HIST 5341 (32489):
TOPICS IN
MEDIEVAL HISTORY
Medieval
Military
History
W 7:00-9:50 pm
HH 111
|
HIST 5341 (32489):
TOPICS IN
MEDIEVAL HISTORY
Medieval
Military
History W 7:00-9:50 pm HH 111 |
|
TEACHER
John Howe
Office:
143 Holden Hall
Office Hours: MW 9:30-10:30;
Telephone:
834-7544
W 12-12:30 pm;
E-mail: john.howe@ttu.edu
W 9:40-10:15 pm;
Web:
http://myweb.ttu.edu/jhowe
and
by appointment
FAX:
742-1060
To survey the history of war in the Western Middle Ages, defined here not only
as military strategy and tactics but also "as the product of a whole cultural,
technical and economic environment" (Philippe Contamine,
War in the Middle Ages [1984], p.
xii). To survey the rapidly developing historiography of medieval warfare. To
provide graduate students with an important perspective on the overall
development of Western civilization in the Middle Ages.
Required Books
Bachrach, Bernard S., and David S. Bachrach. Warfare in Medieval Europe, c. 400-c. 1453. New York: Routledge, 2016 [to be published on September 28].
Kelly DeVries & Robert Douglas Smith.
Medieval Military Technology. 2nd edition. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2012.
David Nicolle. European Medieval Tactics
(1): The Fall and Rise of Cavalry, 450-1260. Oxford: Osprey Publishing,
2011.
David Nicolle. European Medieval Tactics
(2): New Infantry, New Weapons 1260-1500. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2012.
Charles D.
Stanton, Medieval Maritime Warfare.
Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Penn & Sword Books, 2015.
Class Attendance
Attend
class regularly. Difficult material will be analyzed in class, much of it
presented through student reports. Part of the course grade is based on class
participation, and you cannot participate if you are not present. If you must
miss more than three classes, you should not be enrolled.
Required Reading
Reading--a great deal of reading--is central to this graduate topics course. At
the end of this syllabus, the "Reading and Class Schedule" lists specific
readings to be completed for each class from required books, electronic
documents, or reading lists. Read all assignments on schedule because they are
the basis of student reports and class discussion.
Book Reviews
Over the
course of the semester, students will write nine
book reviews based upon books
chosen from the assigned reading lists. Each should not be much longer than two
double-spaced typed pages. These are due on the days indicated, and late
assignments are accepted only on rare occasions and only with good reason.
Students should be prepared to speak in class about the books they have reviewed.
Wikipedia, the largest reference work
on the internet, is an on-line encyclopedia with more than 5,200,000
English-language articles. It intends to be "a summary of human knowledge," not
a venue for original research. In contrast to standard reference books, its
articles are written by volunteers instead of designated experts. In practice,
these self-appointed authors are largely English-speaking, well educated,
technologically-aware young males, perhaps with too much time on their hands.
Wikipedia's coverage of the Middle
Ages is relatively weak: some of its medieval articles are "stubs" referring to
articles in non-English Wikipedias;
others are substantially "borrowed" from standard on-line sources such as the
early twentieth-century Catholic
Encyclopedia.
As an
assignment for this class you are asked to help improve Wikipedia's coverage of
medieval military history. Information on the mechanics of how to do this can be
found in a
Wikipedia tutorial on-line.
Either 1) write a new article on something related to medieval military history
(beginning a new subject, however, requires you to register as a user and to
gain approval for your subject from the editing board) or 2) make significant
revisions to an existing article (this is simpler to begin, but you will need to
document your specific work:
although a history of revisions can be
accessed on-line, it is easier to showcase your contribution if you submit your
changes to me by printing out the article "before" and then again "after" you
have finished). If you make changes that can be challenged, you should support
them with published and verifiable sources. For this assignment it is probably
easiest to choose to work on a relatively neglected subject, but not one too
neglected inasmuch as Wikipedia's
parameters require that each article's subject must be "notable" in some
significant media world. Editing more prominent and much debated articles,
especially ones that have been vandalized frequently or altered back and forth
in "edit wars," may require editorial approval before you are allowed to make
changes. This assignment should be completed by the start of class on Wednesday
November 30.
Movies?
