The Calamitous 14th Century Hours: MW: 10:00-11:00 Spring Semester: TTh: 9:00-11:00 PROSPECTUS

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1 Death, Destruction, Famine, Pestilence: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse --Revelation 6: 1-8 History 303 Stephen Lyons The Calamitous 14th Century Hours: MW: 10:00-11:00 Spring Semester: TTh: 9:00-11:00 PROSPECTUS The study of an age of unprecedented natural and human disasters in Europe. Students consider diverse topics including climate change; the Black Death; endemic warfare; the class revolts of the French Jacquerie, the English Peasants Rebellion, and the Florentine revolt of the Ciompi; the collapse of European banking; the end of the Champagne Fairs; the constriction of trade; and the depopulation of both the cities and the countryside. Texts: Jean Froissart: Chronicles [F] Stephen Lyons (ed.) Primary Sources [L] Barbara Tuchman: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century [T] Part I: The Human and Natural Environments SYLLABUS Jan. 13: Introduction Jan. 15: Population: The Problem Jan. 22: Geography and Agriculture [T:1-2; F:1-5] 1

2 Jan. 24: Diet Jan. 27: Hygiene Jan. 29: Climate Change and the Weather: Omens Jan. 31: The Great Famine Feb. 3: Disease Feb. 5: Medicine: Humors and Herbs Feb. 7: Medicine: Astrology Feb. 10: Magna Mortalitas: The Great Plague Feb. 12: DISCUSSION: The Black Death: Descriptions Feb. 14: DISCUSSION: The Black Death: Causes Feb. 17: DISCUSSION: The Black Death: Reactions [T:3-4; F:6-10] [T:5-6; F:11-15] [L:A] [L:B] [L:C] Part II: The Church and the Faith Feb. 19: The Popes Move to Avignon [T:7-8; F:16-20] Feb. 21: Superbia, Avaritia, Gula, Luxuria, Ira, Invidia, Acedia Feb. 24: DISCUSSION: Papal versus Imperial Power [L:D] Feb. 26: Torture in the Service of Faith and Truth [T:9-10; F:21-25] Feb. 28: DISCUSSION: Jacques Fournier: Inquisition Records [L:E] Mar. 3: Trial of Dame Alice Kyteler: The Tale of the Witch [T:11-12; F:26-30] Mar. 5: Academic Heresy: The Case of John Wycliffe Mar. 7: DISCUSSION: The Crusade of Henry Despenser, Bishop of Norwich [L:F] Mar. 10: Hunting in the Baltic with the Teutonic Knights [T:13-15; F:31-35] Mar. 12: The Great Schism: Urban VI and Clement VII: The Mad and the Bad Mar. 14: DISCUSSION: Letters of Catherine of Siena [L:G] Part III: The State and the People Mar. 24: Forms of Government Mar. 26: Experimentation in Government: Florence and Venice Mar. 28: DISCUSSION: The Emperor Charles IV: The Golden Bull Mar. 31: Knightly Warfare and Chivalry Apr. 2: "Characteristic Juvenility" Apr. 4: DISCUSSION: Edward III and the Countess of Salisbury Apr. 7: Honor and the Vendetta Apr. 9: Arnaud de Cervole and the Routiers Apr. 11: John Hawkwood and the Condottieri Apr. 14: The Visconti and the Manner of Despotism Apr. 16: "For God and Profit:" The Tale of the Florentine Banks Apr. 18: DISCUSSION: Rural Rebellion: The Case of the Peasants' Revolt Apr. 21: Urban Rebellion: The Case of Cola di Rienzi Apr. 23: Urban Rebellion: The Case of the Ciompi Apr. 25: William Tell and the Creation of a National Myth Apr. 28: Family Madness: It is in the Genes: The Bourbons and Charles VI [T:16-17; F:36-40] [L:H] [T:18-19; F:41-45] [L:I] [T:20-21; F:46-50] [T:22-24; F:51-55] [L:J] [T:25-27; F56-60] 2

