TRENT DURHAM
UOIT Conlin Campus
Department of History
Fall 2015
HIST 1201H:Western Civilization from the Middle Ages to 1800
This course explores the political, social, economic and religious developments that
shaped Western European society ca. 1300-1789. Subjects addressed include the Middle
Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, as well as the Scientific Revolution,
Enlightenment and causes of the French Revolution.
Course Instructor
Dr. David Lawrence
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: TBA
Trent History Department
Trisha Gayle Pearce 705-748-1011, X7706
Course Times
Lecture Times: Monday 4:10pm – 6:00pm Room ERC1096
Seminar Times: Monday, 6:10pm – 7pm
Required Textbook
John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe: From Renaissance to the Age of Napoleon
(Vol. 1) Third Edition. W.W. Norton, 2009 (Merriman)
Weekly Seminar Readings can be found on the course website.
Evaluation criteria
Seminar Participation
Primary Source
Mid-Year Exam
Research Essay
Final Exam
Total
20%
15% (Due October 5)
10% (November 2)
25% (Due November 30)
30%
100%
Seminars and Assignments
Seminar Participation (20%)
Your participation grade is not strictly based on attendance, but rather on your
demonstrating that you have read the assigned readings by participating avidly in the
group discussions. Participation is evaluated for quality, rather than quantity. Be advised
that repeated absences will affect your participation grade.
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Primary Source Paper (15%) Due: Monday, October 5
Historians use both primary and secondary sources to understand the past, but the former
are materials directly from the period in question, where the latter have been generated in
subsequent years, and are written reflections about the period in question. For this
assignment you are to write on ONE of the three options below. The paper should be
1000 words in length (approx. four double-spaced pages) and you are not required to use
any sources other than your textbook, Merriman’s A History of Modern Europe and the
online readings from the History Sourcebook. A complete set of assignment instructions
and links to the online readings is available on the course website.
The assignment requires that you draw on the various primary source readings to answer
the question. Use Merriman or one of the Western Civilization survey texts on reserve in
the UOIT Library as a secondary source to provide historical background. Use either
footnotes or endnotes to correctly to identify the online articles and/or the pages from
Merriman. See the assignment handout for directions on footnoting. A variety of style
guides are available online through Bata Library at Trent or in the UOIT Library. Please
use these if you need further clarification on footnote/endnote style and the use of ibid.
For this assignment there is no need to include a bibliography.
Essay Choices
Question 1: The "Calamitous" 14th Century
Why has the 14th century been described as the “calamitous century? Address with
respect to the social, economic, religious or political turmoil that unsettled much of
Western Europe.
OR
Question 2: The Renaissance
The Renaissance transformed the way that Europeans understood their place in the world.
Explain what the “new learning”, the study of Latin and Greek, entailed and how it
ushered in a new way of thinking about man’s place in the world.
OR
Question 3: The Reformation
The Reformation challenged the authority of the Papacy and the Catholic Church and led
many Europeans to question long-held religious beliefs. Describe how some Europeans
used the reformation to challenge traditional secular and religious authority.
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Midterm Test: (10%) Monday, November 2. This 2-hour test will cover the material
up to and including Monday, October 19. There will be no seminars on the day of the
midterm.
Research Paper: (25%) Monday, November 30
The research paper allows you to be the historian, to reflect one of the topics provided by
the instructor during the first week of classes. You will be preparing a 2,000 word paper
(approx. 8 double-spaced pages). You are to draw on the online primary sources available
online
from
the
Internet
Medieval
Sourcebook
(http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/sbook.asp) and/or the Modern History Sourcebook
(http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/modsbook.asp) and a journal article as well as
Merriman’s Modern Europe.
The paper should have a cover page, with a title, and your name, student # and the date of
the assignment in the bottom right hand corner. You will also need to include a
bibliography (in correct form) as well as footnotes or endnotes in your paper. Please put
page numbers on your pages, with page 1 being the first page of text (not the cover page).
The assignment will require you to draw on your abilities to analyse primary sources that
will be part of your seminar experience during the term. All the sources for the paper will
be available online. Links to each will be posted on the course website.
Sources
Merriman’s Modern Europe provides a bibliography at the end of the book listing
monographs that may be of use, though you are not required to use sources other than
those listed on the assignment handout. The Trent Library website (Bata Library) has a
range of online books that can also be used for the paper
While web sources may be used, please make sure that you are careful in selecting
materials from the internet. Be very aware that there are good sources and bad sources;
and at times it seems there are many more bad internet sources than good. I recommend
you use internet sources accessible through the Trent Library website. Please DO NOT
USE Wikipedia as one of your sources. There are much better sources out there, so
please make use of them. You are free to read up on your topic in Wikipedia if you
should so desire, but it should not be cited as a source for the paper.
You MUST cite all of your sources in a bibliography at the end of the paper and you
must also use proper footnote and/or endnote style in the text of the paper. For help with
citations and with footnote/end style, please see the Chicago Manual of Style on the Trent
University Library and UOIT websites.
3
Final Examination (30%) TBA December 10-22
A three-hour exam drawing upon major themes from the lectures and seminars, and all
course readings will be offered in the Fall Trent exam period (10-22 December). The
exam will cover work from the entire term and students are expected to craft complete
identifications (who, what, when, where and significance) taken from the bold terms on
the weekly lecture outlines and complete two essays. Essay questions for the exam will be
taken from the questions that accompany each of the weekly lecture outlines. Students
will be expected to reference two (2) readings from the seminar in each of their essay
answers.
Course Goals
This first year course offers students an introduction to the history of Western European
civilization from the late medieval period to the French Revolution. Students will be
introduced to primary sources (documents from the time period being studied) during
seminars and use these sources to evaluate the social, political and religious changes that
shaped this period. The course seeks to improve the critical thinking, written and oral
skills via lectures and the seminar discussions. On completing the course, students should
have developed a basic understanding of how to analyse an historical document and how
to interpret and construct a historical narrative.
