August 19, 2002

HISTORY 3348: THE CRUSADES

Holden Hall 127 at 11:00

TEACHER

John Howe
Office: 143 Holden Hall; Office Hours: MWF 10-10:30, Tu 9:30-10:00, Th 1-2, and by appointment
Telephone: 742-1004 ext. 233; 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 Crusades.
Joinville & Villehardouin, Chronicles of the Crusades.
Jonathan Riley-Smith, ed., Oxford History of the Crusades.
Steven Runciman, The First Crusade, abridged edition.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook (IMS): http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html.
Copies: Students must purchase a collection of photocopied documents and excerpts from the writings of crusade historians, available at Copytech, 145 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.

Attendance
Successful completion of this course requires regular attendance. Difficult reading assignments are interpreted and contextualized in the classroom; 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, September 27, and Friday, November 1. 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, December 2. 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.

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, 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. 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).

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, September 16, Anthony Mann's El Cid; on Monday, October 14, Cecil B. DeMille’s Crusades; on Monday, November 4, Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. Students attending two of these films and participating in the following discussions will receive extra credit as indicated below.


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. An extra 5% of A credit will also 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'.


NECESSARY ACCOMMODATIONS

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.

READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

M Aug 26 Introduction

Copies 5-8 (Maps)

W Aug 38 Geography

Copies 9-24 (Wilkerson, Piacenza Pilgrim); Runciman 13-22

F Aug 30 Early Medieval Pilgrimage

Copies 25-32 (date chart, Trier Annals, Hollister, armor); IMS: Radulfus Glaber

[M Sept 2 Labor Day. University Holiday]

W Sept 4 The Latin West at 1000 AD

Runciman 1-13, 23-25; Copies 36-43 (Liutprand, Jenkins); IMS: Liutprand of Cremona

F Sept 6 The Greek East at 1000 AD

[F Sept 6 Last Day for Degree Candidates to File a Statement of Intent]

Runciman, 25-30; Copies 44-60 (Hughes, Sachedina); IMS: Mohammad's "Last Sermon" and the "Pact of Omar"

M Sept 9 Islam at 1000 AD

IMS: Leo IV, John VIII, and Gregory VII; Runciman 33-40; Riley-Smith 15-34.Start Source Problem #1 by reading and itemizing materials in Copies 64-89; Riley-Smith 1; and Runciman 41-43.

W Sept 11 Holy War

[W Sept 11 Last Day to Drop a Course and Receive a Refund]

Copies 61-63 (Maps). Write Source Problem #1.

F Sept 13 Church Reform and the Call to Crusade

Runciman 41-51. Finish Source Problem #1.

M Sept 16 The Response to the Call

[M Sept 16 Optional Movie #1: Anthony Mann's El Cid at 7:00 pm in HH 128]

Runciman 52-68; Copies 90-98 (Solomon bar Simson)

W Sept 18 The Peoples' Crusades

Runciman 69-93; Copies 99-102 (Anna Comnena)

F Sept 20 The Crusaders at Constantinople

Runciman 94-144; Copies 103 (Siege); Gabrieli xi-xii, xxvii-xxviii (Ibn al-Athir), 3-9

M Sept 23 The March to Antioch

Runciman 145-92; Copies 104-05 (Siege); Gabrieli 9-12; IMS: Fulcher

W Sept 25 The Capture of Jerusalem

Study

F Sept 27 Midterm Test No. 1

Riley-Smith 35-110

M Sept 30 "Crusader Culture" Organized and Institutionalized

Riley-Smith 111-23; Copies 106-114 (Map, Riley-Smith)

W Oct 2 Organizing the Crusader States

Copies 115-31 (Hamilton, two studies)

F Oct 4 Organizing the Latin Church in the Near East

Copies 132-37 (Hamilton); Riley-Smith 155-75

M Oct 7 Crusader Architecture

[M Oct 7 Last Day to Declare P/F or to Withdraw with W]

Riley-Smith 138-54

W Oct 9 Crusader Art

Riley-Smith 184-211; Copies 138-44 (Partner); IMS: Templar

F Oct 11 The Military Orders

Riley-Smith 176-210; Copies 145-69 (Hamilton, Nicholson)

M Oct 14 Crusader Women

[M Oct 14 Optional Movie #2: Cecil B. DeMille’s Crusades at 7:00 pm in HH 128]

Copies 170-202 (Holmes); Gabrieli xxviii-ix (Usama), 73-84

W Oct 16 Daily Life in the Crusader States

Riley-Smith 211-26; Gabrieli xxvi (Ibn al-Qalanisi) and 36-55. Start Source Problem #2 by reading and itemizing materials in Copies 203-17; Gabrieli 56-63.

F Oct 18 Islam Strikes Back

Copies 218-24 (Mayer); Write. IMS: Eugene III

M Oct 21 The Second Crusade

Finish Source Problem No. 2

W Oct 23 Why the Second Crusade Failed

Copies 225 (William of Tyre); Gabrieli 64-72, 87-113; Riley-Smith 227-34

F Oct 25 The Kingdom of Jerusalem at Risk

Gabrieli 114-46, 160-73; Riley-Smith 234-35

M Oct 28 The Battle of Hattin and the Fall of Jerusalem

Copies 226-245 (Mayer, Ambrose, Map); Gabrieli 200-07, 222-37

W Oct 30 The Third Crusade

Study

F Nov 1 Midterm Test #2

Copies 246-52 (Strayer, Nickel, Maps, Russell); Riley-Smith 243-46, 180-81

M Nov 4 Spanish and Baltic Crusades

[M Nov 4 Optional Movie #3: Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky at 7:00 pm in HH 128]

Copies 253-58 (Roger of Wendover)

W Nov 6 Albigensian Crusades

Copies 259-70 (Queller, Maps); Villehardouin 1-57; IMS: Innocent III

F Nov 8 The Launching of the Fourth Crusade

Villehardouin 57-107; Riley-Smith 129-31; IMS: Nicetas Choniates

M Nov 11 The Latin Empire of Constantinople

Riley-Smith 132-36

W Nov 13 Who Controls Crusades? Pope vs. Kings/Emperors

Copies 271-81 (Riley-Smith)

F Nov 15 Crusader Feudalism

Joinville 161-264

M Nov 18 Louis IX and the Sixth Crusade

Joinville 265-88; Copies 282-84 (John of Plano Carpini, Map); IMS: Mongols

M Nov 20 The Mongols

Joinville 345-353; Copies 285-304 (Runciman); Gabrieli 326-33, 341-50; Riley-Smith 136-37

W Nov 22 The Fall of the Mainland Crusader States

Gabrieli 305-12; Riley-Smith 258-322; Copies 305-10 (Bishop)

F Nov 24 The End and Its Consequences

Riley-Smith 323-62

M Nov 26 The Later Crusades

[W-S Nov 27-Dec 1 Thanksgiving Holiday]

Riley-Smith 1-14, 362-89

M Dec 2 Images of the Crusades

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

Copies 311-28 (Runciman, Mitchener)

W Dec 4 Summing Up

STUDY

W Dec 11 FINAL EXAM (at 10:30 am)