Kalani Craig, Ph.D.

Fall 2018: Medieval Saints and Sinners

Course Calendar


Weeks 1-2: Late Antiquity: The “Fall” of Rome and the Rise of “the Mediterranean” (300-600 C.E.)

Constantine and the Rise of Christianity

  • Read Rubin, The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction, Chapter 1.
  • Read Eusebius, Life of Constantine, Book 1 Chapters 19-38 (1.19-1.38)

Date: Aug 28, 2018


Constantine and Late Roman Imperial Culture

  1. Skim the chapter titles from Life of Constantine at https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/vita-constantine.asp and identify 10 chapters that are useful for your topic.
  2. Read the chapters you identified in step 1. The translation linked above at Fordham’s Internet Sourcebook is a little less modern but easy to find. A modern translation is available online in PDF form.

Date: Aug 30, 2018


Timeline Week 2

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Aug 31, 2018


Late Antique Saintly Women

Read Venantius Fortunatus’ Life of St. Radegund

Date: Sep 4, 2018


Barbarian Saints

  • Read Gregory of Tours’ History of the Franks Book X (10), Chapter 15 (10.15).
  • Skim the chapter listing for Book VI (6). Choose 5 of these chapters to read.

Date: Sep 6, 2018


Timeline Week 3

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Sep 7, 2018


Weeks 3-6: Early Middle Ages: The “Fall” of the Mediterranean (600-900 C.E.)

A New Saint

  • Read Early Islam and Hadith.pdf

Date: Sep 11, 2018


A New Continent

  • Read Campaigns of Abd al-Rahman.pdf

Date: Sep 13, 2018


Timeline Week 4

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Sep 14, 2018


A New Emperor

  • Read excerpts from Einhard–Life of Charlemagne.pdf

Date: Sep 18, 2018


A New Dynasty

  • Read excerpts from Agnellus– Book of the Pontiffs of Ravenna Excerpts.pdf

Date: Sep 20, 2018


Timeline Week 5

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Sep 21, 2018


A New Invader

Date: Sep 25, 2018


The Fruits of Invasion

    Explore the Lindisfarne Gospels by reading this introduction and documenting the contents and form of 10 manuscript pages

Date: Sep 27, 2018


Timeline Week 6

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Sep 28, 2018


Weeks 7-9: Central Middle Ages: Rebuilding the Mediterranean (900-1200 C.E.)

Old Cities, New Poems

Read excerpts from Ibn Hazm, Ring of the Dove, Ring of the Dove.pdf

Date: Oct 2, 2018


Old Rulers, New Massacres

Read excerpts from Abraham Ibd Daud on Samuel Ha-Nagid (aka Samuel ibn Nagrillah) at https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/ha-nagid.asp

Date: Oct 4, 2018


Timeline Week 7

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Oct 5, 2018


New Containers, Old Bones

Read the short reliquary entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliquary and then explore three reliquaries.

Date: Oct 9, 2018


Old Thefts, New Excuses

Read 2 chapters from Patrick Geary, Furta sacra: thefts of relics in the central Middle Ages (Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1990).

  • Everyone reads Chapter 2

  • Material, Agricultural & Creative Production group reads Chapter 2
  • Cultural & Social Norms group reads Chapter 2
  • Economy & Society group reads Chapter 3
  • Politics, Diplomacy & War group reads Chapter 3
  • Education, Science & Philosophy groupreads Chapter 6
  • Religion, Theology & Church Life group reads Chapter 6

Date: Oct 11, 2018


Timeline Week 8

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Oct 12, 2018


Old Monks, New Rules

Read Peter Damian’s *Life of Romuald**

Date: Oct 16, 2018


New Conquests, New Languages

Watch this awesome animated version of the Bayeux Tapestry

Explore the sub-menu items under “The Bayeux Tapestry” main-menu item at http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/la_tapisserie_de_bayeux_en.html (there’s at least one menu item of interest for each of the content-specific timeline groups)

Date: Oct 18, 2018


Timeline Week 9

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Oct 19, 2018


Weeks 10-12: Later Middle Ages: Rejecting the Mediterranean (1200-1500 C.E.)

