they textbooks? How many pages do you need to read? To outline or take notes on? How many hours will this take? When will you do it? What can be shared with the other people in the class and which reading will you have to do yourself? (Novels would certainly fall in this category.)
1. Be sure you send me your chapter notes from the Penguin Medieval history book for posting to this blog. If you don't see yours on the blog at this point, it means I did not receive it. Please send it to get credit. If you also did a PowerPoint presentation on your chapter, e-mail that to Prof. Truedson for posting, and I will give you the extra credit.
2. Send your PowerPoint presentation about your Easter break trip idea to Prof. Truedson (jtruedson@bemidjistate.edu). He will post them and I will have a link from this blog to them.
3. E-mail me a message (400-600 words) with a plan for how you will do the reading for your other Oxford classes. Who, for example, shares your other classes? Have you discussed with them how to share the study plan? Which books do you have to read? Are they novels? Are they textbooks? How many pages do you need to read? To outline or take notes on? How many hours will this take? When will you do it? What can be shared with the other people in the class and which reading will you have to do yourself? (Novels would certainly fall in this category.)
Friday, February 23, 2007
EUROSPRING WEEKEND WORKSHOP POSTPONED
Due to severe weather warnings across most of the state for the weekend, we have decided to cancel this weekend's workshop. You should also have received an e-mail about this. Check the blog Monday for more information about rescheduling. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we didn't want any of you stranded on the road!!
Friday, February 16, 2007
IMPORTANT TRAVEL UPDATES
When you come next Saturday (Feb. 24) please have the following information written down for us to make a master list for hotel check-ins: Date of birth, passport number and hometown.
Room assignments on the tour will be made later, probably on the road trip to Paris.
There will be a STRICT 45 lb. limit on your luggage and it's limited to ONE suitcase. This will require smart packing. I'll pack a sample bag for you next Saturday. Should be fun!
Room assignments on the tour will be made later, probably on the road trip to Paris.
There will be a STRICT 45 lb. limit on your luggage and it's limited to ONE suitcase. This will require smart packing. I'll pack a sample bag for you next Saturday. Should be fun!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
TEXTBOOKS REQUIRED FOR OTHER CLASSES & LECTURE SCHEDULE
EUROSPRING 2007
The Medieval Age, A.D. 500-1500
MAIN LECTURE COURSE
Dr Allan Chapman, M.A., D.Phil., D.Univ., F.R.A.S.Ê University of Oxford.
Hollywood has created a popular image of the Middle Ages that largely consists of knights, ladies, downtrodden peasants, and well-fed monks.Ê But the truth goes much further.Ê Indeed, far from being a narrow, simple world, the medieval centuries were a time of rapid change and exotic cultural contacts.Ê And these contacts were not restricted to the peoples within Europe, but crossed the known world.Ê In places like Sicily and Spain, Christians, Muslims, and Jews exchanged goods, books, and ideas, and sometimes killed each other; while Marco Polo crossed Asia to live for twenty years in China.Ê And Viking adventurers explored Russia and the north Atlantic, and made landfall in North America.Ê This course will provide a survey of the 1,000-year period that extended from the end of the classical world to early modern times.Ê While the basic theme will be the cultural history of Europe, continuous attention will also be paid to contemporary developments in other world civilisations, such as those of Arabia, China, Africa, and the Americas, and the ways in which they influenced each other.Ê The course will take a social historical perspective, in which the lives and actions of individual men and women will be used to give a wide and integrated interpretation of the period.
Week 1.The Legacy of Antiquity
1.The end of the Roman world.
2.Flat, round, or square: some ancient ideas about the globe.
3.The spread of Christianity: Rome and Constantinople.
4.Old books for new minds: the intellectual foundation.
5.Faces from the grave: reconstructing medieval people.
Week 2. The Medieval World in Europe
1.Empires, cities, and mountains: the geography of medieval civilizations.
2.The Great Chain of Being.
3.Against the Legions of Darkness: the Gothic cathedral.
4. Violence as a pastime: the art of warfare in East and West.
5.Northern Europe exported: the Viking voyages to Russia and America.
Week 3. The Cultures of the Wider World
1.China: the Celestial Empire.
2. From Samarkand to Granada: the world of Islam.
3.Genghis Khan and the Mongol hordes.
4.Africa, India, and their cultures.
5. The Aztec and Inca civilisations of America.
Week 4. Mind, Body, and Soul
1. Students and scholars in the Madrasah and the University.
2. Ghosts, spirits, and the realm of popular belief.
3. Food, drink, and entertainment.
4. Sex, love, and marriage.
5. Cure of soul and cure of body: the priest and the physician.
Week 5. The End of the Middle Ages
1.The Black Death in Europe and Asia.
