HISTORY 3348: THE CRUSADES

 

TEACHER

John Howe
Office: 143 Holden Hall
Office Hours: MWF 8:15-9:30 am, TuTh 8:15-8:45 am, M 9:30-10:00 pm, and by appointment
Telephone: 742-2573, Telephone Messages: 742-3744
E-Mail: John.Howe@ttu.edu
Web: http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/howe/

 

PURPOSES OF THE COURSE

To acquire a general knowledge of the crusading movement in Western Europe, including its ideology, organization, military strategies, and leadership. To situate the crusades in the larger economic, cultural, and religious context of the Mediterranean world. To use the crusades as a case study for analysis of the problems posed by "holy war," imperialism, colonization, and the formation of European consciousness. To introduce the process by which historians reconstruct historical events from conflicting primary sources.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Required Texts
Francesco Gabrieli. Arab Historians of the Crusade.
Joinville & Villehardouin. Chronicles of the Crusades.
Jonathan Riley-Smith, ed. Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades.
Steven Runciman, The First Crusade. Abridged edition.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook (IMS):
Copies: Students also must purchase a collection of photocopied documents and excerpts from writings of crusade historians, which is available at Copytech, 162 West Hall, telephone 742-2321.

Required Reading
Specific reading assignments for each class are listed in the "Reading and Lecture Schedule," just ahead of the lecture date by which they should be completed. Each assignment concerns the subject of the following class meeting. Read so that you arrive in class prepared to explain, praise, criticize, and question. The assignments are manageable if read on schedule, but quickly become overwhelming if neglected. Successful completion of this course requires regular attendance. In the classroom difficult reading assignments are interpreted and contextualized; additional subject matter is introduced. If you cannot attend 80% or more of the scheduled classes, you should not be enrolled.

Examinations
Midterm tests are scheduled for Friday, October 2, and Friday, November 6. Each will include multiple-choice questions, identifications, a single essay (to be selected from two or more choices), and perhaps map work. If, for good reason, a test is missed, a make-up test may be taken at 2:00 pm on Dec 7. Students receiving a grade below "C" on a midterm should meet with the teacher to discuss it (this will be part of class participation). The final examination will feature multiple-choice and identification questions on the material covered since the second midterm, and several essay questions (to be chosen out of six or more alternative questions) covering the material of the entire course. Bring blue books for the final.

Source Problems
Course assignments include two crusade source problems, cases where the primary written evidence is contradictory. Students will attempt to reconstruct what happened, presenting their findings in papers no longer than five typed, double-spaced pages. Since the evidence provided for these case studies will not yield any single, uncontrovertable "right answer," the papers will present arguements for the "most probable" scenario. Grades will be based on logic, analysis, persuasiveness, and comprehensive use of the sources. Be careful not to violate the History Department and University guidelines on plagiarism ("offering the work of another as ones own, without proper acknowledgement"). Late papers will be assessed a one grade penalty; no papers will be accepted later than two class periods after the due date (that is, after the corrected on-time papers have been returned).

 

GRADING

The course grade will be computed as follows: 30% from the midterm tests (that is, 15% from each); 30% from the papers (15% from each); 10% from class participation; and 30% from the final. The class participation grade is computed in this way. At the end of the semester students are divided into three groups on the basis of attendance, class preparation, and class contributions: 1) individuals who were outstanding; 2) individuals who were generally average; and 3) individuals who were well below average. In computing the course grade, the first group gets the class participation component credited as an `A'; the second has these points neutralized (so they neither help nor hurt); and the third has them credited as an `F'.

 

NECESSARY ACCOMODATIONS

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible so that the necessary accomodations can be made.

 

 

READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE


M Aug 31 Introduction

Copies 5-8 (Maps);

W Sept 1 Geography

Copies 12-26 (Wilkerson, Piacenza Pilgrim, Date Chart, Map); Runciman 13-22

F Sept 3 Early Medieval Pilgrimage

Radulfus Glaber

[M Sept 7 Labor Day. University Holiday]

W Sept 9 The Latin West at 1000 AD

Runciman 23-34; Copies 27-31 (Jenkins); Liutprand of Cremona

F Sept 11 The Greek East at 1000 AD

Runciman 1-12, 25-30; Copies 32-41 (Sachedina); Mohammad's "Last Sermon" and the "Pact of Omar"

M Sept 14 Islam at 1000 AD

Leo IV, John VIII, and Gregory VII; Runciman 13-40. Start Source Problem #1 by reading and itemizing materials in Copies 44-67; Riley-Smith 1; and Runciman 41-43.

