The History of the British Isles (AN22006BA; AN28007BA) Borus György
Spring 2016 Office hours:
BA, First Year + Minor Room: 104
Mon.: 14-15:40 Mon.: 9-10
Room: 119 Tu.: 10-11
The course offers a broad historical survey of the British Isles from prehistory to World War I. The two main attainment targets of the course are (1) knowledge and understanding of British history, and (2) interpretations of British history. Both attainment targets will involve considerations of change and continuity and causes and consequences.
Students will be expected to keep up with the readings (which they should always bring along) and to come to class regularly and well prepared. Only three unjustified absences will be tolerated. The mid-term and end-term tests must be written at the time scheduled in the syllabus. Please note that each and every course component is obligatory: the failure to meet any of these requirements (class attendance, small tests, mid-term paper, end-term test) will jeopardise the completion of the course. Out of the three course components – small tests, mid-term paper, end-term test – only one re-sit will be granted; failure to meet more than one requirement will automatically result in overall failure. Please also note that there is no make-up for insufficient class attendance.
Required reading: Jürgen Kramer, Britain and Ireland (Routledge, 2007)
Jeremy Black, A History of the British Isles (Macmillan, 2003)
David McDowall, An Illustrated History of Britain (Longman, 1991)
Schedule
Week 1. Orientation, general introduction
Pre-Roman and Roman Britain
Reading: Kramer, 5-21
2. Anglo-Saxons and Danes
The Norman Conquest and Its Consequences
Reading: Kramer, 23-37
Document: Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Ch. XV
3. Late-medieval struggles within the British Isles and on the Continent, 1154-
1485—the ‘Angevin empire’, the Scottish War of Independence, the
Hundred Years’ War
Reading: McDowall, 26-33; 43-56
4. The Reformation in Europe and England
England under the Tudors
Reading: McDowall, 67-85 (Ch. 10, 11, 12)
5. National Holiday
6. Mid-Term Paper
7. Consultation Week
8. The wars of the three kingdoms, 1640-1651; The Interregnum
The Restoration.
Reading: Black, 128-145
9. From the Restoration to the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707
Eighteenth-Century Society and Politics
Reading: Black, 146-159
10. Jacobitism, Wars with France and the Union with Ireland
The Loss of the American Colonies and the Napoleonic Wars
Reading: Black, 172-183; 189-197
11. Industrialisation, Society and Political Reform in the 19th Century
British Imperial Rule, 1763-1914
Reading: McDowall, 131-150
12. End-Term Test
13. Instructor on Erasmus leave
14. Pentecost Monday—National Holiday