Kings and Crusaders

Read excerpts from Suger–Deeds of Louis the Fat.pdf.

Date: Oct 23, 2018


Crusading Kings

Read excerpts from IbnShaddad_SaladinSmall.pdf (a low-res PDF is in Canvas Files).

Date: Oct 25, 2018


Timeline Week 10

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Oct 26, 2018


Mysticism & Medicine

Read Hildegard of Bingen: Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questions (trans by Beverly Mayne Kienzle, , Jenny C. Bledsoe, , Stephen H. Behnke, and Hildegard of Bingen Staff), Introduction (sections Hildegard in the 1170s, The Solutions) and Questions 14-20. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/iub-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4546383

Listen to Hildegard’s Femina Forma Maria composition while you read.

Date: Oct 30, 2018


War, Famine & Plague

Read excerpts from a variety of sources collected by Aberth in The Great Mortality. There are two introductions (general and Societal & Cultural Impact); then focus on Petrarch, Boccaccio and Al-Maqrizi’s chronicles. Skim the Cortes of Castile and Wiltshire England Assizes.

Date: Nov 1, 2018


Timeline Week 11

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Nov 2, 2018


Peasants and Saints

Read the Papal Bull of Alexander IV canonizing St. Clare of Assisi: https://franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/clara.html

Date: Nov 6, 2018


Peasants and Rebels

Read the Wat Tyler Rebellion section (III) of Jean Froissart’s Chronicles

Date: Nov 8, 2018


Timeline Week 12

What to submit

  • Two timeline entries drawn from this week’s readings: In the text submission box enter the two line numbers in the Google Spreadsheet that correspond to your entries in your topic’s timeline.
  • The grade you would like for this week’s timeline entries

Date: Nov 9, 2018


Weeks 13-16: A topical and historiographic recap

History as Event-Driven?

Read Sewell, “Historical Events as Transformations of Structures: Inventing Revolution at the Bastille”

Date: Nov 13, 2018


Timeline Division

Break your group’s timeline into sections and name them. Be prepared to share these named sections with your group and the whole class.

Date: Nov 15, 2018


Periodization Bullet-Point Outline

What to submit

An MS Word or text document that meets the requirements for your preferred grade and contains your requested grade with a clear label at the top of the document.

How to choose a grade

Find the line with your preferred grade for your final draft. Your timeline entry should fulfill all of the features up to and including the line with your preferred grade on it. Bullet-point outlines will not be graded on length.

All papers must be:

  • tied together by trends that shape the relationship between periods
  • guided by a clear argument statement that explains the individual trends that define that period and why that definition is historically accurate.
  • illustrated with specific examples and accompanying citations from sources, along with a clear summary in your own words of how that example illustrates the trend under discussion in that period
  • careful to assess the perspective of each source’s author, with a specific example drawn from that text that illustrates your assessment.
  • Readable and clear prose. Read the essay out loud to yourself. If you can’t understand it, I probably won’t either.

Grading is based on how many trends you use to illustrate historical change (period breaks) and continuity (internal consistency within a period), how many sources you use to illustrate those trends, and how much outside scholarly information you bring to bear on those trends.

**C** 2 trends illustrated by 2 examples from 2 primary sources drawn from class readings in each period. ~2500 words.
**C+** 2 trends illustrated by 3 examples from 2 primary sources drawn from class readings in each period. ~2750 words.
**B** 2 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, and illustrated by 3 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period. ~3000 words.
**B+** 2 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, and illustrated by 3 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class. ~3250 words.
**A-** 3 trends and illustrated by 4 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class. ~3500 words.
**A** 3 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, illustrated by 4 examples from 4 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class and 1 of which is supported by a related secondary source that provides another scholar's understanding of periodization ~3750 words.
**A+** 3 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, illustrated by 4 examples from 4 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class and 1 of which is supported by a related secondary source that provides another scholar's understanding of periodization. ~4000 words.

Date: Nov 16, 2018


Breaking Down The Middle Ages

Two versions of Miri Rubin’s history: Our textbook and Rubin’s Mother of God: a history of the Virgin Mary (https://iucat.iu.edu/catalog/8085109). Table of contents for Rubin Mother of God Contents.pdf

Date: Nov 28, 2018


Timeline revision

How do your timeline sections and names sync up with the timeline divisions and basic trends in Miri Rubin’s Mother of God? With another timeline? Be prepared to share your comparisons with your group members and the whole class.

