Course Requirements:

1. Midterm examination on Thursday, October 8. This will cover course material up to and including Thursday, October 1, and will consist of identifications and an essay. It will count for 25% of your final mark.

2. Term paper (details to be announced) due not later than Thursday, November 12. This will be approximately 7-10 pages (typewritten, double-spaced), and will count for 25% of your final mark.

3. Discussion Sections. These weekly meetings will be led by your graduate teaching assistant. You are all expected to prepare the assigned readings from the documentary textbooks (Rogers, Knoebel, and Thompson) and make an effort to enter into the discussions. Your section will be worth a total of 15% of your final mark.

4. Final Examination (date and time TBA) will consist of identifications, a short essay (based on discussion section readings), and a longer essay. This will count for 35% of your final grade.

Textbooks: (available at the bookstore)
 

Thomas Noble, et al., Western Civilization: The Continuing Experiment, Vol. 1 (Houghton Mifflin) [NOTE: A copy of the readings from Volume II of Noble assigned for the final lectures will be placed on reserve in the Gelman library]

Karl Thompson, ed., Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, 4th Edition, (Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich)

Edgar Knoebel, ed., The Modern World, 4th Edition, (Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich)

Perry M. Rogers, ed., Aspects of Western Civilization, Vol. 1, 3rd Edition (Prentice Hall)

Outline of Lectures and Required Readings:

Week of August 25: Western Europe after the Roman Empire: the "Barbarian Kingdoms and the Empire of Charlemagne

 
Noble, pp. 231-269, 288-290 for background; 285-288, 290-312
Rogers, pp. 210-220, 225-232, 238-253, 266-270, 316-318, 237-328, 332-336 for background; 285-293

Week of September 1: The Byzantine Empire and the Islamic World after A.D. 750
 

Noble, pp. 270-277, 280-284 for background; 277-280, 284-285, 324-341
Rogers, pp. 311-315, 319-324 for background; 318-319, 324-327

Week of September 8: The Emergence of Feudalism and the Revival of Western Europe
 

Noble, pp. 342-360, 408-411, 316-321
Rogers, pp. 294-302

Week of September 15: The Kingdoms of England, France and Spain
 

Noble, pp. 312-316, 368-376, 388-389, 406-408

Week of September 22: The Kingdom of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Papacy
 

Noble, pp. 321-324, 360-368, 376-378, 392-399, 406-409
Rogers, pp. 327-332

Week of September 29: Medieval Western Christianity
 

Noble, pp. 384-387, 411-418
Rogers, pp. 302-211, 337-343

Week of October 6: High Medieval Thought and Culture
 

Noble, pp. 378-383, 418-426, 430-431
Thompson, nos. 2-7, 10
Rogers, pp. 350-366

OCTOBER 8, MID-TERM

Week of October 13: The Breakdown of High Medieval Civilization
 

Noble, pp. 426-428, 435-471, 498-501
Thompson, nos. 9, 11, 13, 15
Rogers, pp. 344-350, 376-393

Week of October 20: The Renaissance in Italy
 

Noble, pp. 493-495, 511-529, 536-544, 508-509
Thompson, nos. 16-18, 20-21, 25-25
Rogers, p. 409-412, 414-419, 422-428, 430-433

Noble, pp. 473-493, 495-498, 501-507, 529-536, 547-479
Thompson, nos. 19, 22-23
Rogers, pp. 432-449

Week of November 3: The Protestant and Catholic Reformations to 1555

 
Noble, pp. 581-601
Thompson, nos. 30-32
Rogers, pp. 407-409, 456-458, 460-466, 471-485, 486-488

Week of November 10: The Wars of Religion, 1555-1648
 

Noble, pp. 601-615, 619-657
Thompson, nos. 26-27, 29
Rogers, pp. 485-486, 488-496

NOVEMBER 12, TERM PAPERS DUE

Week of November 17: Reason of State, Royal Absolutism, and Parliamentary Power
 

Noble, pp. 659-704
Knoebel, nos. 4, 7
Rogers, pp. 507-527

Week of November 24: The Scientific Revolution
 

Noble, Volume II, pp. 707-734 (on reserve)
Knoebel, nos. 1-3

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY, NOVEMBER 26

Week of December 1: Make-up Lectures and Review