Professor Martha Carlin

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
copyright 2020, all rights reserved

HIST 204
Weekly lecture outlines
Some primary sources for research papers

Click here for new online procedures for History 204, beginning in Week 9

Office: Holton Hall 320
Phone: (414) 229-5767
Messages: History Department, tel. (414) 229-4361
Email: carlin@uwm.edu 
Home page: https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/
Office hours: Thursdays, 11:00 AM – 12:00 noon, and by appointment

Grader: William Edmundson
Email: wge@uwm.edu

Course description: This course will survey the political, military, religious, social, economic, and cultural history of Europe in the high and late middle ages, c. AD 1000-1500. We will also look in depth at some individual events and developments, including the Crusades, the Black Death, the rise of centralized governments, and the growth of towns, and we will trace their long-term effects on European society. To do this, we will read works by modern scholars who have attempted to reconstruct pieces of the medieval past, and also accounts written by medieval people who described their own world as they saw it. In addition we will examine non-textual sources, including examples of the art, architecture, and material culture of medieval Europe.

Course objectives: This course should provide you with a good overview of European history between AD 1000 and 1500, and enable you to understand the significance both of outstanding individual careers and events, and of broad and long-term historical patterns. It should also enable you to develop important skills in:

* reading and evaluating sources carefully and critically
* identifying and analyzing a wide variety of types of evidence
* using such evidence to reconstruct and interpret the past
* combining research and analysis with thoughtful writing to produce clear, original, and persuasive arguments

There are two required textbooks:

Judith M. Bennett. Medieval Europe: A Short History. 11th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. This book has just gone out of print. Fortunately, Professor Bennett has give me permission to make the portions of the book that cover the period from c. 1000 to c. 1500 CE available for free to students registered in History 204, via the course’s Canvas page. You are also welcome to purchase a second-hand copy of the original book from online or local booksellers.

Joseph and Frances Gies. Life in a Medieval City. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1969; rpt Harper and Row, Perennial Library, 1981. (This book is available from UWM’s virtual bookstore, eCampus.)

There are also numerous required reading assignments from Internet Sources (listed below under Topics and Readings).

E-mail and Internet access: You will require an e-mail account and access to the internet for this class. All UWM students receive a free UWM e-mail account, and have free internet access via UWM computer terminals and buildings with wireless internet. The History Department regularly contacts students via their assigned UWM e-mail addresses. If you use another e-mail provider (e.g., Gmail or Yahoo!) instead of your assigned UWM e-address, please go immediately into your UWM email account and put a “forward” command on it to forward all incoming e-mail messages to the account that you routinely use. This is your responsibility; UWM reflectors use UWM e-addresses only.

Homework: There are six required homework assignments due in Weeks 4-8 that are designed to help you in researching and writing your paper. They will also count towards the Participation component of your final grade.

Papers: There is one required, 5-page, research paper (described at end of syllabus). The paper is due in CANVAS on Tuesday, 31 March 2020 by 11:59 PM.

Exams: There will be two exams: an in-class midterm (covering material from weeks 1-6) on Thursday, 27 Feb. 2020, and a final exam (covering material from weeks 7-14). This will be a take-home final exam, due in CANVAS by Thursday, 7 May 2020, at 11:50 PM. See instructions for the final exam in the “new online procedures” memo at the head of this online syllabus.

Grading and deadlines: Your final grade will be based on your research paper (25%); your midterm exam (25%); your final exam (25%); your attendance and your participation and class work (including completing all required homework assignments on time and in full) (25%). The homework assignments and research paper are due, and exams will be held, on the dates specified above. Late work will not be accepted, except in cases of major illness or emergency (it is your responsibility to contact me – not your TA — immediately in such a case).

Attendance: Your regular attendance is essential. Students who fail to attend class or contact me during the first week of classes may be dropped administratively. Beginning with the shift in Week 9 to online classes, attendance becomes optional, but those who attend EVERY “live” online class in Weeks 10-14 will be able to erase any missed classes or Homework assignments in Weeks 1-8. See the “new online procedures” memo at the head of this online syllabus.

