HS 151: History of Europe from
the Fall of
(
Instructor: Dr. Joseph A. Stumpf,
HU 274. Office Hours: MWF 9:55-10:55 I may be
reached by email (joseph.stumpf@montgomerycollege.edu) or by phone (240-567-7280)
The Class: HS 151 is an inquiry into the foundations of Western
civilization and its progress up to the 17th century. We will focus on areas such as the background
and the legacy of the ancient world, the distinctive medieval world view, the
creation of new social and religious ideals during the Renaissance and
Reformation, relationships between cultural and political institutions, the
growth of absolutism and constitutionalism, and artistic and literary
creativity.
Outcomes:
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On the completion of the
course, students should be able to |
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1. |
Describe and provide
reasons for the divergent fates of the eastern and western |
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2. |
Understand the historical
and theological reasons for the spread of Christianity as well as the growing
divisions within it from the 4th century to the Protestant
Reformation. |
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3. |
Students should be familiar
with the historical context for the creation of Islam, the basic
characteristics of the new faith and the nature of its development as well as
its role in preserving a significant portion of Roman and Greek learning. |
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4. |
Trace the evolution of
phenomena such as monasticism and feudalism which were key
to the Medieval world view. |
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5. |
Describe and provide
reasons for the rise of certain nation states (such as |
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6. |
Comprehend to what extent
the Renaissance represents a rebirth of Classical Antiquity, to what extent a
continuation of Late Medieval developments, and to what extent an entirely
new ideal. |
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7. |
Speak to the intellectual,
governmental and economic developments which led to the discovery of the New
World and how this discovery affected |
To put this more generally, the
student is expected to gain familiarity with the broad trends of Medieval and
Renaissance history and be conversant in the factors, geographic, cultural and
individual that both characterized these ages and led toward the modern
world. They will be responsible for a
basic geographic knowledge, in addition to the key historical figures and
events, and will be expected to think critically about cause and effect in
history, and about the relative value of historical sources.
Attendance: Although much of the material can be had from the
books, I do not recommend skipping classes with the idea that you can simply
find all the subject matter in the books.
Much will be presented in class that is not found in the texts and vice
versa, and you will be responsible for all of it. In a MWF class, I consider more than three
absences to be excessive and detrimental to your grade. If you foresee missing class for some reason,
please talk to me beforehand and if I believe the excuse legitimate I may
excuse the absence. If you are ill, I
will excuse the absence provided you furnish a valid medical excuse. I will not give out notes or lesson plans to
those who were absent, excused or not.
You will have to make arrangements with a classmate to get the class
notes. Lateness, especially chronic
lateness, is disruptive and will be noted.
If you anticipate problems in arriving to class on time, come talk to me.
Perhaps something can be arranged.
Academic Honesty:
It is expected that the work
you turn in as your own is your own. Cheating on exams or quizzes will not be
tolerated and will result in an automatic F on the exam or quiz in
question. Plagiarized papers will suffer
a similar fate. Not only are they
pointless, but they are often only mediocre work, which, with a little
application, you could easily surpass.
Moreover, they are very easy to detect.
Don’t try it.
Classroom Conduct:
I expect a Civilization class
to be civilized. Be polite and courteous
and listen to the opinions of your classmates without interrupting them (even
if you violently disagree with what they’re saying). Insults or cursing are unacceptable: we may
be covering the barbarian invasions, but we don’t have to act them out. One other note: Please make sure your cell phones, pagers,
etc. have been turned off. Unless that’s
Charlemagne or Haroun al-Rashid on the phone, we
don’t want to hear it.
Support Services:
A student who may need an
accommodation due to a disability should make an appointment to see me during
my office hours. A letter from
Disability Support Services (
Those students who do not feel comfortable writing in the
English language may wish to avail themselves of the
service provided in the Writing and
Grades: There will be a total of 300 earnable points possible
in the course. Thus 270-300 points
received will be an A, 240-269 a B, 210-239 a C, 180-209 a D. There will be no curve. Grades will consist of a midterm examination
(worth 80 points), a map quiz (10 points), a paper (80 points) and a final exam
comprised of identifications and essays (100 points). Twenty points will be reserved for short take
home assignments or else a pop quiz. The
remaining ten points are awarded at my discretion and will reflect attendance
and class participation. Late papers
will be docked a letter grade. Papers
more than one week late will not be accepted.
