Hist 612: Readings in Medieval History

Rulers and Regions: England and France, 1050-1400

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will examine the history of medieval England and France from 1050-1400, covering both classic works and cutting-edge scholarship. It will focus on the theme of "rulers and regions." It will include the development of distinct regions of France and England (and neighboring areas in northwestern Europe), including the rise of principalities, attempts to establish royal power, notions of ethnicity, political identity, and order. It will also consider the possibilities for doing research on the various regions.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course will prepare doctoral and master’s students to take research seminars on medieval history. This course will also help MA students develop a reading list for a medieval field examination and help PhD students develop their readings for comprehensive examinations. For those interested in medieval studies, this course will also familiarize them with scholarly debates in medieval history. For non-medieval historians, the course will provide grounding in English and French schools of historical thought that influence European history generally.

REQUIRED BOOKS (paperback unless specified otherwise):
John Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991). ISBN: 0520073916.
Marcus Bull, France in the Central Middle Ages (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). ISBN: 0-190873185-X.
Marjorie Chibnall, The Normans (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). ISBN: 0631186719. (hardback)
Marjorie Chibnall, The Debate on the Norman Conquest (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999). ISBN: 071904913X.
Jean Dunbabin, France in the Making, 843-1180 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). ISBN: 0198208464.
Barbara Harvey, The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). ISBN: 0-19-873139-6.
Paul R. Hyams, Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003). ISBN: 0801439965. (hardback)
William Chester Jordan, The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996). ISBN: 0-691-01134-6.
Richard Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe, new ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). ISBN: 0199244588.
C. Warren Hollister and Amanda Clark Frost, Henry I (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003). ISBN: 0300098294.
David Roffe, Domesday: The Inquest and the Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 2002. ISBN: 0-19-925725-6
F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3 d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). ISBN: 0192801392
Hugh M. Thomas, The English and the Normans: Ethnic Hostility, Assimilation, and Identity 1066-c. 1220 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) ISBN: 0199278865 (forthcoming paper)
Adriaan Verhulst, The Rise of Cities in North-West Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). ISBN: 0521469090
W.L. Warren, Henry II (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973). ISBN: 0520034945.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
Elizabeth M. Hallam and Judith Everard, Capetian France, 987-1328, 2d ed. (Harlow: Pearson/Longman, 2001). ISBN: 0582404282
Robert Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225, new ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). ISBN: 0199251010

COURSE FORMAT: The course will be conducted in weekly seminars, which will include extensive discussion, student presentations, as well as some instructor presentations. Various written assignments will culminate in a historiographic paper, on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with the instructor.   Discussions will focus on assigned readings for each week.

GRADE COMPONENTS: Class participation and presentations, 30%; final paper 40%; book reviews and précis, 30%. You must complete all elements of the course to receive a passing grade. All late submissions will be penalized, in fairness to students who complete the assignments in a timely fashion. The grade scale is as follows: 93-100 = A, 87-92 = BA, 83-86 = B, 77-82 = CB, 73-76 = C, 67-72 = DC, 60-67 = D, and less than 60 = E.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: The much of your grade will be determined by your efforts in our weekly meetings. Mere attendance during class hours will not receive credit towards participation, which should instead be indicated through vocal outbursts giving evidence of cognition; in other words, you must talk about your ideas, your reflections on the readings, and the comments of others in class. To be an effective participant, you will need to complete all readings prior to class. A class that only meets once per week cannot be skipped, if you wish to receive a satisfactory grade. Attendance is mandatory, absences must be documented and excused (preferably in advance, see contact information above). More than one absence could result in a lower course grade.

BOOK REVIEWS: Students will write three short (3-5 page) analytic book reviews, one due Jan 26, the other two on any works listed as "suggested readings" under themes II, III, and IV and due on the date the work is listed. These reviews will count for 30% of the final grade. As part of this assignment, students will also deliver an oral report (approximately 10 minutes) on the book they review in class, explaining its content and relevance to the required reading for that week.

Students who choose to review a book not in English will have that review count double. I am willing to discuss possible substitute works for those listed above, but all such works must be approved in advance. The schedule of works to review will be determined during the second week of class, so that students may obtain copies of the works well in advance.

HISTORIOGRAPHIC PAPER: In consultation with the instructor, students will prepare a historiographic paper, preferably directly related to the four main themes of the course. The paper should take the form of either an historiographic essay (a critical evaluation of the strengths/weaknesses of previous historical approaches to a topic) or a bibliographical essay (a critical synthesis of standard works on a given subject) and it should deal with five to ten items. Students may use sample topics provided by Prof. Berkhofer as starting points or develop their own topic in consultation him. Either way, students are expected to develop their own bibliography. Students must have met with Prof. Berkhofer and submitted a proposed topic by Jan 26 and must submit and preliminary bibliography of works being considered by Feb 16th. students preparing for research may write a "needs and opportunities" section of their paper, which explains possible avenues for future research. Every paper will have a bibliography of relevant historical works (if about possible research, this will include archival sources, source editions, and research aids). The narrative portion should be 15-20 pages and bibliography as necessary and the paper will be due at the end of the class. I will hand out a suggested list of topics and works later. This paper will count for 40% of the final grade.