Electronic devices in class: You may use a laptop or tablet computer in class, but only for work relating to this class. This is a zero-tolerance policy: any off-task computer use will result in the immediate forfeiture of the privilege of using a computer in class for the remainder of the semester. All other electronic devices, including phones, must be silenced and stowed away during class. [This issue has become moot with the shift in Week 9 to online classes.]

Disabilities: If you have a disability, it is important that you contact me early in the semester for any help or accommodations you may need.

Academic Advising in History: All L&S students have to declare and complete an academic major to graduate. If you have earned in excess of 45 credits and have not yet declared a major, you are encouraged to do so. If you are interested in declaring a major or minor in History, or need some academic advising in History, please visit the Department of History’s undergraduate program web page, at: http://uwm.edu/history/undergraduate/.

Academic integrity at UWM: UWM and I expect each student to be honest in academic performance. Failure to do so may result in discipline under rules published by the Board of Regents (UWS 14). The penalties for academic misconduct such as cheating or plagiarism can include a grade of “F” for the course and expulsion from the University. For UWM’s policies on academic integrity, see https://uwm.edu/academicaffairs/facultystaff/policies/academic-misconduct/

UWM policies on course-related matters: See the website of the Secretary of the University, at: https://uwm.edu/secu/wp-content/uploads/sites/122/2016/12/Syllabus-Links.pdf

TOPICS AND READINGS

Week 1 INTRODUCTION; EUROPE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY

21 Jan. —

Introduction to course

23 Jan. —

Bennett, Front Matter, pp. xi-xx (abbreviations and contents); Chapter 1, pp. 1-5; Chapter 6, pp. 131-139 (overviews of the Early and Central Middle Ages, 500-1300)

Gies and Gies, pp. 10-22 (Prologue)

The Peace of God proclaimed in the archdiocese of Bordeaux, 989
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/pc-of-god.asp

Raoul Glaber, Histories: Church-building and the cult of relics around the year 1000
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/the-church-around-the-year-1000/

The Truce of God proclaimed by the Bishop of Terouanne and Count Baldwin of Flanders, 1063
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/t-of-god.asp

Week 2 LIFE ON THE MANOR; FEUDAL SOCIETY

28 Jan. —

Bennett, pp. 139-150 (Economic Takeoff and Social Change, c. 1000-1300: rural life)

Aelfric, Colloquy, c. 1000: Peasant work
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1000workers.asp

Pierce the Plowman’s Crede, late 14^th century: peasant life
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/pierce-the-plowmans-crede/

Photograph of 13th-cent. cottage from Hangleton, Sussex
http://www.wealddown.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/hangleton.jpg

30 Jan. —

Bennett, pp. 162-166 (The Landholding Aristocracy)

The feudal compact: homages paid by the counts of Champagne, 1143-1226
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/homages-paid-by-the-counts-of-champagne-1143/

John of Toul’s homage to the Count of Champagne, 13th cent.
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/fealty-by-john-of-toul/

Four English treatises on household and estate administration, later 13th cent.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1275manors1.asp

Glossary of technical terms used in the above four treatises
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/estate-terms-glossary/

Christine de Pisan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (1405): A lady’s duties
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/a-ladys-duties/

Week 3 NEW PATHS TO GOD; EUROPEAN CONQUESTS

4 Feb. —

Bennett, pp.43-44 (Benedictine Monasticism), pp. 190-210 (New Paths to God, c. 1000-1250)

Archbishop Eudes of Rouen: Visitation of monastic and parish clergy, 1248-9
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/visitation-excerpts/

6 Feb. —

Bennett, pp. 211-221 (European conquests)

Gies and Gies, pp. 120-134 (Chap. 9)

Week 4 CRUSADES AND PERSECUTIONS

11 Feb. —

Bennett, pp. 221-235 (Crusades; persecutions)

Robert the Monk, Historia Hierosolymitana (c. 1120): Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont, 1095
(Read the brief editor’s introduction, and then click on and read text no. 2.)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.asp

Map of the First Crusade, 1095-99
http://curriculum.kcdistancelearning.com/courses/AMHISTx-HS-A08/a/unit1/images/HIS02-69.18772.jpg

Ekkehard of Aurach, Hierosolymita (early1100s): The first Crusaders
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ekkehard-aur1.asp

Fulk of Chartres: The Capture of Jerusalem in 1099, and the Latins in the East (see both websites below)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/fulk2.asp
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/fulk3.asp

HOMEWORK Assignment 1, DUE IN CLASS ON THURSDAY:

Look at the description of the required research paper at the end of this syllabus, and CHOOSE ONE of the four paper topics.  Write your name and the topic on a piece of paper, and hand it in on Thursday.