Cancellation of Classes: Classes
may be cancelled in the event of (very) inclement weather, but only if the
school as a whole closes. If you do not
hear of this, assume that the class is being held. If for some reason I am
unable to hold class, I will do my best to let you know in advance.
Texts: CW = Mark Kishlansky,
Patrick Geary, Patricia O’Brien, Civilization
in the West, Volume One to 1715, 6th Edition. Other readings may be assigned in the course
of the semester. One of the best places
to look for primary source material is the Fordham University Website:
www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
Provisional schedule of readings
1. M Jan. 26: Introduction.
2. W Jan. 28: The
3. F Jan. 30: The Third Century Crisis (CW 164-69)
S Feb.
1: Last day
to drop class with refund.
4. M Feb. 2: Diocletian
(CW 169-71)
5. W Feb. 4: Christianity up to
6. F Feb. 6:
7. M Feb. 9: The Fall of the West (CW 179-85)
8. W Feb. 11:
9. F Feb. 13: Introduction to Islam (CW 188-89, 199-204)
S Feb.
15: Last
day to drop without grade or switch credit/audit status.
10. M Feb. 16: The Islamic Conquests (CW 204-207)
11. W Feb. 18: The Divisions and Legacies of Islam (CW
207-10)
12. F Feb. 20: The Germanic Kingdoms (CW 222-29)
13. M Feb. 23: Monasticism
(CW 176-78)
14. W Feb. 25: Feudalism (CW 256-60)
15. F Feb. 27: Charlemagne, the Carolingians and the
16. M Mar. 2: Vikings, Varangians
and Early
17. W Mar. 4: The Norman and Plantagenet Kings of
18. F Mar. 6: The Capetian Kings
of
19. M Mar. 9: Later
20. W Mar. 11: The Crusades
(CW 266-270)
F Mar. 13:
Midterm Examination
21. M Mar. 23: The High Middle Ages I: The Growth of Towns and the Decline of
Feudalism (CW 270-75)
22. W Mar. 25: The High Middle Ages II: Religion, Philosophy, Art and Literature (CW 260-66, 275-79).
23. F Mar. 27: The Mongols (CW 268-69)
24. M Mar. 30: The Black Death (CW 301-08)
25. W Apr. 1: The Hundred Years War (CW 297-301)
26. F Apr. 3: Tamerlane, The Fall of
27. M Apr. 6: Developments in the Holy Roman Empire and the
28. W Apr. 8: The Renaissance and the Spread of Humanism
(CW 315-30)
29. F Apr. 10: The Renaissance in Art, Literature and
Philosophy (CW 336-41; 390-96)
30. M Apr. 13: The Crisis in the Catholic Church (CW 308-15)
31. W Apr. 15: Luther and the Reformation (CW 393-409)
32. F Apr. 17: Reformation and Counter-Reformation (CW
409-16)
S
Apr. 19: Last day to drop class with “W”
33. M Apr. 20: 16th Century
34. W Apr. 22: 16th Century
35. F Apr. 24: The Reconquista (CW
245-47, 360-61, 377-79)
36: M Apr. 27: The Age of Exploration I (CW 356-66).
Papers are due.
37. W Apr. 29: The Age of Exploration II
38. F May 1:
Charles V and the Golden Age of
39. M May 4:
The 30 Years War (CW 437-46)
40. W May 6:
Insurance
41. F May 8:
Insurance
W May 13: Final
Examination (8-10 AM). Unless you
hear otherwise, the exam will be held in the regular classroom.
Paper Assignment:
Write a five to seven page
essay on one of the following topics.
