HIST 3270/RELS 3270
The Crusades
A Multicultural Examination of Holy War (1000s-1500s)
Fall 2016
When: MWF 12:30-1:20
Where: Old Main 119
InstructorOffice Hours: TR 12:00-1:30
Danielle Ross or by appointment
Office Number:Old Main 323 I
Important Dates
First Day of Class: August 29
Primary Source Analysis due: September 23
In-Depth Book Assignmentdue: October 19
List of Sources for Analytic Question Paper due:November 2
Outline for Analytic Question Paper due:November 18
Rough Draft of Analytic Question Paper due:November 30
Analytical Question Paperdue:December 9
Last Day of Class:December 9
Final Exam: There is no Final Exam in this class
Course Description
In this course, we will focus on the emergence in 11th-century Western Europe of the concept of crusade or holy war against a Muslim infidel “other” in the East. We will follow the European campaigns into Muslim Palestine and Egypt, and discuss how the societies involved were changed politically, culturally, economically and intellectually by these encounters. Finally, we will examine the successive re-workings of the concept of holy war in the Christian and Muslims societies of Western Eurasia and North Africa into a tool for enforcing religious uniformity, resisting invasion, and expanding political boundaries. In the course of this semester, we will examine issues of personal and community identity in the medieval period, the spread of monotheistic salvation religions, the role of religious belief and religious institutions in political and cultural life, and the relationship between faith and violence. In considering the Crusades and their aftermath as a development that included peoples of numerous regions and faiths, we will read sources by authors from various parts of the Latin Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Muslim worlds.
Note: all students are expected to be aware of all information provided in this syllabus.
Objectives
At the end of this course, students will:
- Familiarize themselves with the basic geography of the Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe in the medieval period
- Gain a thorough knowledge of the major actors and events of the Crusades period
- Develop their ability to frame historical questions, think about connections among historical events, and view individual events in a regional and global context
- Read, analyze and think critically about primary sources
- Strengthened their spoken and written communication skills through primary-source analyses, and participation in in-class activities
Course Format
All students are required to attend class three times per week. Each class will consist of either a lecture given by the instructor or by an in-class activity based on the assigned reading material. Such activities may include group work, role-playing and student presentations. Students are expected to listen, understand and take notes. Please note: students must complete all assigned readings prior to the class for which they have been assigned.
Note: Your instructor cannot provide notes for classes you have missed. It is your responsibility to attend class and to get any notes you may miss from a classmate.
Required Texts
S. J. Allen. The Crusades, A Reader (Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures)
All other readings listed in the syllabus will be available through Canvas.
Course Requirements
Attendance and Participation
The material presented in class is integral to the course and is not identical to the material in the readings. Therefore, it is in your best interest to attend class regularly and to do the reading consistently. Your participation grade (20% of your overall grade) will be based upon active participation in classroom activities.
Historical Discussion Board
Each student will choose a historical figure from a list provided by the instructor. The student will research the biography of that figure and be prepared to deliver a five-minute presentation on their figure on the appropriate day of class. The will also be expected to make at least three substantial contributions to the class discussion board writing from the point of view of their historical figure.
Papers
The study of history is not simply the memorization facts and dates, but a process of learning how to approach the past in a critical, analytic manner. The sources an historian chooses to use, his/her methodology and the values of his/her own particular time and place all come together to shape the story that he/she ends up telling.
During this semester you will be asked to complete three written assignments:
- Primary Source Analysis: 2-3 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font). Identify the writer’s purpose in composing a source, the broader historical context of the text’s production, the argument or view presented in the source, the ways in which the source might be useful to writing history, and the limits or problems presented by the source.
- In-Depth Book Assignment: 4-5 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font). For this assignment, you will choose one of the books from a list provided by the instructor. (A book not on the list may be used only with prior approval by the instructor.) You will need to identify whether the work you have chosen in a primary source or a scholarly secondary source. Then, you will need to write profile of the book following guidelines to be posted on Canvas. After being graded, all profiles will be posted for use by the other students in the class in the Analytical Question paper.