W Sept 16 Holy War

[W Sept 16 Last Day to Drop a Course and Receive a Refund]

Copies 42-43 (Maps); Riley-Smith 13-33. Write Source Problem #1.

F Sept 18 Church Reform and the Call to Crusade

Runciman 41-51. Finish Source Problem #1.

M Sept 21 The Response to the Call

Runciman 52-68; Copies 68-76 (Solomon bar Simson)

W Sept 23 The People's Crusades

Runciman 69-93; Copies 77-80 (Anna Comnena)

F Sept 25 The Crusaders at Constantinople

Runciman 94-144; Gabrieli xxvii-xxviii, 3-9

M Sept 28 The March to Antioch

Runciman 145-92; Gabrieli 10-12; Fulcher of Chartres

W Sept 30 The Capture of Jerusalem

Study

F Oct 2 Midterm Test #1

Copies 81-82 (Maps); Riley-Smith 34-111

M Oct 5 "Crusader Culture" Organized and Institutionalized

Riley-Smith 112-23; Copies 83-90 (Riley-Smith)

W Oct 7 Organizing the Crusader States

Copies 91-108 (Hamilton, 2 studies)

F Oct 9 Organizing the Latin Church in the Near East

Copies 109-14 (Hamilton); Riley-Smith 161-83

M Oct 12 Crusader Architecture

[M Oct 12 Last Day to Declare "P/F" or to Withdraw with a "W"]

Riley-Smith 141-59

W Oct 14 Crusader Art

Riley-Smith 184-211; Copies 115-21 (Partner); Bernard

F Oct 16 The Military Orders

Copies 122-38 (Hamilton)

M Oct 19 Crusader Women

Copies 139-71 (Holmes); Gabrieli xxviii-ix,73-84; Riley-Smith 233-34

W Oct 21 Daily Life in the Crusader States

Riley-Smith 217-31; Gabrieli xxvi and 36-55. Start Source Problem #2 by reading and itemizing materials in Copies 172-86; Gabrieli 56-63.

F Oct 23 Islam Strikes Back

Copies 187-93 (Mayer); Riley-Smith 123; Eugenius III. Write.

M Oct 26 The Second Crusade

Finish Source Problem No. 2

W Oct 28 Why the Second Crusade Failed

Copies 194 (William of Tyre); Riley-Smith 231-33; Gabrieli 64-72, 87-113

F Oct 30 The Kingdom of Jerusalem at Risk

Gabrieli 114-46, 160-73; Riley-Smith 233-36;

M Nov 2 The Battle of Hattin and the Fall of Jerusalem

Mayer 137-51; Copies 195-214 (Mayer, Ambrose, Map); Gabrieli 200-07, 222-37

W Nov 4 The Third Crusade

Study

F Nov 6 Midterm No. 2

Copies 215-21 (Strayer, Nickel, Maps, Russell); Riley-Smith 242-46

M Nov 9 Spanish and Baltic Crusades

Copies 222-27 (Roger of Wendover)

W Nov 11 Albigensian Crusades

Copies 239-47 (Queller); Villehardouin 1-57; Nicetas Choniates

F Nov 13 The Launching of the Fourth Crusade

Villehardouin 57-107

M Nov 16 The Latin Empire of Constantinople

Innocent III; Riley-Smith 236-38

W Nov 18 Who Controls Crusades? Pope vs. Kings/Emperors

Copies 228-38 (Riley-Smith)

F Nov 20 Crusader Feudalism

Joinville 161-264

M Nov 23 Louis IX and the Sixth Crusade

Joinville 265-88; Riley-Smith 238-39; Copies 248-50 (Maps, John of Plano Carpini); Mongols

[W-S Nov 25-28 Thanksgiving Holiday]

M Nov 30 The Mongols

Joinville 345-353; Copies 251-70 (Runciman); Gabrieli 326-33, 341-50; Riley-Smith 239-42

W Dec 2 The Fall of the Mainland Crusader States

Gabrieli 305-12; Riley-Smith 211-16

F Dec 4 The End and Its Consequences

Riley-Smith 246-93

M Dec 7 The Later Crusades

[M Dec 7 Make-Up Midterm Exams at 2:00]

Copies 271-77 (Runciman); Riley-Smith 1-12, 294-364, 387-92

W Dec 9 The Later Crusades / Summing Up

Study

Tu Dec 15 FINAL EXAM (at 7:30 am).