2. Crusade, the causes of crusade, and the rise of militant Islam.
3.The fall of the Byzantine Empire.
4. John Wycliffe and the origins of Protestant Christianity.
5. Beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
Additional Lectures
There will be a lecture on the origins, history, and present-day workings of Oxford University, and on student life within it.Ê Before each field trip there will also be a full lecture; in addition, there will be a background talk on the Shakespeare play to be seen in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Suggested course books
Maurice Keen, The Penguin History of Medieval Europe (Penguin, paperback), ISBN 01401 363 04, £9.99.
Also, if possible, J. M. Roberts, History of the World (Penguin), ISBN 0141007230, £14.99.
CLASSES
The following classes are offered.Ê Each student must register for TWO classes for credit, though all classes are open for audit.Ê Not all of the listed books are essential for the course, but they are intended to give background.Ê Students should try, if possible, to buy or borrow at least one of them for each class taken.
Art and Architecture (Dr Rachel Owen, B.A., Ph.D.)
The course will begin with a brief look at the Early Middle Ages, and then concentrate on the art and architecture of the High Middle Ages: the Romanesque and Gothic periods.Ê We will also examine artistic developments at the onset of the Renaissance in Europe.Ê Architecture was the dominant art of the High Middle Ages, but the course will also discuss sculpture, painting, manuscript illumination, mosaic, and stained glass, in an attempt to illustrate the consistency of subject matter combined with a variety of styles that characterizes medieval art.Ê Unlike that of later eras, the art of the Middle Ages is not focussed on individual artists and personal styles, but instead on a series of monuments and works defined by historical forces and geographical areas.Ê The course will be centred on British art and architecture, but these British works will be evaluated in relation to the art produced in other European countries.
Recommended reading:Ê Andrew Martindale, Gothic Art (Thames and Hudson), ISBN 0500 200 580, £8.95.
Influential Women in the Middle Ages (Dr Santha Bhattacharji, M.A., Ph.D.)
Contrary to what many people believe, women in the Middle Ages were sometimes able to achieve extremely powerful positions in society, or, through their writings, to have a wide and lasting influence on those around them.Ê This course will look at some of these influential women, wherever possible through their own writings: scholars such as Hrotswith of Gandersheim, Hildegard of Bingen, and HŽlo•se; courtly secular writers such as Marie de France and Christine de Pisan; and religious visionaries such as Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe.
Recommended reading:Ê Marie de France, The Laies of Marie de France (Penguin Classics, 1986), ISBN 0140447598, £7.95 (but several paperback editions in print); Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (Penguin Classics, 1998); Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Penguin Classics, 1985); Margery Kempe, The Book of Margery Kempe (Penguin Classics, 1985).
The Knights of King Arthur (Nigel Frith, M.A., M.Litt.)
In sixth-century Britain a heroic general probably called Artorius held out for the Celts and civilisation against the barbarian Anglo-Saxon invaders.Ê Arthurâs exploits became the stuff of legend and of countless High Medieval romances, where, in a world of jousts and heraldry, castles and courtly ladies, he was looked upon as an ideal king of an ideal company.Ê This course will study two classic texts which tell of Arthur himself, his rise and fall, and of the famous knights of his court.Ê While the classes will discuss a section of text each week, there will also be introductions to the origin and growth of these legends, the Celtic (Welsh) background, the French courtly influence, and the timeless appeal of the chivalry of the Round Table.
Recommended reading (please bring with you, if possible):Ê ChrŽtien de Troyes, The Arthurian Romances, for Yvain or the Knight with the Lion (any edn., e.g. Penguin Classics); Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte dâArthur, Books 1, 3-5, 18-21 (Caxtonâs numbering).
Music and Culture (Dr Katie Pardee, M.M., D.M.A.)
This course will cover the music and culture of about 500 years in England, from about the time of the Norman Conquest to the reign of Henry VII ö the mid-eleventh century to the beginning of the sixteenth.Ê Most histories of medieval music concentrate on the music of the Church, and rightly so, since the Church was the dominant force in everyday life.Ê However, we will look at other music as well, and try to establish a picture of life in England in general and Oxford in particular from the time of the beginnings of the University through some of its stormiest history.