PAPER SUBMISSION POLICY: You are also responsible for providing an electronic copy of your final paper in addition to submitting a hard copy (due when you hand it in). This electronic copy must be readable by MSWord.

READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1 (Jan 5): Introduction to course themes

Recommended: Robert Bartlett, The Making of Europe, reprint (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).

THEME 1: Peoples and Regions

Week 2 (Jan 12): Anglo-Saxons

Patrick Geary, The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003), ch. 1-2, pp. 1-40.
F.M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3 d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). ISBN: 0192801392
"Introduction" and Maps in Barbara Harvey, The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) and Marcus Bull, France in the Central Middle Ages (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Book Reviews scheduled for all students in this week

Week 3 (Jan 19): The Normans and the Franks

Marjorie Chibnall, The Normans (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). ISBN: 0631186719. (hardback)Jean Dunbabin, France in the Making, 843-1180 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). ISBN: 0198208464. All chapters through year 1108.

Week 4 (Jan 26): The Norman Conquest: History and Historiography

Marjorie Chibnall, The Debate on the Norman Conquest (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999). ISBN: 071904913X.

1 page paper proposal due

Book Review 1 due (choose any major work about Norman Conquest in Chibnall)

Possible books to review (not inclusive): F. W. Maitland, Domesday Book and Beyond, 3d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). Charles Homer Haskins, Norman Institutions (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1918). David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact on England (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964). R. Allen Brown, The Normans (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1994). David Bates, Normandy before 1066 (London: Longman, 1982).

THEME 2: Regional Transformation I: Politics, Economy, Society, 1066-1225

Week 5 (Feb 2): Domesday: Window on the Anglo-Norman World

David Roffe, Domesday: The Inquest and the Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 2002. ISBN: 0-19-925725-6
Harvey, ch. 1, Robin Frame, “Conquest and Settlement”
View Domesday facsimilies in WMU Special Collections.

Suggested: Robin Fleming, Domesday Book and the Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Also of interest (not for reviews): Elizabeth Hallam, “Some Current Domesday Research Trends and Recent Publications,” in Elizabeth Hallam and David Bates, eds., Domesday Book (Stroud, 2001), 191–8. Geoffrey Martin, ed. The Domesday Book: A Complete Translation, new ed. (Penguin, 2004). Alan Cooper, "Protestations of Ignorance in Domesday Book" in Experience of Power (forthcoming, consult Prof. Berkhofer).

Week 6 (Feb 9): Flanders: Economic engine of the northwest

Adriaan Verhulst, The Rise of Cities in North-West Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). ISBN: 0521469090
Harvey, ch. 3: Richard Britnell, “Social Bonds and “Economic Change”
Bull, ch. 3: Constance Bouchard, “Rural Economy and Society”

Suggested: Henri Pirenne, Medieval Cities (Garden City: Doubleday, 1956). David Nicholas, The Growth of the Medieval City (London: Longman, 1997).

Week 7 (Feb 16): Ethnicity and Identity

Hugh M. Thomas, The English and the Normans: Ethnic Hostility, Assimilation, and Identity 1066-c. 1220 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) ISBN: 0199278865.
Harvey ch. 5: Henrietta Leyser, “Cultural Affinities”
Bull ch 1: Bernd Schniedmüller, “Constructing Identities of Medieval France”

Preliminary bibliography of final paper due

Suggested: Any of the works in the Blackwell "Peoples of Europe" series directly related to the course: Edward James, The Franks (1988), Patrick Galliou and Michael Jones, The Bretons (1991), Geoffrey Elton, The English (1992), Eric Christiansen, Norsemen in the Viking Age (2002), Christopher Snyder, The Britons (2003).

THEME 3: Rulers Compared, 1100-1225

Week 8 (Feb 23): Henry I and beginnings of the new kingship

C. Warren Hollister and Amanda Clark Frost, Henry I (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003). ISBN: 0300098294.
Harvey, ch. 2, David Bates, “Kingship, Government, and Political Life to c. 1160"
C. Warren Hollister and John Baldwin, "The Rise of Administrative Kingship: Henry I and Philip Augustus," American Historical Review 83, no. 4 (1978), 867-905.

