HISTORY 4347: HISTORY OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

Spring 1999

TEACHER

John Howe

Office: 143 Holden Hall
Office Hours: MWF 10:00-10:45; M 9:30-10:00 pm; TTh 8:15-9:00; 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 medieval Church from Constantine to the fourteenth century. To introduce the underlying documentary sources. To introduce the critical procedures historians have used to analyze them. To develop increased skill in historical writing.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Required Texts

Robert Brentano. Two Churches: England and Italy in the Thirteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

Peter Brown. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1969.

Giles Constable. The Reformation of the Twelfth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996

John Thomas. The Medieval Church: A Brief History. London: Longman, 1992.

Also required is a set of documents to be taken from the WEB. Their URLs (i.e., exact electronic "addresses") are listed in the printed syllabus. You can also "click" to these directly if you access the syllabus via the WEB. Print these a few days in advance. Last minute consultations can be thwarted by server or network problems.

Required Reading

Specific reading assignments for each class are listed in the "Reading and Lecture Schedule," just ahead and to the right of the lecture date by which they should be completed. Each assignment is the subject of the following lecture or discussion. 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.

Class Attendance

Successful completion of this course requires regular attendance. Part of the course grade is based on class participation, and you need to be present to participate. If you anticipate missing more than three classes, you should not be enrolled.

Research Paper

Students will produce a typed double-spaced fifteen to eighteen page research paper (ca. 5000 words) concerning any aspect of the medieval Church. However, the instructor must approve the topic in order to guarantee its suitability, access to the primary sources, and the competence of the researcher. The paper should cite at least three primary and six secondary sources (these figures are minimums, not maximums), and should utilize the required readings of the course where these are relevant. Many sources are available electronically and these may be used so long as they are properly cited.

A tentative research area must be chosen by Monday, February 22; the topic, title, and research plan are due Monday, March 8; the preliminary bibliography and a two page book review of a relevant monograph on Monday, March 29; the paper itself on April 19. Graded papers will be returned on April 26 (earlier if you provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope). The initial grade can be kept or the paper can be rewritten and resubmitted for a new grade. Late papers will be penalized one grade. No new papers or rewritten papers will be accepted after 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 12.

[Note to Graduate Students

Students taking this course for Graduate Credit will write two additional book reviews, on books whose titles are contained in topical bibliographies on the Gregorian Reform, canon law, the inquisition, sermons, and roles of women in the Church. No reviews will be accepted after after 5:00 pm on Wednesday, May 12. Several separate graduate student meetings to discuss these topics will be arranged.]

Examinations

Midterm tests are scheduled for February 22 and April 26. 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, it may be made up at 4:00 pm on Monday, May 3. Students receiving a grade below "C" on a midterm should meet with the teacher to discuss it.

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.

GRADING

The course grade will be computed as follows: 30% from the midterm tests (that is, 15% from each); 25% from the final; 5% from the book review; 30% from the research paper (5% for title and plan; 5% for preliminary bibliography and review; and 20% for the completed paper); and 10% from class participation. [For graduate students the midterms together will count 25%; the final 20%; and the additional book reviews 5% each.]

READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

M Jan 25 Introduction / The Conversion of Rome

Brown 1-131; Web Introduction; Edict of Milan;
Christian Laws1 and Christian Laws2. Print a
page from three different medieval bibliographical
sites. For more information on Augustine, you may
wish to consult James O'Donnell's Augustine page
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html.

M Feb 1 Augustine's Conversion

Brown 132-280; Bible Manuscript; Jerome; Sardica;
Ambrose; Leo; Gelasius

M Feb 8 Latin Fathers / Church Structure

Brown 280-433; Thomson vii-viii, 1-5

[M Feb 15 Last day to withdraw from the University with a partial refund]

M Feb 15 Transformation of Rome

Study; paper topic due; Thomson 26-32;
Rule of Benedict

M Feb 22 Test / Benedictine Monasticism

Thomson 5-25; Gregory of Tours; Bede; elf charms

[M Mar 1 Last Day to declare pass-fail intentions. Last day to drop a course and receive an automatic W.]

M Mar 1 The Conversion of Northern Europe

Thomson 14-15, 38-46; Einhard's "Charlemagne";
Saxon Capitulary; Letter to Baugaulf; Capitulary of
the Missi. Prepare paper topic, title, research plan.

M Mar 8 The Carolingian Church

Thomson 30-78; Monks of St. Gall; Cluny's charter;
Peace of God ; Truce of God; Wharram parish church

[ Mar 13-21 Spring Break]

M Mar 22 The Benedictine Centuries

Thomson 79-124; paper bibliography and related
book review are due; Constable ; 1059 Synod of Rome;
Dictatus; lay investiture1; Letters1; Letters2; Worms

M Mar 29 Gregorian Reform

Thomson 125-48; Constable; Bernard

[M Apr 5 Day of no classes]

M Apr 12 Apostolic Life / Education / Law

Thomson 149-60; Brentano 3-173; Lateran IV; paper due

M Apr 19 The Papal Monarchy

[ Apr 22 Last day to declare Pass/Fail, to drop a course, to receive a grade of W for courses dropped.]

Study; Brentano 352-80; Waldo1; Waldo2; Bernard Gui;
Thomson 125-38

M Apr 26 Test / Heretical Movements

Thomson 119-24; Brentano 174-290; Francis1; Francis2;
and Francis3

M May 3 The Mendicants

Brentano 291-352; Thomson 161-92, 230-40; STUDY

M May 10 FINAL EXAM, scheduled for 7:30-10:00. However, if no one has a class at 3:30 or 4:30 TT, or BIOL 1401-1402, 1403 (the finals to be held immediately before ours), I will ask the dean to reschedule our final for our usual 7:00-9:30 time slot.]

W May 12 at 5:00: Last opportunity to turn in rewritten papers.