Recommended reading:Ê Books focussing on the music of medieval Britain are difficult to come by, and you will find that even chapters on medieval music in general histories of music spend little time on English music.Ê Overall familiarity with medieval music is important however, so look at the relevant chapters in any readily-available history of music.Ê A search on the internet will also turn up short but relevant articles.Ê Some suggested books for background:Ê Stanley Sadie and Alison Latham, Cambridge Music Guide (C.U.P.), £22.92; Roger Kamien, Music: An Appreciation (McGraw Hill), £22.99?; Craig Wright, Listening to Music (West Publishing), $23.99?; Richard Hoppin, Medieval Music (Norton), £28.50.
Politics and Law in Medieval Europe (Dr Allan Chapman, M.A., D.Phil., D.Univ., F.R.A.S.)
It is in the medieval period that many elements of what we now call a free and publicly accountable society were born.Ê Building upon a legal foundation inherited from ancient Rome, medieval political thinkers were the first to advance serious arguments against the absolute power of monarchs.Ê At the base of medieval society was the concept of the Corporation, where the social whole was greater than the will of any one powerful individual.Ê While the practice was often very different from the theory, it emphasized the tradition of citizenship, and the concept of legally defensible rights against would-be tyrants.
Recommended reading:Ê David Miller (ed.), Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, ISBN 0-631-179443, £25.99 (see articles on Greek, Roman, medieval, Renaissance political thought, Church and state, John of Salisbury, etc.).Ê Or Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy (Routledge), ISBN 0415078547, $33.95.
Romance East and West (Nigel Frith, M.A., M.Litt.)
In the medieval millennium (500-1500) the world seems to have been swept away by a breeze of love and romance.Ê In Europe this revealed itself in the strange, emotional, and passionate practice of courtly love, where the lady was the dominant partner and the knight had to obey her every whim.Ê But the lecturer has a theory, which he will introduce, that this cult of love originated in India, and then spread west through the Middle East.Ê The background of the medieval courts, castles, and tournaments will also be considered, along with that of the Indian fairy-tale heavens, glittering cities, and jungle retreats.Ê Meanwhile the class will study a section of text each week from two famous works of such traditions, one from France and one from India.
Recommended reading (please bring with you if possible):Ê ChrŽtien de Troyes, The Arthurian Romances, for Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart (any edn., e.g. Penguin); Kalidasa, The Recognition of Shakuntala, trans. W. J. Johnson (Oxford World Classics).
Science, Alchemy, and Invention (Dr Allan Chapman, M.A., D.Phil., D.Univ., F.R.A.S.)
The composition and the working of material things have always fascinated people, and it was in the Arabic world of around A.D. 900 that Al-Chimia, or the study of how substances change when heated or mixed, was born.Ê Optics, astronomy, alchemy, and medicine had drawn deeply on many cultural traditions, such as ancient Greek, Arabian, Indian, and Persian by the time that they appeared in western Europe in the twelfth century.Ê This course will look at how medieval peoples perceived and explained the physical world around them, to produce scientific instruments, the mechanical clock, and corrosive acids.Ê By 1450, western Europe in particular was becoming a Îtechnological societyâ, with machines being used for everything, from mechanical toys to weaponry and industrial devices.
Recommended reading:Ê A. C. Crombie, History of Science from Augustine to Galileo (Peregrine paperback), ISBN 0486288501, £14.55 ($16.95).
FIELD TRIPS
1. Avebury, Stonehenge, and Salisbury.
2. City of Bath and the Roman Baths, via Burford and the Cotswolds.
3. Portsmouth Dockyard Museum.
4. Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon to see a performance in the evening.
Each group of students will also be taken on a walking tour of Oxford, usually shortly after arrival, to help them find their way around the city, and to see its main buildings.
NOTE
Each of the main field trips will take place on a Saturday except that to Warwick Castle and Stratford. As the Royal Shakespeare Company do not announce their spring programme and precise performance dates until January 2007, we cannot fix the exact date for this field trip, or give details of the play, until we receive confirmation of our ticket application from the R.S.C.
As usual, there will be no lectures or field trips over the Easter weekend, 5th to 9th April inclusive. A full five-day break will be provided in which students can travel and explore for themselves. It would be appreciated, however, if it could be made very clear to the students in advance that their presence will be needed at lectures and classes up to mid-afternoon on Wednesday 4th April, and that they should not book Easter holiday tickets that require them to leave Wycliffe Hall before 3.00 p.m. on that day.
The Medieval Age, A.D. 500-1500
MAIN LECTURE COURSE
Dr Allan Chapman, M.A., D.Phil., D.Univ., F.R.A.S.Ê University of Oxford.