Suggested: Marcel Pacaut, Louis VII et son royaume (Paris: SEVPEN, 1964). R. W. Southern, Saint Anselm: A Portrait in a Landscape (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Lindy Grant, Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis, (London: Longman, 1998).

SPRING BREAK

Week 9 (Mar 9): Henry II: Many-Regioned Lord

W.L. Warren, Henry II (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973). ISBN: 0520034945.
Harvey ch. 4, Brian Golding, "The Church and Christian Life"

Suggested: Eric Bournazel, Le Gouvernement capétien au XIIe siècle: 1108-1180, structures sociales et mutations institutionnelles (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1975). Bonnie Wheeler and John Carmi Parsons, eds. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady (New York: Palgrave, 2003).

Week 10 (Mar 16): Philip Augustus and the Conquest of France

John Baldwin, The Government of Philip Augustus (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991). ISBN: 0520073916.
Bull, ch. 2: Geoffrey Koziol, “Political Culture”, ch 5, Marcus Bull "The Church"

Suggested: J. C. Holt, Magna Carta, rev. ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). Ralph Turner, King John (New York: Longman, 1994). Georges Duby, Legend of Bouvines: War, Religion, and Culture in the Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California, 1990).

THEME 4: Regional Transformation II: Politics, Economy, Society, 1225-1400

Week 11 (Mar 23): Region identity vs. royal power in the thirteenth century

Harvey, “Conclusion”; Bull, “Conclusion”and read ONE of the following sets of works:

1) R.R. Davies, Domination and Conquest: The Experience of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, 1100-1300 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). IBSN: 0521380693.
Harvey, ch. 6: Henry Summerson, “Kingship, Government, and Political Life, ca. 1160-1280”

2) James Given, State and Society in Medieval Europe: Gwynedd and Languedoc under Outside Rule (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990). ISBN: 0-8014-2439-9.
Bull ch. 4: Linda Patterson, “The South”

3) Jean Dunbabin, Charles I of Anjou: Power, Kingship and State-Making in Thirteenth-Century Europe (London: Longman, 1998). ISBN: 0582253713.
Bull ch. 6: Jonathan Phillips, “The French Overseas”

4) David Nicholas, Medieval Flanders (New York: Longman, 1992). ISBN: 0582016797.
Dirk Heibaut, "Flanders: A pioneer of state-oriented feudalism?" in Anthony Musson, ed., Expectation of Law in the Middle Ages (Rochester: Boydell, 2001), 123-34.

5) Judith Everard, Brittany and the Angevins: Province and Empire, 1158-1203 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). ISBN: 0521660718.
Julia M. H. Smith, "Confronting Identities: The Rhetoric and Reality of a Carolingian Frontier", in Walter Pohl and Maximilian Diesenberger, Integration und Herrschaft (Vienna, 2002).

6) Theodore Evergates, Feudal Society in the Bailliage of Troyes under the Counts of Champagne, 1152-1284 (John Hopkins, 1975). ISBN: 0801816637.
Richard Keyser, "La transformation de l'échange des dons pieux: Montier-la-Celle, 1100-1350" Revue historique 628 (2003), 793-816.

Suggested: Bernard Guenée, States and Rulers in Late Medieval Europe, tr. Juliet Vale (Oxford, 1985). Jacques Le Goff, Saint Louis (Paris: Gallimard, 1996).

Week 12 (Mar 30): Order and Disorder I

Paul R. Hyams, Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003). ISBN: 0801439965.

Suggested: Constance Brittain Bouchard, Strong of Body, Brave and Bold: Chivalry and Society in Medieval France (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), ISBN: 0-8014-8548-7. John W. Baldwin, Aristocratic Life in Medieval France: The Romances of Jean Renart and Gerbert de Montreuil, 1190-1230 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000). ISBN: 0-8018-6188-8. Barbara Rosenwein, ed., Anger's Past: The Social Uses of an Emotion in the Middle Ages (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998).

Week 13 (Apr 6): Economic challenges in the 14 th Century

William Chester Jordan, The Great Famine: Northern Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996). ISBN: 0-691-01134-6.

Suggested: Jean Favier, Gold and Spices: The Rise of Commerce in the Middle Ages (New York: Holmes and Maier, 1998). John Hatcher and Mark Bailey, Modelling the Middle Ages: The History and Theory of England’s Economic Development (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).

Week 14 (Apr 13): Order and Disorder II

Richard Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe, new ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). ISBN: 0199244588.

Suggested: Richard W. Kaeuper, War, Justice, and Public Order: England and France in the Later Middle Ages (Oxford, 1994). Michael Prestwich, Edward I (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997). Joseph R. Strayer, The reign of Philip the Fair (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980).

FINAL PAPER DUE