- Analytical Question Paper: 5-7 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font). This assignment will require you to bring together two or more of the primary sources we will read this semester and at least two books from the in-depth book assignment list to answer a broader question about political organization, values, social hierarchies, cross-cultural encounters or other subject pertaining to ancient, classical or medieval world history. You will be supplied with a list of four or five questions from which to choose. You will be given three weeks to complete your response and will be expected to turn in your response via Canvas on the announced due date.
Grading Criteria for the Papers
Papers in this course will be graded on a scale from A to F.
An A paper will present an original, focused, easily understandable argument supported by carefully-selected and well-deployed evidence from the assigned primary sources. It will be communicated in a formal, academic style with minimal typos and grammar errors.
A B paper will have an argument, but that argument may be overly vague, simplistic, or not clearly presented. The argument will be supported by evidence, but such evidence may be poorly presented and explained or not always relevant to the argument. Such a paper might include minor spelling and grammar errors.
A C paper will lack a clear argument, change arguments between the beginning of the paper and the end, or offer a narrative account in place of an argument. Such a paper may fail to forge a link between the argument and the textual evidence presented to support the argument. Sources of evidence may be poorly documented. Poor organization may make the argument difficult to follow. Grammar and spelling errors may occur with such frequency as to impede the reader’s understanding.
A D paper will lack an argument or present the writer’s assertions as arguments. It will make very little use of primary sources. Organization, grammar or spelling may be so poor as to render the paper very difficult to read.
An F paper will fail to meet one or more of the basic criteria of the assignment: it may be shorter than the assigned minimum page limit; it may not answer the assigned questions or it may offer an answer that is off-topic; it may make no use of primary sources; it may be turned in later without prior permission from the instructor; it may be a product of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty.
Additional Policies on Assignments
Submission of Assignments
All assignments (papers) must be completed and submitted by the announced deadlines. You must complete all assignments.
Late Assignments
Extensions will be allowed only if they have been arranged ahead of time with your instructor or in cases in which the student has a valid reason for not being able to turn in the assignment on time. (Valid reasons include: doctor appointments, illness or injury requiring medical attention, automobile accidents, or the death of a close relative. Other circumstances may be taken under consideration by the instructor on a case-by-case basis.) If you submit work late without a valid reason, or without previous approval from the instructor, your grade will be reduced by a full letter grade per day late (i.e., a B would become a B-, a B- would become a C).
Grading
Your grade will be determined as follows:
Primary Source assignment15%
In-depth book assignment20%
Analytical question25%
Historical discussion board20%
Attendance5%
Participation15%
Total100%
Grading Scale
A92.5 - 100B-80 - 82.D+67.5 – 69.5
A-90 - 92C+77.5 – 79.5D60 - 67
B+87.5 – 89.5C72.5 - 77F59.5 and below
B82.5 - 87C-70 - 72
Note: the instructor reserves the right to consider improvement in determining final grades.
Classroom Conduct
While in the classroom, students are expected to conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner. This includes arriving on time, staying until the end of class, listening while their instructor or fellow-students are speaking, and not carrying on personal conversations during class time. The use of cell phones is strictly forbidden in the classroom and students are asked to turn their cell phones off before lecture starts. Texting is also forbidden. Laptops, Ipads and other video devices are permitted, but should be used only for activities relating to lecture and discussion (i.e. note-taking, viewing online readings, etc.). Students found to be in habitual violation of these rules will have their grades lowered.
Reserve Clause
The instructor reserves the right to make changes in the syllabus when necessary or beneficial to meet the objectives of the course, to compensate for missed classes or schedule changes, or for similar legitimate reasons. Students will be notified of any such changes to the syllabus in adequate time to adjust to those changes.