Hollywood has created a popular image of the Middle Ages that largely consists of knights, ladies, downtrodden peasants, and well-fed monks.Ê But the truth goes much further.Ê Indeed, far from being a narrow, simple world, the medieval centuries were a time of rapid change and exotic cultural contacts.Ê And these contacts were not restricted to the peoples within Europe, but crossed the known world.Ê In places like Sicily and Spain, Christians, Muslims, and Jews exchanged goods, books, and ideas, and sometimes killed each other; while Marco Polo crossed Asia to live for twenty years in China.Ê And Viking adventurers explored Russia and the north Atlantic, and made landfall in North America.Ê This course will provide a survey of the 1,000-year period that extended from the end of the classical world to early modern times.Ê While the basic theme will be the cultural history of Europe, continuous attention will also be paid to contemporary developments in other world civilisations, such as those of Arabia, China, Africa, and the Americas, and the ways in which they influenced each other.Ê The course will take a social historical perspective, in which the lives and actions of individual men and women will be used to give a wide and integrated interpretation of the period.
Week 1.The Legacy of Antiquity
1.The end of the Roman world.
2.Flat, round, or square: some ancient ideas about the globe.
3.The spread of Christianity: Rome and Constantinople.
4.Old books for new minds: the intellectual foundation.
5.Faces from the grave: reconstructing medieval people.
Week 2. The Medieval World in Europe
1.Empires, cities, and mountains: the geography of medieval civilizations.
2.The Great Chain of Being.
3.Against the Legions of Darkness: the Gothic cathedral.
4. Violence as a pastime: the art of warfare in East and West.
5.Northern Europe exported: the Viking voyages to Russia and America.
Week 3. The Cultures of the Wider World
1.China: the Celestial Empire.
2. From Samarkand to Granada: the world of Islam.
3.Genghis Khan and the Mongol hordes.
4.Africa, India, and their cultures.
5. The Aztec and Inca civilisations of America.
Week 4. Mind, Body, and Soul
1. Students and scholars in the Madrasah and the University.
2. Ghosts, spirits, and the realm of popular belief.
3. Food, drink, and entertainment.
4. Sex, love, and marriage.
5. Cure of soul and cure of body: the priest and the physician.
Week 5. The End of the Middle Ages
1.The Black Death in Europe and Asia.
2. Crusade, the causes of crusade, and the rise of militant Islam.
3.The fall of the Byzantine Empire.
4. John Wycliffe and the origins of Protestant Christianity.
5. Beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
Additional Lectures
There will be a lecture on the origins, history, and present-day workings of Oxford University, and on student life within it.Ê Before each field trip there will also be a full lecture; in addition, there will be a background talk on the Shakespeare play to be seen in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Suggested course books
Maurice Keen, The Penguin History of Medieval Europe (Penguin, paperback), ISBN 01401 363 04, £9.99.
Also, if possible, J. M. Roberts, History of the World (Penguin), ISBN 0141007230, £14.99.
CLASSES
The following classes are offered.Ê Each student must register for TWO classes for credit, though all classes are open for audit.Ê Not all of the listed books are essential for the course, but they are intended to give background.Ê Students should try, if possible, to buy or borrow at least one of them for each class taken.
Art and Architecture (Dr Rachel Owen, B.A., Ph.D.)
The course will begin with a brief look at the Early Middle Ages, and then concentrate on the art and architecture of the High Middle Ages: the Romanesque and Gothic periods.Ê We will also examine artistic developments at the onset of the Renaissance in Europe.Ê Architecture was the dominant art of the High Middle Ages, but the course will also discuss sculpture, painting, manuscript illumination, mosaic, and stained glass, in an attempt to illustrate the consistency of subject matter combined with a variety of styles that characterizes medieval art.Ê Unlike that of later eras, the art of the Middle Ages is not focussed on individual artists and personal styles, but instead on a series of monuments and works defined by historical forces and geographical areas.Ê The course will be centred on British art and architecture, but these British works will be evaluated in relation to the art produced in other European countries.
Recommended reading:Ê Andrew Martindale, Gothic Art (Thames and Hudson), ISBN 0500 200 580, £8.95.
Influential Women in the Middle Ages (Dr Santha Bhattacharji, M.A., Ph.D.)
Contrary to what many people believe, women in the Middle Ages were sometimes able to achieve extremely powerful positions in society, or, through their writings, to have a wide and lasting influence on those around them.Ê This course will look at some of these influential women, wherever possible through their own writings: scholars such as Hrotswith of Gandersheim, Hildegard of Bingen, and HŽlo•se; courtly secular writers such as Marie de France and Christine de Pisan; and religious visionaries such as Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe.