3 COURSE REQUIREMENTS Class attendance is required: this is College policy. Absenteeism will adversely affect your final grade. Just being present, however, is not enough. There is a participation component to the final grade and this will be based on your involvement in the course. Excused absences will be granted for documented illness and family emergencies only: this is also College policy. Please note that participation in co- and extra-curricular activities--including, but not limited to, athletics--is not a valid reason for missing class. Completion of the reading assignments and informed participation in discussion are also required. Dates of the 10 discussion sessions are noted above; you will be graded on the frequency and quality of your contributions. There will be a take-home final exam, which will be distributed approximately two week before the last day of classes. Completed exams are due by 9:00 a.m., Thursday, 1 May In addition, you are required to write two papers for the course. The minimum number of pages for each paper is 10, and there is no maximum. Papers are to be produced as Word documents, with 1" margins on all four sides, and written in formal, academic English. Papers are due at the beginning of class on the dates noted. Extensions of time will not be granted; late papers will be accepted at a penalty rate of one full grade per day for each day or part of a day that they are late. While consultation with me for the first assignment is not required, it is nonetheless strongly recommended. The assignments follow below. Assignment #1. Due Monday 17 February 2014: For this assignment you have three options: choose one. 1. On the Destruction of the Templars: In the course book, as Appendix I you will find a series of papal documents related to the fall of the Templar Order. Your task is to write an essay in which you account for the end of the Order. Be careful: documents do not always mean what they say, and do not always say what they mean. Do not simply "read:" rather, think and understand. It will be necessary for you to research the secondary literature in order to come to an understanding of the historical context, so you can discern and bring to light a viable explanation for the Order's demise. At a minimum, a bibliography containing at least one scholarly monograph and at least one scholarly article is required. And I do not recommend the minimalist approach. 2. On the Assault on the Franciscans: In the course book, as Appendix II you will find a series of papal documents related to the attack on the Franciscans. At the heart of the attack is the the idea the ideal the meaning of "poverty." Your task is to write an essay in which you account for the reasons why the Franciscan Order came under attack. Be careful: documents do not always mean what they say, and do not always say what they mean. Do not simply "read:" rather, think and understand. It will be necessary for you to research the secondary literature in order to come to an understanding of the historical context, so you can discern and bring to light a viable explanation for the assault. At a minimum, bibliography containing at least one 3

4 scholarly monograph and at least one scholarly article is required. And I do not recommend the minimalist approach. 3. On Art as a Reflection of Historical Reality: The Codex Manesse is an illuminated manuscript dating to c The text is a collection of love songs--minnesang poetry. Accompanying the text are 138 illustrations, each of which portrays one of the Minnesingers engaged in a characteristic activity of 14th century life among the upper classes. For this assignment, explore the Codex, choose and investigate one of the illustrations, then examine the subject of the image, and the representation of 14th century life portrayed in the image. It will be necessary for you to research the secondary literature in order to come to an understanding of the historical context, so you can discern and then bring to light a viable interpretation of the image. At a minimum, bibliography containing at least one scholarly monograph and at least one scholarly article is required. And I do not recommend the minimalist approach. The Codex is available online: Assignment #2. Due Monday 31 March 2014: For this assignment you have 2 options: choose one. Your task is to write a descriptive and interpretative essay focusing on either an event that occurred during the 14th century, or an individual who lived during the 14th century. You should choose your subject with great care in order to insure its manageability. And to assure that you are headed in a viable direction, you will need my approval for your subject. The deadline for obtaining approval is Friday, 14 March This assignment will require that you develop an understanding of the event or the person, together with an insightful perspective on such factors as the relationship between cause and effect, individual action and historical forces, personal desire and the capacity to think and act beyond personal interests. It will be necessary for you to research the primary and secondary literature related to your topic, in order to come to an understanding of the historical context, and so you can discern and bring to light a viable explanation for the event or the individual you choose to investigate. At a minimum, a bibliography containing at least one primary source, one scholarly monograph and one scholarly article is required. And I do not recommend the minimalist approach. AN ADMONITION: "Every time we postpone some necessary event--whether we put off doing the dinner dishes till morning or defer an operation or some difficult labor or study--we do so with the implication that present time is more important than future time (for if we wished the future to be as free and comfortable as we wish the present to be, we would perform necessary actions as soon as they prove themselves necessary). There is nothing wrong with this, as long as we know what we are doing, and as long as the present indeed holds some opportunity more important than the task we delay. But very often our decision to delay is less a free choice than a semiconscious 4

