Holden Hall 126 at 10:00
John Howe
Office: 143 Holden Hall
Office Hours: MWF 11-11:30; Tu Th 8:15-9:00am;
Telephone: 742-1004 ext.
233
Tu 9:00-9:30 pm; and by appointment
E-mail:
john.howe@ttu.edu
Web: http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/howe
Senate Office: 301 or 304 Administration Telephone: 742-3656
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 sources.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this class students will be able to:
1. Describe major events and individuals associated with the crusades.
2. Discuss the documentary foundation that underlies this historical narrative.
3. Relate the history of the crusades to the of other major social developments in the
medieval Latin West.
4. Recognize the
origins of some contemporary debates between the West and Islam.
5. Be more proficient in the following
genres of historical writing: essay examination; comparison
and analysis of historical documents.
Methods for Assessing the Expected Learning Outcomes
The Expected Learning Outcomes of the course will be assessed through:
examinations, source problems, class discussion, and miscellaneous classroom assessment activities that may include non-graded quizzes, reaction papers, polling the class, and other techniques.
Francesco Gabrieli, Arab Historians of the Crusades.
Joinville & Villehardouin, Chronicles of the Crusades.
Thomas F. Madden, A Concise History of the Crusades.
Steven Runciman, The First Crusade (A Canto Book).
Internet Medieval Sourcebook (IMS): http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html.
Copies: Students also must purchase a collection of photocopied documents and excerpts from writings of crusade historians, which is available at Copytech, 145 West Hall, telephone 742‑2321.
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.
Midterm tests are scheduled for Monday, February 13, and Monday, March 27. 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 Monday, May 1. 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 to the final.
Course assignments include two crusade source problems, cases where the primary source 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, indisputable "right answer," the papers will present arguments for the "most probable" scenario. Grades will be based on logic, analysis, persuasiveness, and comprehensive use of the sources. Avoid common errors. 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).
Academic Integrity
It is the aim of the faculty of Texas Tech University to foster a spirit of complete honesty and a high standard of integrity. The attempt of students to present as their own any work that they have not honestly performed is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense and renders the offenders liable to serious consequences, possibly including failure in the course or even academic suspension. See the Texas Tech Student Handbook, the Texas Tech University Catalog, p. 49; Texas Tech Operating Procedures 34:12.
Movies?
Much of what we think we know about the "Dark Ages" is wrong. The power of ancient misconceptions is not reduced by the fact that they are often mutually contradictory (recall the contrasting dining scenes from Camelot and from The Vikings). To advance our knowledge it can be useful to confront some of our cultural myths directly. Errors are often enshrined in Hollywood’s film images. Therefore, three films about various crusades will be shown and discussed on designated evenings at 7:00 during the course of the semester: on Monday, January 30, Franklin Schaffner’s The War Lord; on Thursday, March 23, Ridley Scott’s The Kingdom of Heaven; on Thursday, April 12, Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. Students attending two of these films and participating in the following discussions will receive extra credit as indicated below.
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. An extra 5% of `A’ credit will be added to the averages of students who attend two film evenings.
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'.
Accommodations for Disabilities
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 accommodations can be made.
Observance of a Religious Holy Day
Texas House Bill 256 requires institutions of higher education to excuse a student from attending classes or other required activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy day. The student shall also be excused for time necessary to travel. An institution may not penalize the student for the absence and allows for the student to take an exam or complete an assignment from which the student is excused. No prior notification of the instructor is required.