Recommended reading:Ê Marie de France, The Laies of Marie de France (Penguin Classics, 1986), ISBN 0140447598, £7.95 (but several paperback editions in print); Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (Penguin Classics, 1998); Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (Penguin Classics, 1985); Margery Kempe, The Book of Margery Kempe (Penguin Classics, 1985).
The Knights of King Arthur (Nigel Frith, M.A., M.Litt.)
In sixth-century Britain a heroic general probably called Artorius held out for the Celts and civilisation against the barbarian Anglo-Saxon invaders.Ê Arthurâs exploits became the stuff of legend and of countless High Medieval romances, where, in a world of jousts and heraldry, castles and courtly ladies, he was looked upon as an ideal king of an ideal company.Ê This course will study two classic texts which tell of Arthur himself, his rise and fall, and of the famous knights of his court.Ê While the classes will discuss a section of text each week, there will also be introductions to the origin and growth of these legends, the Celtic (Welsh) background, the French courtly influence, and the timeless appeal of the chivalry of the Round Table.
Recommended reading (please bring with you, if possible):Ê ChrŽtien de Troyes, The Arthurian Romances, for Yvain or the Knight with the Lion (any edn., e.g. Penguin Classics); Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte dâArthur, Books 1, 3-5, 18-21 (Caxtonâs numbering).
Music and Culture (Dr Katie Pardee, M.M., D.M.A.)
This course will cover the music and culture of about 500 years in England, from about the time of the Norman Conquest to the reign of Henry VII ö the mid-eleventh century to the beginning of the sixteenth.Ê Most histories of medieval music concentrate on the music of the Church, and rightly so, since the Church was the dominant force in everyday life.Ê However, we will look at other music as well, and try to establish a picture of life in England in general and Oxford in particular from the time of the beginnings of the University through some of its stormiest history.
Recommended reading:Ê Books focussing on the music of medieval Britain are difficult to come by, and you will find that even chapters on medieval music in general histories of music spend little time on English music.Ê Overall familiarity with medieval music is important however, so look at the relevant chapters in any readily-available history of music.Ê A search on the internet will also turn up short but relevant articles.Ê Some suggested books for background:Ê Stanley Sadie and Alison Latham, Cambridge Music Guide (C.U.P.), £22.92; Roger Kamien, Music: An Appreciation (McGraw Hill), £22.99?; Craig Wright, Listening to Music (West Publishing), $23.99?; Richard Hoppin, Medieval Music (Norton), £28.50.
Politics and Law in Medieval Europe (Dr Allan Chapman, M.A., D.Phil., D.Univ., F.R.A.S.)
It is in the medieval period that many elements of what we now call a free and publicly accountable society were born.Ê Building upon a legal foundation inherited from ancient Rome, medieval political thinkers were the first to advance serious arguments against the absolute power of monarchs.Ê At the base of medieval society was the concept of the Corporation, where the social whole was greater than the will of any one powerful individual.Ê While the practice was often very different from the theory, it emphasized the tradition of citizenship, and the concept of legally defensible rights against would-be tyrants.
Recommended reading:Ê David Miller (ed.), Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought, ISBN 0-631-179443, £25.99 (see articles on Greek, Roman, medieval, Renaissance political thought, Church and state, John of Salisbury, etc.).Ê Or Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy (Routledge), ISBN 0415078547, $33.95.
Romance East and West (Nigel Frith, M.A., M.Litt.)
In the medieval millennium (500-1500) the world seems to have been swept away by a breeze of love and romance.Ê In Europe this revealed itself in the strange, emotional, and passionate practice of courtly love, where the lady was the dominant partner and the knight had to obey her every whim.Ê But the lecturer has a theory, which he will introduce, that this cult of love originated in India, and then spread west through the Middle East.Ê The background of the medieval courts, castles, and tournaments will also be considered, along with that of the Indian fairy-tale heavens, glittering cities, and jungle retreats.Ê Meanwhile the class will study a section of text each week from two famous works of such traditions, one from France and one from India.
Recommended reading (please bring with you if possible):Ê ChrŽtien de Troyes, The Arthurian Romances, for Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart (any edn., e.g. Penguin); Kalidasa, The Recognition of Shakuntala, trans. W. J. Johnson (Oxford World Classics).
Science, Alchemy, and Invention (Dr Allan Chapman, M.A., D.Phil., D.Univ., F.R.A.S.)