13 Feb. —

(HOMEWORK Assignment 1 DUE IN CLASS TODAY)

Annales Herbipolenses, 1147: A hostile view of the 2nd Crusade, by an anonymous annalist of Würzburg
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1147critic.asp

De expugnatione terrae sanctae per Saladinum: Eyewitness account of the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, 1187
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1187saladin.asp

Itinerarium peregrinorum et gesta Regis Ricardi (Itinerary of the Travels and Deeds of King Richard): Richard the Lionheart makes peace with Saladin, 1192
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1192peace.asp

https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/the-development-of-the-inquisition/

Bernard Gui, Inquisitor’s Manual (c.1307-23): inquisitorial technique
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/heresy2.asp

Week 5 COMMERCE AND TOWNS

18 Feb. —

Bennett, pp. 150-161 (The Commercial Revolution)

Gies and Gies, pp. 23-33 (Chap. 1)

Charter of the shearers of Arras, 1236
[Note on text: the muid of Flanders was a measure of capacity containing 1011 liters]
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1236Weavers5.asp

Two apprenticeship contracts for weavers in Arras and Marseilles, c. 1250
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1250weaversapp.asp

A purchase on credit in Marseille, 1248
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1248roubauds-credit.asp

Regulations of the London Cordwainers’ (shoemakers’) guild, 1375
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/RESEARCH/DOCS/CHAR1375.HTM

Photograph of two 15th-cent. shops with dwelling above, from Horsham, Sussex (now in the Weald and Downland Museum)
http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/image651506-.html

HOMEWORK Assignment 2, DUE IN CLASS ON THURSDAY:

Write down your name and your topic (from Homework Assignment 1), plus one relevant scholarly secondary source that you will use in researching that topic.  NO WEBSITES ALLOWED. See the end of this syllabus for further instructions on choosing relevant secondary sources.

20 Feb. —

(HOMEWORK Assignment 2 DUE IN CLASS TODAY)

Gies and Gies, pp. 76-108 (Chaps. 6-7), 199-223 (Chaps. 15-16)

Week 6 DAILY LIFE IN TOWN AND CASTLE

25 Feb. —

Gies and Gies, pp. 34-75 (Chaps. 2-5)

William Fitzstephen, Description of London, c. 1173 (translated by Stephen Alsford)
http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/introduction/intro01.html

Jean “Clopinel” de Meun’s continuation of Guillaume de Lorris’s allegorical poem, The Romance of the Rose: Duenna’s advice on table manners for young women, late 13th cent.:
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/lifemann/manners/rom-mann.html

Christine de Pisan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (1405): responsibilities of the wives of craftsmen
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/wives-of-artisans/

Expenses of the Aragonese ambassadors in England, 1415
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/lifemann/manners/aragon.html

HOMEWORK Assignment 3, DUE IN CLASS ON THURSDAY:

Write down your name, topic, and relevant secondary source from Homework Assignment 2 (with any corrections as necessary), plus two additional relevant scholarly secondary sources that you will use in researching that topic.  NO WEBSITES ALLOWED.

27 Feb. — MIDTERM EXAM

(Homework Assignment 3 due in class today)

Week 7 WORLDS IN COLLISION: PAPACY AND EMPIRE, c. 1000-1300

3 March —

Bennett, pp. 167-178 (the Investiture Controversy; canon law)

The papacy in the mid eleventh century:
Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida excommunicates the Patriarch of Constantinople (1054)
Papal election decree (1059)
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/the-papacy-in-the-mid-eleventh-century/

Dictatus papae (Dictates of the Pope), 1075 or 1090
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-dictpap.asp

Gregory VII prohibits lay investiture, 1070s
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-reform2.asp

Henry IV: Letter to Gregory VII, 24 Jan. 1076
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/henry4-to-g7a.asp

Gregory VII deposes Henry IV, 22 Feb. 1076
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-ban1.asp

HOMEWORK Assignment 4, DUE IN CLASS ON THURSDAY:

Write down your name, topic, and 3 secondary sources from Homework Assignment 3 (with any corrections as necessary), plus two relevant primary sources that you will use in researching that topic.  See the end of this syllabus for further instructions on choosing relevant primary sources.

