HIST 4347/5366:

HISTORY OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

38425/38431 Fall 2017,

Mondays at 7:00-9:50 pm

Holden Hall 111

John Howe, Professor of History, Interim Co-Director, Medieval and Renaissance Studies Center, TTU
Office: 143 Holden Hall                                                                                                           
Office Hours: MW 10-11:15am, M 9:30-10:15 pm,, and by appointment
Telephone: 834‑7544          E‑Mail: john.howe @ttu.edu      Fax 806 742-1060      Web: http://myweb.ttu.edu/jhowe (the best way to access this syllabus)

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 use to analyze them. To develop increased skill in historical writing. To introduce problems posed by potential conflicts between aesthetics and substance in historical writing.

Expected Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this class students will be able to:
      1. Describe major events and individuals associated with the medieval Church;
      2. Discuss the documentary foundation that underlies this historical narrative;
      3. Relate the development of the medieval Church to the development of other major social institutions of the medieval Latin West;
      4. Recognize the origins of contemporary debates about ecclesiastical organization and Church state relations; and
      5. Be more proficient in the following genres of historical writing: essays, book reviews, and research papers.                                    

Methods for Assessing the Expected Learning Outcomes
            The Expected Learning Outcomes of the course will be assessed through examinations, a course paper, class discussion, and miscellaneous classroom assessment activities that may include quizzes, reaction papers, polling the class, and other techniques.


COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Required Texts
            Robert Brentano. Two Churches: England and Italy in the Thirteenth Century. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press, 1988.    
           
Peter Brown. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. 2nd ed. Berkeley / Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000.
            John Howe,
Before the Gregorian Reform: The Latin Church at the Turn of the First Millennium. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2016.
            Lynch, Joseph H., and Philip C. Adamo. The Medieval Church: A Brief History. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2014.
            Also required is a set of documents to be taken from the Web. Their URLs are electronically linked to the Web version of this syllabus. Print these a few days in advance, since server or network problems can thwart last minute consultations.

Required Reading
            Specific reading assignments for each class are listed in the READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE below, placed 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. Some assignments will be followed by in-class quizzes. 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
            Success in this course requires regular attendance. In the classroom difficult reading assignments are interpreted and contextualized; additional subject matter is introduced; and audio-visual materials are used. If you cannot attend at least 80% of the classes (i.e. miss no more than four), you will be unable to achieve your full potential and do your best work.

Research Paper
            Students will produce a typed double-spaced fifteen- to twenty-page research paper (ca. 5000 -7000 words) concerning any aspect of the medieval Church. However, the instructor must approve the topic in advance in order to guarantee its suitability and the researcher's access to the primary sources. The paper should cite at least four primary and six secondary sources (these figures are minimums, not maximums), which are to be listed in a bibliography with separate subsections for "Primary Sources" and "Secondary Sources." Your project should cite the required readings of the course insofar as these are relevant. Many medieval sources in translation are available electronically and these may be used so long as you cite them properly.
A tentative research area must be chosen by Monday, September 25 (one quiz question on September 25 will ask you to name your research area). A sheet listing the topic, a tentative title, a research plan, and the name of a relatively scholarly book related to the project must be presented on Monday, October 16. A preliminary draft of the paper is due on Monday, November 13--failure to submit some sort of preliminary draft at this deadline will result in a failing grade on the whole assignment. Graded papers will be returned Monday, November 20. You can keep the initial grade or rewrite the paper and resubmit it for a new grade. No new papers or rewritten papers will be accepted after 9:00 am on Wednesday, December 13.

Medieval History in Film
            A "film festival" on Francis of Assisi is scheduled for the evening of Friday, November 17, from 6:00-9:30 pm in Holden Hall 109 (pizza provided). You have ample advance notice of this scheduled event: please arrange your calendar so that you can attend. The films shown will be discussed in class on the following Monday and are part of the material of the course. 

[Note to Graduate Students enrolled for H5366 Credit
            Students taking this course for graduate credit will meet with the instructor during the last few minutes of the first scheduled class on August 28. These students, as a group, will be responsible for completing the regular work of the class and also for writing three two-page reviews, on books related to the "Christianization" of Europe (due October 11) to relics (due October 23) and to the inquisition (due November 20).  Reviews will be presented at three graduate class meetings scheduled to meet after the regular class on October 11, October 23, and November 20. ]

Examinations
            Six short quizzes are scheduled in classes throughout the semester, each featuring multiple-choice and identification questions related to that week's assigned readings.
            One one-hour midterm examinations is scheduled for Monday, October 30. It will include multiple-choice questions, identification questions, a single essay (from two or more choices), and perhaps map work. Students receiving a grade below "C" on a midterm should meet with the teacher to discuss it (this is part of the class participation grade). An opportunity for a make-up examination for the midterm, if it was missed for good reason, is provided on Monday, December 4, at 3:30-4:30 in HH151.
            The final examination, scheduled for Tuesday December 12 at 7:30-10:00pm. It will feature multiple-choice and identification questions based on the material covered since the midterm, and three essays:   two optional comprehensive essay questions to be chosen out of multiple alternatives; and one required essay question: "Was the medieval Church a success or a failure?" Bring blue books to the final.