Course Policies
Deadline Policy
A hard copy of all written assignments is due at the beginning of class on the due date.
Later papers are penalized 1% per day (including weekends). E-mail submissions will be
accepted, but only after the due date.
Classroom Policy
Please refrain from using cellphones or playing computer games during class.
Computers should be used ONLY for taking notes. Please do not check emails and
Facebook accounts or play computer games during class time as it is distracting to the
students around you. Students failing to adhere to this policy will be asked to stop using
their electronic devices during class until they comply with this request.
Academic Integrity
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an
extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an
assignment to expulsion from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for
dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity
Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself - unfamiliarity with the policy is not
an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic Integrity website to
learn more at www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity
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Access to Instruction
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a
disability and documentation from a regulated health care practitioner and feels that he/she
may need accommodations to succeed in a course, the student should contact the Student
Accessibility Services Office (SAS) at the respective campus as soon as possible,
(Peterborough, Blackburn Hall, Suite 132, 705-748-1281 or email [email protected]
For Trent University –Durham, Thornton Road, Room 111 contact 905-435-5102 ext. 5024
or email [email protected]. Complete text can be found under Access to Instruction in
the Academic Calendar.
Lectures and Weekly Seminar Readings
Date
Monday, September 14
Lecture Titles
Introduction
Feudalism
Manorial Economy
Medieval Church
Merriman Readings
Merriman, pp. 3-16
Monday, September 28
Education in Medieval
Society
The Urban Economy
Merriman, pp. 34-45
Monday, October 5
Primary Source Paper Due
Monday, October 12
Humanism
Renaissance
Thanksgiving - No Class
Merriman, pp. 46-84
Monday, October 19
Reformation
English Reformation
Merriman, pp. 85-90, 97-122
Monday, October 26
Monday, November 2
Reading Week No Class
Mid-term test
Monday, November 9
Religious Wars
War of the Three Kingdoms
Realignment of States
Thirty Years War
Absolutism and the
Absolutist State
The Scientific Revolution
Enlightenment I
Monday, September 21
Monday, November 16
Monday, November 23
Monday, November 30
Research Paper Due
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Merriman, pp. 18-34, 90-97
Merriman, pp. 122-156, 191-121,
222-248
Merriman, pp. 156-191, 211-221
Merriman, pp. 261-288, 300-306
Merriman, pp. 311-350
Monday, December 7
Enlightenment II
France on the Eve of
Revolution
Merriman, pp. 369-387
Exam Period: December 1022
Seminar Readings
(All seminar readings can be found on the course website)
Monday, September 14 (No Seminar)
Monday, September 21 (Medieval World)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Statuta Armorum (The Statutes of Arms), c. 1260
William Clito, Charter of the Town of St. Omer, 1127
A Dispute Over Exaction of the Corvée, 1081
A Manorial Court (1246-1249)
Description of Manor House at Chingford, Essex (1265)
Monday, September 28 (Faith and Scholarship)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Jacques de Vitry: Life of the Students at Paris (active late 12th-early 13th century)
Courses in Theology (1271) and Medicine (1270-74)
Fourth Lateran Council: Canon 3 on Heresy (1215)
The Rule of the Franciscan Order, 1223
Boniface VIII: Unam Sanctum, 1302
Jan Hus: Final Declaration, July 1, 1415
Monday, October 5 ( Trade and the Humane Letters)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Accounts of Medieval Fairs & Markets (c. 998-1250)
Pope Innocent III: License to Venice to Trade With The Saracens (1198)
Southampton Guild Organization (14th Century)
Francesco Petrarch: Letters (c 1372)
Boccaccio on the Plague from the Decameron (1349)
Monday, October 12 Thanksgiving – No Class
Monday, October 19 (Renaissance World)
1)
2)
3)
4)
Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486)
Baldesar Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier [excerpts] (1528)
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince [excerpts] (1513)
Giorgio Vasari: Life of Leonardo da Vinci (1550)
Monday, October 26 – No Class Fall Break
Monday, November 2 (Mid-Term Test) No Seminar
Monday, November 9 (Reformations)
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1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Martin Luther, The 95 Theses (1517)
Sebastian Lotzer, Twelve Articles of the Peasants of Swabia (1525)
John Calvin, Draft of the Ecclesiastical Ordinances (1541)
English Parliament: The Act of Supremacy (1534)
St. Ignatius Loyola: Spiritual Exercises (1548)
Excerpts from the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-1563)
Monday, November 16 (Wars of Religion)
1) Da Thou: The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day (Aug. 24, 1572)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Christopher Columbus: Letter to the King and Queen of Spain (1494)
Bartolome de las Casas: A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1542)
Michel de Montaigne: On Cannibals (1580)
Hans Heberle: Documents from the Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
Destruction of Magdeburg, (1631)
Monday, November 23 (Absolutism)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan [excerpts] (1651)
Jean Domat: On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy (c. 1690s)
Edict ordering the demolition of the feudal castles in France (1626)
Louis XIV: Letter to the Town Officers and People of Marseilles (August 26, 1664)
Jean-Baptiste Colbert: Memorandum on Trade, (1664)
Monday, November 23 (Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment )
1) Nicolas Copernicus: From The Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies (1543)
2) Galileo Galilei: Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1615)
3) René Descartes: Discourse on Method [excerpts] (1637)
4) John Locke, Second Treatise on Government (State of Nature) (1690)
5) Voltaire: Letters on the English or Lettres Philosophiques (c. 1778)
6) Jean Jacques Rousseau, Social Contract [excerpts] (1763)
Monday, December 7 (Exam Review)
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