5 March —

(Homework Assignment 4 due in class today)

Bennett, pp. 182-189 (The Territorial Papacy; Innocent III); 236-247 (Germany and Italy)

Innocent III (r. 1198-1216): On papal power
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/pope-innocent-iii/

Frederick Barbarossa: On keeping the peace, 1152-7
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/medieval/peace.asp

Innocent III: Canons of the 4th Lateran Council, 1215:
Read entire text: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/lat4-select.asp
Scroll down to read Canons 62-69: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/lateran4.asp

Salimbene, Chronicle: Description of Frederick II
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/salimbene1.asp

Week 8 NORMAN ENGLAND, 1066-1307

10 March —

Bennett, pp. 248-251 (England)

The Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070s (see all 35 images at the the site below)
https://web.archive.org/web/20160322110750/http://hastings1066.com/baythumb.shtml

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Domesday Book and William I
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1186ASChron-Domesday.asp

Domesday Book (1086): Instructions and entry
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/domesday1.asp

Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon (c.1080-1160), Chronicle: Stephen’s reign
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/henry-hunt1.asp

HOMEWORK Assignments 5 and 6, DUE IN CANVAS ON THURSDAY:

Assignment 5: Submit a draft of the first full page of your research paper.  You must include at least two endnotes written in the format of the Chicago Manual of Style.  See the end of this syllabus for instructions on using Chicago-style documentation format.

Assignment 6:  On a separate page, compile a Bibliography, listing your 3 secondary sources and two primary sources from Homework Assignment 4 (with any corrections or additions as necessary), alphabetized and listed in correct Bibliography format according to the Chicago Manual of Style.  See the end of this syllabus for instructions on using Chicago-style documentation format.

12 March — (CLASS WILL BE HELD TODAY)

(HOMEWORK Assignments 5 and 6 DUE TODAY IN CANVAS, BY 5 PM – see instructions in Prof. Carlin’s email sent yesterday. Do NOT submit on paper in class.)

Bennett, pp. 251-258 (England)

Peter of Blois: Description of Henry II, 1177
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1177peterblois-hen2.asp

Edward Grim: The Murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket, 29 Dec. 1170
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/grim-becket.asp

Peter of Blois: Letter to Queen Eleanor, 1173
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/eleanor.asp

Magna Carta, 1215: complete text
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.asp

Matthew of Westminster: Simon de Montfort’s rebellion, 1264-5
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/matt-west1.asp

Three summonses to Parliament, 1295
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ed1-summons.asp

SPRING RECESS: 15-29 MARCH 2020

Week 9 CAPETIAN FRANCE AND THE LOW COUNTRIES, 987-1314

[The two online lectures this week, during the extended Spring Break, will be for practice, so that we can become used to working as a class in Collaborate Ultra. ATTENDANCE IS NOT REQUIRED, BUT PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN. You are still required to do the readings assigned for Week 9. For instructions on how to take part in the online classes, see the “new online procedures” memo at the head of this online syllabus.]

24 March —

Bennett, pp. 258-268 (France, Iberia, Eastern Europe)

Rigord, Deeds of Philip II “Augustus,” 1190s. Read all the following selections:
Editor’s introduction
Year One, Chap. 1
Year Three, Chaps. 15-17
Year Five, Chaps. 26-29
Year Six, Chap. 50
Year Seven, Chaps. 53, 56
Year Nine, Chaps. 66-70
https://web.archive.org/web/20180614121835/http://falcon.arts.cornell.edu/prh3/408/texts/Rigindex.html

26 March —

Jean, sire de Joinville (1224-1318), extracts from the Life of St. Louis
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/344join.html

King Philip IV (“the Fair”) of France vs.Pope Boniface VIII:
Philip rejects papal authority (1297)
Boniface threatens to depose Philip (1302)
accusation by Philip’s lawyer against Boniface (1303)
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/philip-iv/

Week 10 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES

31 March —

[RESEARCH PAPER DUE IN CANVAS TODAY BY 11:59 PM.]