The essay should directly address the questions at hand and provide as
many specifics as appropriate. This is
not a research paper and you are not required to use any sources other than
your textbooks and class notes, but, of course, I will permit you to use other
books (preferably) or websites (grudgingly), provided they are properly
credited and cited.
1. Compare the manner in which the two great proselytic western religions, Christianity and Islam,
spread. What cultural and historical
factors lay behind their successes?
2. Write a paper addressing the legacy of the
Classical world of Greco-Roman Antiquity (especially
3. Compare the developments of the countries of
Professor Stumpf’s
Top Ten Grammatical and Stylistic Pet Peeves:
1.
Spelling! Spellcheck
is not sufficient! The English language
has an endless supply of homonyms and confusing words. Make sure your prose is saying what you want
it to say.
There and their.
The second marks a possessive.
“There
is a Redskins football game on tonight.
It is in their home stadium.”
Than and then. The first
marks a comparative. “More than...” “Greater than…” The second marks a change in time. “First she does this, then
she does that.”
Weather and whether. The second is
an adverb.
“I will go out whether
or not the weather is good.
2. Possessives. Apostrophes are used, among other things, for
marking something as possessive. “John’s books.” “Graciela’s new car.”
“The
3. Subjunctive
voice. Fairly rare in English, but you
should still know it. This is used in
sentences which do not state something as fact, but as a conditional possibility. “If he gets an ‘A’
in Biology, then he would [not will] be able to graduate.” Also note the use of “were” instead of
“was.” “If I were a rich man….” “He’d be a basketball star, if he were
a foot taller.”
4. Split
infinitives. I’m an old fashion stickler
for these. With all due regard to “Star
Trek”, but the
5. Subject-verb
agreement. Make sure plural nouns get a
plural verb, singular nouns a singular verb.
“The death of millions of men, women, and children in
epidemics of contagious diseases causes [not cause] immeasurable stress on a
society.”
6. Appropriate
relative pronouns and modifiers.
Not “The girl that married me.” but “The girl who married me.”
Not “Kings which kill their own subjects” but “Kings who kill
their own…”
7.
Constructions which are not parallel.
Once you have started a clause using a particular grammatical
construction, you must maintain the construction through the entire sentence.
Wrong: “I love
swimming, hiking, biking, and to dance.”
Right: “I love swimming, hiking,
biking, and dancing.”
8. Avoid
contractions (“isn’t”, “doesn’t”, “won’t”, etc.) in formal writing.
9. As a general
stylistic rule, avoid starting sentences with “however.” This and other such words are “postpositive”, that is best placed after an opening clause.
“However, Napoleon soon realized his mistake” would be better as
“Napoleon, however, soon realized his mistake.”
10. Avoid
colloquial expressions. This means that
casual conversational phrases are best left out of formal papers.
Bad: “Caesar
was a little late crossing the Rubicon, but Pompey was pretty scared anyway cause he knew that Caesar was, like, crazy smart.”
Better: Almost
anything would be better. Perhaps something like “Caesar was delayed crossing the Rubicon,
but Pompey was fearful nonetheless, knowing Caesar’s abilities.”
A
note on plagiarism and proper citation.
In case anyone is unclear
on the concept, plagiarism is attempting to pass off another’s research, ideas
and writing as one’s own. If you write a
paper telling me that
It is not only obscure facts that require citation. If you decide that another author has expressed an idea better that you could, you may quote (with recessed margins and single spacing) that author, again providing a citation: (Robertson 75). Quoting an author without this acknowledgement is plagiarism. In any case, quoting is generally overdone, and it is better for you to “paraphrase” a source. In such a case, you put the ideas of your source in your own words.
Example:
It is thought that Cleisthenes may have acted in concert with the
Spartan king Cleomenes to overthrow the tyranny of
Hippias in
This might be paraphrased
Some think that Cleisthenes invited the Spartan ruler Cleomenes to help remove Hippias, the tyrant of
If the idea or hypothesis expressed is a novel one that the average reader probably would not have thought of for him or herself, then you should cite a source, regardless of whether you have quoted or paraphrased.
Simply cutting and pasting material from books or web sites does not count as original work.