5 mechanism--a conspiracy between our reasoning awareness and our native dislike of pain. The result of this conspiracy is a disconcerting contradiction of will; for when we delay something, we simultaneously admit its necessity and refuse to do it. Disrespect for the future is a subtly poisonous disrespect for self, and forces us, paradoxically enough, to live in the past." --Robert Grudin DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY DESIRED OUTCOMES FOR HISTORY 303: Students will engage the past through a particular set of themes related to the history of the Crusades. Students will develop skills in assessing and utilizing primary sources and secondary authorities. Students will develop research skills and work on generating their own interpretations. Students will be introduced to history as a scholarly discipline and profession. Students will develop and improve their skills in reading, writing and thinking within the context of the discipline of history. Papers (each): 25% Final Exam: 25% Participation: 25% FINAL GRADES WILL BE FIGURED AS FOLLOWS: ALL PROVISIONS OF THE HONOR CODE ARE IN EFFECT IN THIS COURSE. VIOLATIONS OF THE CODE WILL BE REPORTED TO THE HONOR COMMITTEE. IN ADDITION TO ANY PENALTIES IMPOSED BY THE HONOR COMMITTEE OR THE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY BOARD, VIOLATIONS WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE FOR THE COURSE. 5

6 The chapters in Froissart's Chronicles were not numbered by the editor. I have provided the chapter numbers below, which then appear in the syllabus above, in order to give you an idea where you should be in reading this book over the course of the semester. Introduction 9 Acknowledgments The Chronological Background Book One ( ) 1. Prologue The Beginning of a Reign Deposition of Edward II and Accession of Edward III The Scots Invade England Edward III Does Homage to Philip VI Preliminaries of the Hundred Years War Battle of Sluys The Order of the Garter The Campaign of Crecy The Siege of Calais Black Death, Flagellants and Jews Sea Battle off Winchelsea The Siege of Breteuil and the Poitiers Campaign Consequences of Poitiers The Three Estates; the Free Companies The Jacquerie The Last Days of Étienne Marcel Brigandry, Warfare and Predictions King John's Return to England and His Death The Battle of Montiel and Death of Peter the Cruel The Sack of Limoges The Turn of the Tide Du Guesclin Appointed Constable La Rochelle Goes Over to the French John of Gaunt's Fruitless Expedition The End of a Reign 193 Book Two ( ) 27. Papal Affairs and the Great Schism The Great Schism The Peasants' Revolt in England Affairs of Flanders Battle of Roosebeke Charles VI Marries Isabella of Bavaria 252 Book Three (1386-8) 33. At the Court of the Count of Foix The Haunting of Sir Peter 275 6

7 35. Reminiscences of the Bascot de Mauléon, Freebooter The Tale of the Familiar Preparations for a French Invasion of England Trial by Combat Richard II's First Struggle with His Uncles John of Gaunt's Expedition to Spain The Battle of Otterburn (Chevy Chase) 335 Book Four ( ) 42. Queen Isabella's Entry into Paris A Royal Visitation Tournament at Saint-Inglevert The Duke of Touraine in Trouble The Death of the Count of Foix Charles VI Goes Mad Froissart Revisits England The English in Ireland Two Marriages The Downfall of Richard II The Murder of Gloucester The Challenge and Bolingbroke's Banishment Richard loses Control The Return of Bolingbroke The Surrender of King Richard Richard's Abdication Coronation of Bolingbroke Plots against Henry IV The End of Richard of Bordeaux 468 7