The composition and the working of material things have always fascinated people, and it was in the Arabic world of around A.D. 900 that Al-Chimia, or the study of how substances change when heated or mixed, was born.Ê Optics, astronomy, alchemy, and medicine had drawn deeply on many cultural traditions, such as ancient Greek, Arabian, Indian, and Persian by the time that they appeared in western Europe in the twelfth century.Ê This course will look at how medieval peoples perceived and explained the physical world around them, to produce scientific instruments, the mechanical clock, and corrosive acids.Ê By 1450, western Europe in particular was becoming a Îtechnological societyâ, with machines being used for everything, from mechanical toys to weaponry and industrial devices.
Recommended reading:Ê A. C. Crombie, History of Science from Augustine to Galileo (Peregrine paperback), ISBN 0486288501, £14.55 ($16.95).
FIELD TRIPS
1. Avebury, Stonehenge, and Salisbury.
2. City of Bath and the Roman Baths, via Burford and the Cotswolds.
3. Portsmouth Dockyard Museum.
4. Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon to see a performance in the evening.
Each group of students will also be taken on a walking tour of Oxford, usually shortly after arrival, to help them find their way around the city, and to see its main buildings.
NOTE
Each of the main field trips will take place on a Saturday except that to Warwick Castle and Stratford. As the Royal Shakespeare Company do not announce their spring programme and precise performance dates until January 2007, we cannot fix the exact date for this field trip, or give details of the play, until we receive confirmation of our ticket application from the R.S.C.
As usual, there will be no lectures or field trips over the Easter weekend, 5th to 9th April inclusive. A full five-day break will be provided in which students can travel and explore for themselves. It would be appreciated, however, if it could be made very clear to the students in advance that their presence will be needed at lectures and classes up to mid-afternoon on Wednesday 4th April, and that they should not book Easter holiday tickets that require them to leave Wycliffe Hall before 3.00 p.m. on that day.
Easter Break Trip presentations & Penguin Study Guide
CHAPTER ASSIGNMENTS from The Penguin History of Medieval Europe
Preface and Chapter 1: Louise
The Middle Ages and Their Heritage: The Idea of the Unity of Christendom
Chapter 2: Sam Foley
The Revival of Empire – Charlemagne to Henry III
Chapter 3 & 4: Laura Hanson
Serfdom and Feudalism AND Religious and Political Ideals
Chapter 5 and 6: Kimberly Orchard
Empire and Papacy – the Beginning of the Struggle AND The Expansion of Europe
Chapters 7 & 8: Becky Boe
New Movements in Thought and Letters AND The Twelfth-Century Revolution in Gov’t
Chapter 9: Sarah Bruen
The Crusades
Chapter 10: Erik Truedson
Innocent III – The Papacy Triumphant
Chapter 11 and 12: Hollie Ostendorf
The Universities and the Friars: St. Thomas, St. Francis, and Abbot Joachim AND
The STruggle of the Popes and the Hohenstaufen
Chapter 13: Valerie VanVickle
The Crusade in the Thirteenth Century
Chapter 14: Jennifer Prokopowicz
France and England: The Growth of National Communities
Chapter 15: Clint Dudley
Boniface VIII and the Onset of Crisis in the Church
Chapter 16: Ryan Schwingler
Economic and Social Development in the Later Middle Ages
Chapter 17: James Yuenger
The Hundred Years War
Chapter 18: Sara Church
Politics and Political Society in an Age of Wars
Chapter 19: Jessica Speer
Upheaval in the Church: Avignon, the Great Schism and the Councils
Chapter 20 & 21: Katerina Conlon
Europe and the Infidel After the Crusades
AND Epilogue: The Break with Traditional Attitudes
EASTER BREAK TRIP IDEAS (Please create a PowerPoint presentation about this possible destination, following the directions stated above)
Kilkenny: James Yuenger
Edinburgh: Sara Church
Cambridge: Sarah Bruen
Denmark: Jennifer Prokopowicz
Costa del Sol: Ryan Schwingler
Norway: Becky Boe
Road trip in Ireland: Valerie Van Vickle
Dublin: Clint Dudley
York: Jessica Speer
Wales: Sam Foley
Cornwall: Laura Hanson
London: Rebecca Hougen
Lake District: Hollie Ostendorf
Inverness and the Loch Ness Monster: Eric Truedson
Preface and Chapter 1: Louise
The Middle Ages and Their Heritage: The Idea of the Unity of Christendom
Chapter 2: Sam Foley
The Revival of Empire – Charlemagne to Henry III
