Prof. Lisa Wolverton

325 McKenzie Hall

Office Hours:  Fri noon-1:30 and by appt

lwolvert@uoregon.edu

 

 

HIST 319

EUROPE IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

 

 

            This course provides an introduction to post-Roman, early medieval Western Europe—roughly from 500 to 800 CE.  Our guide will be a survey by the worldÕs preeminent historian of the period:  Peter BrownÕs The Rise of Western Christendom (10th ed., 2013).  Beginning in Week 3, we will alternate our reading of Brown with discussion of primary sources in translation (available on Canvas, marked with an * below).  Following Brown, our emphasis will be on religion and culture, broadly defined.

 

            The course objectives are threefold:  1) to practice reading attentively and critically, whether of primary sources from the Middle Ages or the work of modern scholars; 2) to analyze primary source texts and write logical, compelling essays that interpret them; and 3) to gain an understanding of late Roman and early medieval society, as it evolved over the course of several centuries in various regions of Europe, insofar as the written or material evidence allows. 

 

            Students are expected to come to class having read the texts, prepared to ask and answer questions about them.  You are strongly encouraged to print out the materials provided via Canvas in order to highlight and comment upon them as you read, and in order to have them available during class discussion.  This course is structures more along ÒSocraticÓ lines than as a lecture course.

 

            Occasional unannounced in-class quizzes, as well as active discussion, will assess your engagement with the material.  Two short papers and a take-home final exam provide the opportunity to show deeper mastery of course themes and progress toward course objectives.

 

            The grade distribution is as follows:

 

            Participation/Quizzes               30%

            Papers                                              20% each

            Final Exam                                     30%

 

            For the two short papers, students may choose among various topics due at different points in the quarter, but may not submit more than two (whether for extra credit or make up).  You are encouraged to edit carefully and submit your best work.  The basic standards by which all written work will be evaluated are those for the History Department as a whole, available here.  For more information about my own expectations for student writing, click here.  All papers are due in class on the date indicated; late papers will be penalized and after one week will not be accepted.

 

            If you have any questions about the course or an assignment, either before it is due or after it has been returned to you, please do not hesitate to contact me by email, drop by during my office hours, and/or make an appointment.

 

SCHEDULE

 

Week 1

Sept 28 – Welcome to the course

Sept 30 – Introducing the end of Rome:  Issues  (Intro, pp. 1-34)

Oct 2 – Introducing the end of Rome:  Background (Ch. 1, pp. 37-52)

 

Week 2 

Oct 5 –  Christianity and Empire (Ch. 2, pp. 53-71)

Oct 7 –  Christian times (Ch. 3, pp. 72-92)

Oct 9 – Saints (Ch 4, pp. 93-122)

 

Week 3

Oct 12 – On the frontiers (Ch 5, pp. 123-41)

Oct 14 – *Gregory of Tours, Histories, on Clovis

Oct 16 – Reverentia & rusticitas (Ch. 6, pp. 142-65)

 

Week 4

Oct 19 – *Gregory of Tours, Miracles

Oct 21 – Gregory the Great (Ch. 8, pp. 190-215)

Oct 23 – *Gregory the Great, Pastoral Care

 

Week 5 

Oct 26 – Monasticism (Ch. 9, pp. 219-31)

Oct 28 – *BenedictÕs Rule

Oct 30 –  *Life of Radegund

 

Week 6 

Nov 2 – Education and Culture (Ch. 10, pp. 232-41; *Cassiodorus)

Nov 4 – Columbanus and Continental Monastic Revival (Ch. 10 cont., pp. 241-47; Ch. 11, pp. 248-66)

Nov 6 – Irish Christianity (Ch. 14, p. 321-39)

 

Week 7 

Nov 9 – Christianity in Britain (Ch. 15, 340-54)

Nov 11 – *Bede

Nov 13 – ÒMicro-ChristendomsÓ (Ch. 16, pp. 355-79)

 

Week 8

Nov 16 – Manuscript Culture (*M. Brown, Painted Labyrinth, pp. 14-37)

Nov 18 – A New Continental Order (Ch. 18, pp. 407-33)

Nov 20 – Missionaries (*Boniface)

 

Week 9

Nov 23 – Charlemagne (Ch. 19, pp. 434-62)

Nov 25 – *Einhard

Nov 27 – THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

 

Week 10 

Nov 30 – Scandinavians and Christianity (Ch. 20, pp. 463-89)

Dec 2 – Wrapping up:  Background—The ÒDark AgesÓ

Dec 4 – Wrapping up:  Issues (Preface to 10th edition)

 

FINAL EXAM – due at the regularly scheduled exam time:  Mon, Dec 7, 10:15-12:15