8 TEN SIMPLE RULES FOR EXPOSITORY WRITING 1. On banished words: a. Except when used in direct quotations, the following words are banished: I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours. b. Except when used in direct quotations, all contractions are banished: [e.g. can t, couldn t, didn t, doesn t, don t, hadn t, hasn t, isn t, shouldn t, they re, wasn t, won t]. 2. On the mystery of the apostrophe, which is more than just a decorative device. The Singular, the Plural and the Possessive: One King Two Kings One King s crown Two Kings crowns [Singular] [Plural] [Singular Possessive] [Plural Possessive] 3. On the ambiguity of IT. Its is a possessive pronoun: as in something owned by it. See, there is no apostrophe. After all, you do not write hi s, (or do you?). It s is a contraction of it is (3 rd person singular, present tense, indicative mood of the verb to be), but since all contractions are banished, this should never appear. See, it s easy. Its is not a word in the English language. 4. On words: avoid overused words: (awesome, extremely, massive, scenario, very, etc.), idiot words (lifestyle, vibes good or bad), idiot expressions (big cheese, call the shots, can of worms, get-go, little fish-big fish, mess with, totally awesome, 24/7, whether or not), and linguistic silliness (there is no top priority or first priority: if it is the priority, then it is both top and first. One more thing about words: always eschew obfuscation. 5. On people and things: a person is a who, not a that: as in the knights who fought, or the men who died, NOT the knights that fought, or the hostages that died. 6. On when to quote a quotation: Quote is a verb, as in: I quote You quote He, she, or it quotes We quote You quote They quote Quotation is the noun, as in: The following quotation shows... And speaking of quotations, they should be kept to a minimum: paraphrase whenever possible. Save quoting quotations for when you want to drive your point home, for when you need a zinger (another idiot word). 8

9 7. On homophones, a rich source of confusion: There are hundreds of these in English, which makes reading and writing the language such a fun-filled challenge. Air, Ere, Err, Heir; Bight, Bite, Byte; Born, Borne, Bourn, Bourne; Censer, Censor, Sensor; Cent, Scent, Sent; Cite, Sight, Site; Dew, Do, Due; Ewe, Yew, You; Flew, Flu, Flue; For, Fore, Four; Gild, Gilled, Guild; Incite, Insight; Knead, Kneed, Need; Oar, Or, Ore; Pair, Pear, Pare; Poor, Pore, Pour; Praise, Prays, Preys; Raise, Rays, Raze; Rain, Reign, Rein; Seas, Sees, Seize; To, Too, Two; Toad, Toed, Towed; Vain, Vane, Vein; Wail, Wale, Whale; Weather, Wether, Whether are all different words, spelled differently, with different meanings. Make sure you use the right, rite, wright, write one. 8. On another kind of confusion: A lot does not mean the same thing as allot, and alot is not a word in English 9. On mental mush: to think to feel to believe. You can talk about how you feel with your physicians and with people who love you (assuming anyone does). You can talk about what you believe with your spiritual advisors. I am interested in what you think and why you think it. Your thoughts are my concern; your feelings and beliefs are not. 10. On dancing through the tenses, which can be tense. Keep your verbs under control. Readers have been known to get motion sickness when writers lurch between the tenses. A general rule: pick a tense and stay in it. A specific rule: when writing about historical subjects this is easy to remember: history happened in the past, so the past tense is best. 9