FILM:

In place of a lecture today, please watch this one-hour documentary on the art of the early Renaissance, presented by British historian Michael Wood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXJBrBndmhk

2 April —

Bennett, pp. 178-182, 269-282 (Schools, Universities, and Intellectual Trends)

Gies and Gies, pp. 154-165 (Chap. 11)

Pierre Abelard (1079-1142), Sic et Non (Yes and No), c. 1120, and Historia
calamitatum (The Story of My Misfortunes): excerpts (see both websites below)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1120abelard.asp
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/211abel.html

Gregory IX: Statutes for the University of Paris, 1231
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/UParis-stats1231.asp

Jacques de Vitry: Student life at the University of Paris, 13th century
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/vitry1.asp

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-75), Summa theologica: Justification for the Inquisition
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/st-thomas-aquinass-justification-for-the-inquisition/

Week 11 LITERATURE AND ARCHITECTURE, c. 1000-1300

7 April —

Bennett, pp. 283-296 (Literature and Architecture)

Gies and Gies, pp. 135-153 (Chap. 10)

9 April —

Gies and Gies, pp.166-189 (Chaps. 12-13)

Week 12 HEALTH AND ILLNESS, PLAGUE AND FAMINE

14 April —

Bennett, pp. 297-313 (Europe, c. 1300; demographic crisis; the Great Plague, and Recovery, c. 1350-1500)

Gies and Gies, pp. 109-119 (Chap. 8)

John de Trokelowe, Annales: Famine of 1315
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/famin1315a.asp

Marchione di Coppo Stefani, The Florentine Chronicle (1370s-1380s): the plague in Florence, 1348
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/osheim/marchione.html

The plague in England, 1348-9
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/the-black-death-in-the-british-isles/

The economic effects of the Plague in England: the Ordinance of Labourers (1349) and the Statute of Labourers (1351) (see both websites below)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/seth/ordinance-labourers.asp
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/seth/statute-labourers.asp

16 April —

Bennett, pp. 344-361 (Diversity and Dynamism in Late Medieval Culture, c. 1300-1500)

The new technologies (see both websites below):

Paper, horizontal loom, windmill, magnetic compass, spectacles, gunpowder weapons:
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/some-of-the-new-technologies-of-later-medieval-europe/
Printing press:
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/the-impact-of-the-printing-press/

Week 13 PAPAL POLITICS OF THE FOURTEENTH AND EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURIES: THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY, THE GREAT SCHISM, AND THE CONCILIAR MOVEMENT

21 April —

Bennett, pp. 313-321 (Late Medieval Christianity)

Boniface VIII: Clericis laicos, 1296
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/b8-clericos.asp

Boniface VIII: Unam sanctam, 1302
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/b8-unam.asp

Petrarch’s invectives against Avignon
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/the-avignonese-papacy/

Marsiglio (Marsilius) of Padua, Defensor pacis (1324): Conclusions
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/marsiglio1.asp

23 April —

The origins of the Great Schism: Manifesto of the revolting cardinals, 1378
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/grtschism1.asp

Powers of the Council of Pisa, 1409
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1409pisa.asp

Pius II: Decree Execrabilis, 1459
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/p2-execrabilis.asp

Week 14 KNIGHTHOOD, WARFARE, AND REVOLT

28 April —

Gies and Gies, pp. 190-198 (Chap. 14)

Bennett, pp. 322-343 (Towards the Sovereign State)

30 April —

Jean Froissart, Chronicles:
the Jacquerie in France, 1358
an English knight is felled by a Parisian butcher, c. 1370
the origins of the English Peasants’ Revolt, 1381
(see both websites below)
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/froissart2.asp
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/two-episodes-from-froissarts-chronicles/

Journal of a Bourgeois of Paris, 1405-1449, pp. 145-7: War, 1419; pp. 233-4, 240-2, 249, 253-4, 260-5: Joan of Arc, 1429-31
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/extracts-from-a-parisian-journal-2/

The trial of Joan of Arc, 1431
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1431joantrial.asp

Battle injuries: skeletons from the battles of Visby, Gotland (a Baltic island), 1361, and Towton, England, 1461 (see both websites below)
https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001959/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.fairweather/docs/visby.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20180226130405/http://www.the-exiles.org/Article%20Towton.htm

Week 15 REVIEW and FINAL EXAM

5 May —

Review for your take-home final exam

7 May —

NO LECTURE TODAY. Instead, William and I WILL USE THE CLASS PERIOD (9:30 – 10:45 AM) TO HOLD VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS. We will have an open online session on Collaborate Ultra, and welcome everyone to drop in with questions about the final exam. We can chat orally (use the “Raise Hand” icon) or via typed messages (use the chat box). Attendance in NOT required. Feel free to drop in for a long or short chat at any time during the 75-minute session.