W Jan 11 Introduction
Copies 5‑8 (Maps)
F Jan 13 Geography
Copies 9‑24 (Wilkerson, Piacenza Pilgrim); Runciman 13‑22
[M Jan 16 Holiday: Martin Luther King Day]
W Jan 18 Early Medieval Pilgrimage
Copies 25-32 (date chart, Trier Annals, Hollister, armor);
F Jan 20 The Latin West at 1000 AD
Runciman 1-13, 23‑25; Copies 36-44 (Liutprand, Jenkins);
M Jan 23 The Greek East at 1000 AD
Runciman, 25‑30; Copies 45-60 (Hughes, Sachedina);
IMS: Mohammad's "Last Sermon" and the "Pact of Umar"
W Jan 25 Islam at 1000 AD
IMS: Leo IV, John VII, and Gregory VII; Runciman
33‑43; Madden 1-11. Start Source Problem #1 by reading and
itemizing materials in Copies 64‑89
F Jan 27 Holy War
[F Jan 27 Last Day for Degree Candidates to File a Statement of Intent]
[F Jan 27 Last Day to Drop a Course on the Web and Receive an Automatic W]
Copies 61‑63 (Maps). Write Source Problem #1
M Jan 30 Church Reform and the Call to Crusade
[M Jan 30 Optional Movie #1: Franklin Schaffner's The War Lord]
Runciman 41‑51. Finish Source Problem #1
W Feb 1 The Response to the Call
Runciman 52‑68; Madden 17-21; Copies 90-98 (Solomon bar Simson)
F Feb 3 The Peoples' Crusades
Runciman 69‑93; Madden 21-26; Copies 99-102 (Anna Comnena)
M Feb 6 The Crusaders at Constantinople
Runciman 94‑144; Madden 26-33; Copies 103 (Siege);
Gabrieli xi-xii, xxvii‑xxviii (Ibn al-Athir), 3‑9
W Feb 8 The March to Antioch
[W Feb 8 Last day to withdraw and receive a partial refund]
Runciman 145‑92; Madden 33-37; Copies 104-05 (Siege); Gabrieli
9‑12; IMS: Fulcher
F Feb 10 The Capture of Jerusalem
Study
M Feb 13 Midterm Test No. 1
Madden 38-49
W Feb 15 Organizing the Crusader States
Copies 106-114 (Map, Riley‑Smith)
F Feb 18 Organizing the Crusader States
Copies 115-31 (Hamilton, two studies)
M Feb 20 Organizing the Crusader Church in the Near East
Copies 132‑37 (Hamilton)
W Feb 22 Crusader Architecture
[W Feb 22 Last Day to Declare P/F or to Withdraw with W]
F Feb 24 Crusader Art
Madden 49-51; Copies 138‑44 (Partner); IMS: Templar
M Feb 27 The Military Orders
Copies 145‑69 (Hamilton, Nicholson)
W Mar 1 Crusader Women
Copies 170‑202 (Holmes); Gabrieli xxviii‑ix (Usama), 73‑84
F Mar 3 Daily Life in the Crusader States
Madden 51-53; Gabrieli xxvi (Ibn al-Qalānisi) and 36‑55. Start
Source Problem #2 by reading and itemizing materials in Copies 203‑17;
Gabrieli 56‑63.
M Mar 6 Islam Strikes Back
Copies 218‑24 (Mayer); Madden 54-63. IMS: Eugene III. Write.
W Mar 8 The Second Crusade
Finish Source Problem #2
F Mar 10 Why the Second Crusade Failed
[Mar 11-19 Spring Vacation]
Copies 225 (William of Tyre); Madden 65-76; Gabrieli 64‑72, 87‑113
M Mar 20 The Kingdom of Jerusalem at Risk
Gabrieli 114‑46, 160‑73; Madden 76-81
W Mar 22 The Battle of Hattin and the Fall of Jerusalem
[Th Mar 23 Optional Movie #2: Ridley Scot's The Kingdom of Heaven]
Copies 226‑245 (Mayer, Ambrose, Map); Madden 81-97; Gabrieli
200‑07, 222‑37
F Mar 24 The Third Crusade
Study
M Mar 27 Midterm Test #2
Copies 259-70 (Queller, Maps); Madden 98-112; Villehardouin 1‑57;
W Mar 29 The Launching of the Fourth Crusade
Madden 112-22; Villehardouin 57‑107; IMS: Nicetas Choniates
F Mar 31 The Latin Empire of Constantinople
Copies 246-48 (Strayer)
M Apr 3 Spanish Crusades
Copies 253-58(Roger of Wendover); Madden 123-38
W Apr 5 Albigensian Crusades
Copies 249‑52 (Nickel, Maps, Russell); Madden 138-41
F Apr 7 Baltic Crusades / Childrens' Crusades
Madden 143-55; IMS: Innocent III
M Apr 10 The Fifth Crusade
Madden 155-65
W Apr 12 The Crusade of Frederick II and Its Aftermath
Copies 271-81 (Riley‑Smith)
[Th Apr 13 Optional Movie #3: Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nefsky]
F Apr 14 Crusader Feudalism
[M Apr 17 Day of no classes]
Madden 167-77; Joinville 161‑264
W Apr 19 Louis IX and the Sixth Crusade
Joinville 265‑88; Madden 177-80; Copies 282‑84 (John of Plano
Carpini, Map); IMS: Mongols
F Apr 21 The Mongols
Joinville 345‑353; Madden 180-89; Copies 285‑304 (Runciman);
Copies 311-21 (Mitchener); Gabrieli 326‑33, 341‑50
M Apr 24 The Fall of the Mainland Crusader States
Gabrieli 305‑12;Madden 190-92; Copies 305-10 (Bishop)
W Apr 26 The End and Its Consequences
Madden 192-212
F Apr 28 The Later Crusades
Madden 9-14, 213-215; Copies 321-28 (Runciman)
M May 1 Summing Up
[M May 1 Make‑Up Midterm Exams at 2:00]
STUDY
Tu May 9 FINAL EXAM (at 7:30 -10:00 am)