GRADING
            The course grade will be computed as follows: 10% from the top four grades on quizzes; 20% from the midterm test; 30% from the final; 30% from the research paper (5% for a sheet listing the topic, a tentative title, a research plan, and the name of a good relatively scholarly book related to the project; 25% for the completed paper); and 10% from class participation. [For graduate students the midterms and quizzes together will count 25%; the final 25%; the three additional book reviews 5% each; and class participation 5%.]
            The class participation grade is based on attendance, class preparation, and class contributions. Students outstanding in these get the class-participation percentage credited as an `A'; those adequate but undistinguished have the points dropped out of the average (so that they neither help nor hurt); those below acceptable standards have them credited as an `F.


UNIVERSITY NOTICE

Necessary Accommodations:
            Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require 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.

Academic Honesty:

            "
Texas Tech is committed to creating an exciting university atmosphere that is free of academic dishonesty. All members of the university community, including faculty, students, and staff, are upheld to the standard of having integrity in the work they produce. The standard is for all members of the Texas Tech community to contribute to the campus environment in an ethical, fun, and honest manner. Integrity matters because student success matters (TTU Student Judicial Programs)." Because we live in an imperfect world, it is sometimes necessary to undergird ideals and norms with enforcement mechanisms: be aware that Texas Tech mandates specific Disciplinary Outcomes for Academic Honesty Violations.

 

READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

M    Aug 28    Course Introduction / Overview of Medieval Church History

Lynch 1-29; Brown 7-107; Edict of Milan; Christian Laws1, Christian Laws2, For geographical orientation, in addition to the maps of North Africa and Italy in Brown 4-5, see Diocletian's Rome and the Empire in 395. For more information on Augustine, you may wish to consult James O'Donnell's Augustine page.

[Th  Aug 31    Last day for students to add a course]

[M   Sept 4     Labor Day Holiday]

M    Sept 11   [Quiz] The Later Roman Empire / Augustine's Conversions

[W  Sept 13   Last day to drop a course and get a refund.]

Brown 107-255; Fathers of the Church; re Claudia Rapp on Holy Bishops;

M  Sept 18   Church Structure / Fathers of the Church/ Augustine as Pastor

Brown 256-366; Map of Europe in 400; Barbarian Invasions ; Europe in 476 ;  Gelasius ; prepare an answer for the following quiz question:  "The subject area of my term paper project will be __________." 

M  Sept 25   [Quiz] Augustine's Literary and Doctrinal Heritage

Brown 383-513; Lynch 29-30 and 43-51;  Cesena SermonMonastic DiffusionBenedictine Rule; Benedictine“Leadership 

M  Oct  2    Brown's Augustine Reconsidered / The Transformation of Rome / Benedictine Monasticism

Choose paper topic to be ready for the next quiz, where "The subject area of my term paper project will be __________." ; Lynch 37-43, 52-71; Letters of Gregory;  Gregory of Tours' Account of the Conversion of Clovis; the Confession of St. Patrick ;Bede on the Conversion of England; Map of Europe AD 600; Elf Charms  

M  Oct 9     [Quiz] The World of Gregory the Great / The Conversion of Northern Europe

Lynch 72-128; Howe 7-49; Einhard's "Charlemagne"; Map of Europe 800; Letter to Baugulf of Fulda; Saxon Capitulary ; Treaty of Verdun Map. Prepare a sheet that lists your term project's topic, a tentative title, a research plan, and the name of a relatively scholarly book related to the project.

M Oct 16    The Carolingian Church and Its Late Carolingian Challenges

Howe 50-203, 297-313; Lynch 137-70; Peace of God; Papal Election Decree of 1059 ;  Henry IV to Gregory VII ; Gregory VII to Henry IV ; Concordat of Worms

M Oct  23   Ecclesiastical Revival / "Gregorian Reform I": The Investiture Controversy

[M Oct 30  Last day for student-initiated drop on My Tech with penalty (counts against the drop limit)]

Study

M  Oct 30   Midterm / "Gregorian Reform  II": Results

Lynch 205-40; Howe 204-96

M  Nov 6    [Quiz] Apostolic Life / Howe's Before the Gregorian Reform Reconsidered

Lynch 189-204 and 267-83; Some Canons of Lateran IV; Statutes for Paris ;  Jacques De Vitry on student life . Finish first term paper draft.

M  Nov 13   The Rise of the Papacy / Universities

Lynch 241-266;   Francis:  The Authoritative Life  ; Brentano xi-xx, 3-173

F   Nov 17   from 6:00-9:30    Francis of Assisi Film Festival (pizza provided)

M  Nov 20   The Friars / One Church? Or Many?

Brentano 174-255 and 291-352

M Nov 27   [Quiz]  Bishops & Saints /The Written Church

Brentano 353-80; Lynch 308-51

[M Dec 4   Make-Up Test at 3:30-4:30 pm in HH151]

M  Dec 4   [Quiz]  Brentano's Two Churches Reconsidered / Crises of the Late Medieval Church

[Th Dec 7 Dead Day]

Study

Tu Dec 12 at 7:30 - 10:00 pm  FINAL EXAMINATION H4347/7000

W Dec 13 at 9:00am                Deadline for submitting rewritten papers.

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