YOUR TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM IS DUE IN CANVAS TODAY BY 11:59 PM. See full instructions for the final exam in the “new online procedures” memo at the head of this online syllabus.

RESEARCH PAPER FOR HISTORY 204

Choose one of the following topics:

You are a Jew or Muslim who lived in Jerusalem in AD 1099 and survived the capture of the city by the Crusaders in that year. Write a memoir describing your experiences there during the siege and conquest of the city by the forces of the First Crusade. (As a Jew or Muslim you do not, of course, use the AD calendar or the term “Crusade.”)

It is the year 1215. You are an emissary of the pope, visiting the English court. Write a confidential report to the pope giving the political news.

It is sometime between 1300 and 1320. You are a peasant or town-dweller from the south of France who has been arrested and charged with heresy by the local Inquisitor. Produce a transcript of your interrogation and testimony in the Inquisitor’s court.

You are a physician (if male) or (if female) a nun serving as a nurse at the Hôtel-Dieu, in Paris, at the time of the Black Death. Write a report to your superiors about your experiences in Paris during that calamity.

Your paper must be double-spaced and use a 12-point font. It must be five pages long, exclusive of endnotes and bibliography.

It must be written in the first-person.

The point is to produce a piece of genuine historical research, packed with factual details, so no fantasy and no time-travelers, please.

Your paper must be based on a minimum of two primary sources and three scholarly secondary sources. Use only sources that are directly relevant to your own paper topic. Encyclopedias are permissible as sources of general background reading (and must be cited if used), but may not be used as any of the three required secondary sources.

ALL ONLINE SOURCES ARE PROHIBITED EXCEPT FOR:

Primary sources (such as medieval chronicles or legal documents, or photographs of art or artifacts)
Scholarly books or journal articles (such as those available through Google Books or JSTOR)
Maps and other illustrations (optional)

No websites (including Wikipedia) are permitted as secondary sources.

Remember that primary sources, which include artifacts as well as texts, date from the period that you are studying; they are “eyewitness” sources. Examples of primary sources from medieval Europe include texts such as chronicles, poems, and legal documents, and artifacts such as pottery, coins, skeletons, or buildings. It is OK to use as primary sources medieval texts in modern English translations, and to use photographs (but not drawings) of artifacts. You are welcome to use relevant primary sources from this syllabus; I have also put links to a small selection of online primary sources on my homepage, at:

https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/hist-204-primary-sources-for-papers/

Secondary sources date from after the period that you are studying; they are not “eyewitness” sources. Examples of secondary sources include modern books, articles, maps, and drawings that attempt to reconstruct some aspect of the medieval past. Use only scholarly secondary sources, which are fully documented with footnotes or endnotes; a bibliography alone is insufficient. Thus, our two course textbooks are not scholarly secondary sources.

If you are still unclear about the difference between primary and secondary sources, see me or  read the essay “Why study history from primary sources?” available online at:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/robinson-sources.asp

THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION FORMAT FOR YOUR PAPER IS THAT OF THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE:

Your paper must be fully documented in the format of the CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE (CMOS), and must include both endnotes AND bibliography. (Parenthetical citations are NOT acceptable.) College-level writing, using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation, also is required. For guidelines on paper-writing and CMOS documentation, see my brief guide, “Documenting Your History Paper” (https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/documenting-your-history-paper/), or consult any of the other online style and documentation guides listed on my homepage, at:

https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/documentation-guides/

The paper is due in CANVAS on Tuesday, 31 March 2020, by 11:50 PM.  No extensions will be allowed on the paper except in the case of major illness or emergency; it is your responsibility to contact me immediately in such a case.