Chapter 3 & 4: Laura Hanson
Serfdom and Feudalism AND Religious and Political Ideals
Chapter 5 and 6: Kimberly Orchard
Empire and Papacy – the Beginning of the Struggle AND The Expansion of Europe
Chapters 7 & 8: Becky Boe
New Movements in Thought and Letters AND The Twelfth-Century Revolution in Gov’t
Chapter 9: Sarah Bruen
The Crusades
Chapter 10: Erik Truedson
Innocent III – The Papacy Triumphant
Chapter 11 and 12: Hollie Ostendorf
The Universities and the Friars: St. Thomas, St. Francis, and Abbot Joachim AND
The STruggle of the Popes and the Hohenstaufen
Chapter 13: Valerie VanVickle
The Crusade in the Thirteenth Century
Chapter 14: Jennifer Prokopowicz
France and England: The Growth of National Communities
Chapter 15: Clint Dudley
Boniface VIII and the Onset of Crisis in the Church
Chapter 16: Ryan Schwingler
Economic and Social Development in the Later Middle Ages
Chapter 17: James Yuenger
The Hundred Years War
Chapter 18: Sara Church
Politics and Political Society in an Age of Wars
Chapter 19: Jessica Speer
Upheaval in the Church: Avignon, the Great Schism and the Councils
Chapter 20 & 21: Katerina Conlon
Europe and the Infidel After the Crusades
AND Epilogue: The Break with Traditional Attitudes
EASTER BREAK TRIP IDEAS (Please create a PowerPoint presentation about this possible destination, following the directions stated above)
Kilkenny: James Yuenger
Edinburgh: Sara Church
Cambridge: Sarah Bruen
Denmark: Jennifer Prokopowicz
Costa del Sol: Ryan Schwingler
Norway: Becky Boe
Road trip in Ireland: Valerie Van Vickle
Dublin: Clint Dudley
York: Jessica Speer
Wales: Sam Foley
Cornwall: Laura Hanson
London: Rebecca Hougen
Lake District: Hollie Ostendorf
Inverness and the Loch Ness Monster: Eric Truedson
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
EASTER BREAK DATES
You will not have classes April 5, 6, 7 8 and 9. Please schedule your Easter break trip within these parameters. As we discussed in class, you are expected to be in class April 4 and April 10. Hope that helps with your planning!!
Course update: who's taking what in Oxford?
WOMEN IN MIDDLE AGES
Clint, Valerie and Jessica
KING ARTHUR
Jessica, Valerie, Sara, Sarah, Jennifer, James and Clint
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Sarah, Jennifer, Sam and Hollie
SCIENCE, ALCHEMY, ETC.
Kim, Becky, Ryan, Jennifer and Hollie
Clint, Valerie and Jessica
KING ARTHUR
Jessica, Valerie, Sara, Sarah, Jennifer, James and Clint
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Sarah, Jennifer, Sam and Hollie
SCIENCE, ALCHEMY, ETC.
Kim, Becky, Ryan, Jennifer and Hollie
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Reminders for Feb. 24-25 meetings
Please e-mail me your study guide for the Penguin History of Medieval Europe. I will post it on the blog. (Ryan's chapter 16 is already posted. Thanks, Ryan!)
If you would like extra credit points, be prepared to present a PowerPoint about your chapter.
Also, please be prepared to share your PowerPoint presentation about an Easter Break trip.
Bring your copy of THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS for some tips from me on journals, travel essays, photography, etc.
I look forward to seeing you all again. Start packing your bags! We'll also do a demonstration packing job and weigh the results!
If you would like extra credit points, be prepared to present a PowerPoint about your chapter.
Also, please be prepared to share your PowerPoint presentation about an Easter Break trip.
Bring your copy of THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS for some tips from me on journals, travel essays, photography, etc.
I look forward to seeing you all again. Start packing your bags! We'll also do a demonstration packing job and weigh the results!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
SEMI-FINAL SCHEDULE FOR FEBRUARY 10 & 11
WE WILL BE MEETING IN BG 119
Saturday, Feb. 10:
9:00 -- Icebreaker, getting organized, begin chapter presentations
10:00 -- Prof. Deanna Evans: The Medieval Era
11:00 -- Former Eurospringers tell all
11:45 -- Indian Curry for lunch with special reading from THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS
12:45 -- Field trip to Amigo Theatre to see THE QUEEN
3:30 -- Prof. Tom Beech: European politics
4:30 -- Prof. Patrick Carriere: Shakespeare
5:30 -- Supper break
6:30 -- CORIOLANUS
Sunday, Feb. 11
9:30 -- Chapter presentations
10:30-noon -- Prof. Mike Garrett: Architecture, geography, other??