Academic Misconduct
Plagiarism is reproducing one or more sentence of another person’s work as the student’s own without proper citation, allowing someone else to complete all or part the student’s assignment and then turning it in as the student’s own work, or submitting work based on false or made-up sources.
Cheating includes bringing notes to an exam on a notecard, cell phone, hand or other device when the instructor had forbidden students to do so, copying from a fellow student’s exam with or without that student’s permission, creating disruptions during the examination period, providing false excuse for having to miss an exam, or gaining access to any material (teachers’ notes, answer keys, other students’ exams) that would give the exam-taker an unfair advantage over his/her fellow students.
Students found guilty of academic conduct may face consequences including having to re-write their assignments, receiving a failing grade on their assignment, or expulsion from the course or the university.
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
Date / Topic / ReadingMonday, August 29 / - Welcome and Introduction
- What are the Crusades? When did they take place? Who did they involve?
- Are the Crusades relevant for us today? What should people study them?
- The challenges of studying the Medieval period
Wednesday, August 31 / Question: How did the religious landscape of western Eurasian change between the 200s and the 600s CE? / -Excerpts from the New Testament
- Excerpts from theQuran
- Codex Theodosianus on Religion
- Pact of ‘Umar
Friday, September 2 / Question: What was the relationship between politics and religion in the early Middle Ages? / - The Conversion of Clovis (from Gregory of Tours)
-The Conversion of SatuqBughra Khan (from Jamal Qarshi)
- The Epistle of R. Chisdai, Son of Isaac to the King of the Khozars
Monday, September 5 / Labor Day
No Class
Wednesday, September 7 / Question: How was western Europe organized politically and socially? What was the role of the Church? / - Declaration of the Truce of God
- Feudal Oaths
- The Annals of St. Bertin
Friday, September 9 / Question: How were the lands of the caliphate organized in the early medieval period? / - from Nizam-al Mulk, Siyasatnama
- al-Tanukhi, “About Piety” from Ruminations and Reminiscences
Monday, September 12 / Question:How did East Rome view itself in relation to its neighbors? What challenges did the East Romans face by the 1000s CE? / - from Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, De CerimoniisAuleByzantinae
- Matthew of Edessa on the Seljuk Conquests
- Gregory’s Call for Assistance to the Greeks
Wednesday, September 14 / Question: How did relations between religion and politics in the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily mirror those in Europe and the Near East? How were they different? / - ibnuHayyan on Warfare in Spain
- from ibn Hamdis’sDiwan ibn Hamdis
- from al-Atrabanishi’s tribute to Roger II
Friday, September 16 / Question: How were the Holy Land and the Muslim world represented in western European culture? / -from The Song of Roland
- from The Song of Aliscans
-Einhard, “Charlemagne’s Invasion of Spain,” from The Life of Charlemagne
- from The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne to Jerusalem
-The Donation of Constantine
-A Latin Travel’s Guide to Jerusalem
Monday, September 19 / Question: How did medieval western Christian and Muslim societies define just war? / - St. Augustine of Hippo on the Just War
- The Revelation of Pseudo-Methodius
-Two accounts of the destruction of the Holy Sepulcher
-Lambert of Hersfeld, “The Crisis of the German Pilgrimage, 1065”
Wednesday, September 21 / Question: How did Pope Urban II present the idea of crusading? How did western Europeans respond and why? / - Urban’s Call to Crusade
- Albert of Aachen on the Peasants Crusade
- Solomon Bar Samsom on the Massacres of the Jews
Friday, September 23 / Question: How did the East Romans respond to the arrival of the Franks and the Normans? What factors complicated their alliance? / - From Anna Comnena’sAlexiad
- The Deeds of the Franks
PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS DUE