Date: Nov 29, 2018


Periodization Word-Barf Draft

What to submit

An MS Word or text document that meets the requirements for your preferred grade and contains your requested grade with a clear label at the top of the document.

How to choose a grade

Find the line with your preferred grade for your final draft. Your timeline entry should fulfill all of the features up to and including the line with your preferred grade on it. Word-Barf drafts should be a minimum of 1500 words and ideally should draw on the structure you created in your Periodization Bullet-Point Outline.

All papers must be:

  • tied together by trends that shape the relationship between periods
  • guided by a clear argument statement that explains the individual trends that define that period and why that definition is historically accurate.
  • illustrated with specific examples and accompanying citations from sources, along with a clear summary in your own words of how that example illustrates the trend under discussion in that period
  • careful to assess the perspective of each source’s author, with a specific example drawn from that text that illustrates your assessment.
  • Readable and clear prose. Read the essay out loud to yourself. If you can’t understand it, I probably won’t either.

Grading is based on how many trends you use to illustrate historical change (period breaks) and continuity (internal consistency within a period), how many sources you use to illustrate those trends, and how much outside scholarly information you bring to bear on those trends.

**C** 2 trends illustrated by 2 examples from 2 primary sources drawn from class readings in each period. ~2500 words.
**C+** 2 trends illustrated by 3 examples from 2 primary sources drawn from class readings in each period. ~2750 words.
**B** 2 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, and illustrated by 3 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period. ~3000 words.
**B+** 2 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, and illustrated by 3 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class. ~3250 words.
**A-** 3 trends and illustrated by 4 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class. ~3500 words.
**A** 3 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, illustrated by 4 examples from 4 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class and 1 of which is supported by a related secondary source that provides another scholar's understanding of periodization ~3750 words.
**A+** 3 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, illustrated by 4 examples from 4 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class and 1 of which is supported by a related secondary source that provides another scholar's understanding of periodization. ~4000 words.

Date: Dec 4, 2018


Periodization Final Essay

What to submit

An MS Word or text document that meets the requirements for your preferred grade and contains your requested grade with a clear label at the top of the document.

How to choose a grade

Find the line with your preferred grade for your final draft. Your essay should fulfill all of the features up to and including the line with your preferred grade on it. Ideally, this should draw on your Periodization Word-Barf Draft.

All papers must be:

  • tied together by trends that shape the relationship between periods
  • guided by a clear argument statement that explains the individual trends that define that period and why that definition is historically accurate.
  • illustrated with specific examples and accompanying citations from sources, along with a clear summary in your own words of how that example illustrates the trend under discussion in that period
  • careful to assess the perspective of each source’s author, with a specific example drawn from that text that illustrates your assessment.
  • Readable and clear prose. Read the essay out loud to yourself. If you can’t understand it, I probably won’t either.

Grading is based on how many trends you use to illustrate historical change (period breaks) and continuity (internal consistency within a period), how many sources you use to illustrate those trends, and how much outside scholarly information you bring to bear on those trends.

**C** 2 trends illustrated by 2 examples from 2 primary sources drawn from class readings in each period. ~2500 words.
**C+** 2 trends illustrated by 3 examples from 2 primary sources drawn from class readings in each period. ~2750 words.
**B** 2 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, and illustrated by 3 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period. ~3000 words.
**B+** 2 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, and illustrated by 3 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class. ~3250 words.
**A-** 3 trends and illustrated by 4 examples from 3 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class. ~3500 words.
**A** 3 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, illustrated by 4 examples from 4 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class and 1 of which is supported by a related secondary source that provides another scholar's understanding of periodization ~3750 words.
**A+** 3 trends, 1 of which has at least 1 tie to another timeline outside of your main topic, illustrated by 4 examples from 4 primary sources in each time period, 1 of which is from outside of class and 1 of which is supported by a related secondary source that provides another scholar's understanding of periodization. ~4000 words.

Date: Dec 14, 2018


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