10 TURABIAN QUICK GUIDE Kate L. Turabian s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations presents the basic documentation style system for footnotes and bibliographical entries. Below are some common examples of materials cited. Each example is given first in bibliography style (a note [N], followed by a bibliographic entry [B]) Online sources that are analogous to print sources (such as articles published in online journals, magazines, or newspapers) should be cited similarly to their print counterparts but with the addition of a URL and an access date. For online or other electronic sources that do not have a direct print counterpart (such as an institutional Web site or a Weblog), give as much information as you can in addition to the URL and access date. The following examples include some of the most common types of electronic sources. Book One author N: Wendy Doniger, Splitting the Difference (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 65. B: Doniger, Wendy. Splitting the Difference. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Two authors N: Guy Cowlishaw and Robin Dunbar, Primate Conservation Biology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), B: Cowlishaw, Guy, and Robin Dunbar. Primate Conservation Biology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Four or more authors N: Edward O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 262. B: Laumann, Edward O., John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michael, and Stuart Michaels. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Editor, translator, or compiler instead of author N: 4. Richmond Lattimore, trans., The Iliad of Homer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951), B: Lattimore, Richmond, trans. The Iliad of Homer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,

11 Editor, translator, or compiler in addition to author N: Yves Bonnefoy, New and Selected Poems, ed. John Naughton and Anthony Rudolf (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 22. B: Bonnefoy, Yves. New and Selected Poems. Edited by John Naughton and Anthony Rudolf. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Chapter or other part of a book N: Andrew Wiese, The House I Live In : Race, Class, and African American Suburban Dreams in the Postwar United States, in The New Suburban History, ed. Kevin M. Kruse and Thomas J. Sugrue (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), B: Wiese, Andrew. The House I Live In : Race, Class, and African American Suburban Dreams in the Postwar United States. In The New Suburban History, edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Thomas J. Sugrue, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Chapter of an edited volume originally published elsewhere (as in primary sources) N: Quintus Tullius Cicero. Handbook on Canvassing for the Consulship, in Rome: Late Republic and Principate, ed. Walter Emil Kaegi Jr. and Peter White, vol. 2 of University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, ed. John Boyer and Julius Kirshner (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 35. B: Cicero, Quintus Tullius. Handbook on Canvassing for the Consulship. In Rome: Late Republic and Principate, edited by Walter Emil Kaegi Jr. and Peter White. Vol. 2 of University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, edited by John Boyer and Julius Kirshner, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Originally published in Evelyn S. Shuckburgh, trans., The Letters of Cicero, vol. 1 (London: George Bell & Sons, 1908). Book published electronically N: Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds., The Founders Constitution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), (accessed June 27, 2006). B: Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. The Founders Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (accessed June 27, 2006). Journal article Article in a print journal N: John Maynard Smith, The Origin of Altruism, Nature 393 (1998): 639. B: Smith, John Maynard. The Origin of Altruism. Nature 393 (1998): Article in an online journal 11

12 N: Mark A. Hlatky et al., "Quality-of-Life and Depressive Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women after Receiving Hormone Therapy: Results from the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) Trial," Journal of the American Medical Association 287, no. 5 (2002), v287n5/rfull/joc10108.html#aainfo (accessed January 7, 2004). B: Hlatky, Mark A., Derek Boothroyd, Eric Vittinghoff, Penny Sharp, and Mary A. Whooley. "Quality-of- Life and Depressive Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women after Receiving Hormone Therapy: Results from the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) Trial." Journal of the American Medical Association 287, no. 5 (February 6, 2002), joc10108.html#aainfo (accessed January 7, 2004). Web site Web sites may be cited in running text ( On its Web site, the Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees states... ) instead of in a parenthetical citation, and they are commonly omitted from a bibliography or reference list as well. The following examples show the more formal versions of the citations. N: Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees, Evanston Public Library Strategic Plan, : A Decade of Outreach, Evanston Public Library, (accessed June 1, 2005). B: Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees. Evanston Public Library Strategic Plan, : A Decade of Outreach. Evanston Public Library. (accessed June 1, 2005). 12