Monday, September 26 / Question: How might the events at Antioch be seen as a turning point in the crusade? / - Letter of Stephen of Blois
- Anselm of Ribemont on the Events at Antioch
- Accounts of the Siege of Antioch
- Ralph of Caen on Divisions among the Crusaders
Wednesday, September 28 / Question: / - Raymond of Aguilers on the Fall of Jerusalem
- Letter of Pope Paschal on the Capture of Jerusalem
- Abu’l-Muzaffar al-Abiwardi on the Fall of Jerusalem
Friday, September 30 / Question: How did western Christians adapt to life in the Levant? How did they organize their society? / - From William of Tyre’sHistory
- The Laws of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
- John of Wurzburg’s Pilgrim Guide
- The Travels of Benjamin of Tuleda
Monday, October 3 / Question:How did western Christian and Muslim cultural norms vary and now did residents in the Levant navigate these differences? / - Memoirs of Usama bin Munqidh
- On leisure from the Qabus Nama
- Introduction to al-Idrisi’sNuzhat al-mushtar fi ikhtirak al-afaq
-fromRihlat ibn Jubayr
Wednesday, October 5 / Question: How did the Christian conquest affect politics in Muslim Egypt and the Levant? / - ibn al-Qalanisi on Zengi and Nuruddin
- ibn al-Athir on the Fall of Edessa
- ibn al-Athir on Zengi
- Kamal ad-Din “The Defeat and Death of Roger of Antioch”
Friday, October 7 / Question: How do the ideologies of crusade and jihad in the 1100s resemble one another? Where do they differ? / - ‘Ali ibn Tahir as-Sulami, Kitab al-Jihad
- The Saga of Sigurd the Crusader
- Crusader Travel Information
- Crusading Songs
- Women on Crusade
-From the Sirat al-Amira Dhat al-Himma
Monday, October 10 / Question:What common themes do you see in western Christian and Muslim asceticism in the 1100s? To what factors (political, social, economic) does each movement seem to be responding? / - from The Rule of St. Benedict
- Charta Caritatis
- from al-Ghazali,Al-Munqidhminal-Dalal
- On Knight-Errantry and Sufism from theQabus Nama
Wednesday, October 12 / Question: How were the military orders an extension of monastic and reform movement in Europe? / - Bernard of Clairvaux “In Praise of the New Knighthood”
- The Rules of the Templars
Friday, October 14 / Question: How did the call to the Second Crusade differ from Urban’s call to the First Crusade? / - Letter of Bernard of Clairvaux
- Gerald of Wales on Preaching a Crusade
Monday, October 17 / Question: How did European leaders respond to the failure of the Second Crusade? / - Odo of Deuil, “The Journey of Louis VII to the East”
- John Kinnamos,“The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus”
- Analyses of the Second Crusade
Wednesday, October 19 / Question: What factors allow Saladin to unite Egypt and Syria? How was he a different kind of leader than Zengi? / - from Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladinon Saladin’s arrival in Egypt
IN-DEPTH BOOK ASSIGNMENTDUE
Friday, October 21 / Fall Break / No Class
Monday, October 24 / Question: Was the fall of Jerusalem inevitable? Would you attribute the Christian defeat to Muslim unity or the divisions in Christian society? / - from Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladinon Hattin
- Imad ad-Din on the Battle of Hattin
- Roger of Wendover on the Fall of Jerusalem
- Letters on the Fall of Jerusalem
Wednesday, October 26 / Question: After the First Crusade, the Third Crusade is probably the best known of the medieval holy wars. Why do you think this is the case? / - Taxation and Regulations for the Third Crusade
- Accounts of the Third Crusade
- from Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladinon Richard I
Friday, October 28 / Question: How did the Fourth Crusade end up in Constantinople? How did this campaign change the nature of crusading? / - Letters of Innocent III
- Accounts of the Fourth Crusade (Villehardouin & Robert of Clari)
- Accounts of the Sack of Constantinople
Monday, October 31 / Question: How did Innocent III re-work the concept of crusading to deal with the Albigensian conflict? What were the long-term ramifications of declaring a crusade in the heart of Europe? / - Bernard of Gui,Manual for Inquisitors