Saturday, Feb. 10:
9:00 -- Icebreaker, getting organized, begin chapter presentations
10:00 -- Prof. Deanna Evans: The Medieval Era
11:00 -- Former Eurospringers tell all
11:45 -- Indian Curry for lunch with special reading from THE JOURNEY THAT MATTERS
12:45 -- Field trip to Amigo Theatre to see THE QUEEN
3:30 -- Prof. Tom Beech: European politics
4:30 -- Prof. Patrick Carriere: Shakespeare
5:30 -- Supper break
6:30 -- CORIOLANUS
Sunday, Feb. 11
9:30 -- Chapter presentations
10:30-noon -- Prof. Mike Garrett: Architecture, geography, other??
INDIAN CURRY RECIPE (Our lunch for Feb. 10)
LOUISE'S EASY INDIAN CURRY
1-1/4 lb. boneless chicken breast, diced
2 T. peanut oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or smashed
1 c. chopped onion
4 c. chopped vegetables (carrots, peas and potatoes)
1/3 c. chopped fresh sweet red pepper
1 small can chopped chili peppers
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 T. garam masala
1 inch grated fresh ginger root
3 c. chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
3 T. yellow curry
Sprinkle chicken with garam masala. Brown in oil, along with garlic and onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Add everything else except the coconut milk, cilantro and curry. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes until vegetables are soft. Add coconut milk, cilantro and curry. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Serve over fragrant Basmati rice (the kind from the Himalayas that comes in the brown burlap bag).
TOPPINGS FOR CURRY
Set out any of these in separate bowls so people can help themselves to whatever toppings they prefer for their curry:
Peanuts
Unsweetened coconut
Yellow raisins (or any dried fruit)
Plain yogurt
Mango chutney
MANGO CHUTNEY
3 firm green mangoes, cut into chunks
2/3 c. cider vinegar
2/3 c. light brown sugar
1 small fresh red chili, split
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
5 cardomom seeds, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
Put the mango chunks into a pan; add the vinegar and cover. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil slowly, stirring.
Lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes, until the mixture is syrupy. Leave to cool, then ladle into a hot sterilized jar and cover. Leave to rest for 1 week before serving. (I don't usually wait this long!)
1-1/4 lb. boneless chicken breast, diced
2 T. peanut oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or smashed
1 c. chopped onion
4 c. chopped vegetables (carrots, peas and potatoes)
1/3 c. chopped fresh sweet red pepper
1 small can chopped chili peppers
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 T. garam masala
1 inch grated fresh ginger root
3 c. chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
3 T. yellow curry
Sprinkle chicken with garam masala. Brown in oil, along with garlic and onion. Salt and pepper to taste. Add everything else except the coconut milk, cilantro and curry. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes until vegetables are soft. Add coconut milk, cilantro and curry. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Serve over fragrant Basmati rice (the kind from the Himalayas that comes in the brown burlap bag).
TOPPINGS FOR CURRY
Set out any of these in separate bowls so people can help themselves to whatever toppings they prefer for their curry:
Peanuts
Unsweetened coconut
Yellow raisins (or any dried fruit)
Plain yogurt
Mango chutney
MANGO CHUTNEY
3 firm green mangoes, cut into chunks
2/3 c. cider vinegar
2/3 c. light brown sugar
1 small fresh red chili, split
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
5 cardomom seeds, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
Put the mango chunks into a pan; add the vinegar and cover. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil slowly, stirring.
Lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes, until the mixture is syrupy. Leave to cool, then ladle into a hot sterilized jar and cover. Leave to rest for 1 week before serving. (I don't usually wait this long!)
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Last-minute instructions for weekend workshop
You don't need to have study guides completed for your OTHER textbooks this weekend. Just bring the books so you can get together with others taking the same courses and then we'll assign chapters for you to cover.
What you should have completed is a) reading CORIOLANUS and b) a PowerPoint presentation and study guide for your chapter out of the Penguin book on Medieval history. See you Saturday!!!
What you should have completed is a) reading CORIOLANUS and b) a PowerPoint presentation and study guide for your chapter out of the Penguin book on Medieval history. See you Saturday!!!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
THE PLAY'S THE THING!!!
NEWS FLASH!! The play you will all be seeing performed by the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon is CORIOLANUS. This play is one of Shakespeare's last plays, sometimes considered his greatest and darkest tragedy, more so even than HAMLET. It is performed rarely (I'm not sure why), but it should be interesting. Find yourself a copy, read it and be prepared for a quiz at our first Saturday meeting in February. I haven't read it myself since college, so I'm looking forward to curling up with it by a nice roaring fire and a cup of hot tea! See you all soon. Louise
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