Much of
what we think we know about history may be derived from film and other popular
media. Movies have often depicted medieval warfare, sometimes tendentiously. To
advance our knowledge it can be useful to confront cultural images directly. Four
films related to medieval military history will be screened at 7:00pm
on four evenings over the course of the semester:
King Arthur (2004), in HH 225 on
Thursday, Sept 22; The Vikings
(1958), on Thursday, Nov
10, in HH225; The War Lord (1965), on Tuesday,
Nov 29, in HH111; and Alexander Nevsky
(1938). on
Tuesday, Dec 6, in HH111. Students who attend at least two of these films and participate in the
discussions that follow will receive extra credit as indicated below.
Examination Essays
There are
no regularly scheduled examinations. However, on the basis of the required
readings for the course and the books reviewed in class, students will write two
essays (about 1000 to 1500 words each), due on the final exam day (Wednesday,
Dec
14), answering any two of the following questions:
1. An early fourth-century Roman army fights a comparably-sized early
fourteenth-century Western European army in a field battle. Which one will
win? Why?
2.
In warfare in the Latin West in the High Middle Ages,
which was more important: military efficiency? Or political, social, ideological, and
religious considerations?
3.
In the Middle Ages did the Latin Church change its
attitudes about the legitimacy of warfare and military pursuits?
4.
Did cavalry ever dominate the battlefields of the
medieval West?
5.
Did women play an important role in chivalric culture?
6.
Which is better described as societies organized for
war: the early medieval post-Roman kingdoms? Or the "feudal monarchies" of the
High Middle Ages?
These
essays will be easier to write if students, when reading their assignments and
when reviewing notes after class, enter relevant points into note files or data
bases devoted to each question. Then the "examination" becomes largely a matter
of organizing the data you have collected related to your two favorite
questions.
UNIVERSITY NOTICES
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." Academic integrity
violations are outlined in the Code of Student Conduct, Part X. B3 of the
Student Handbook. Because we
live in an imperfect world, these ideals have been undergirded with enforcement
mechanisms that mandate specific disciplinary outcomes for academic integrity
violations--see
TTU
Student Judicial Programs.
GRADING
The course grade will be computed as follows: 45% from the nine book reviews
(i.e. 5% from each); 15% from the
Wikipedia project; 30% from the two comprehensive essays (i.e., 15% from
each); and 10% from class participation. A possible additional 5% of extra
credit A can be earned by attending at least two of the film screenings and discussions.
The class participation grade is determined by attendance, class preparation,
and class contributions. At the end of the semester, each student will be
classified into one of three groups: 1) outstanding; 2) generally average; and
3) significantly below acceptable standards. In computing the course grade, the
first group gets the class participation component credited as an ‘A’; the
second group has the points removed from the averaging process (so they neither
help nor hurt); and the third group has them credited as an ‘F’.
W Aug 31 Introduction: The Study of Medieval Warfare
Nicolle I 1-8; DeVries 53-58, 115-22, 187-97;
General Reference Books (read the list to see what is available); reading
and review from List #1: Roman Warfare
W Sept 7
The Imperial Roman Army
Vegetius,
Military Institutions of the Romans
[FYI: Latin text]
[W Sept 14 Last day to declare
P/F, or to drop a course and receive an automatic W for courses dropped.]
W Sept 14 Ancient Military Theory
Reading from List #2: Early Christians and Warfare
W Sept 21 Early Christian Attitudes
toward Warfare
Nicolle I 10-12; Reading from
List #3:
Byzantine Warfare
[Th Sept 22
Optional Movie; King Arthur
at 7:00pm in HH225]
W Sept 28 Byzantine
Warfare
Nicolle I 12-33; DeVries 5-34, 58-66, 99-114; reading
List #4:
Early Medieval Warfare;
W Oct 5 Barbarian, Carolingian, and Anglo-Saxon Warfare
Reading from
List #5:
The Church and War
W Oct 12 The Church and Warfare
Charles Oman; Lynn White Jr.; Nicolle I 33-63; Bachrach(s) 1-153
W Oct 19 Infantry & Cavalry
DeVries 199-281;
Bachrach(s) 154-273
W Oct 26 Fortification and Sieges
Bachrach(s) 274-390
W Nov 2 Frontier
Warfare / Battles
List #8:
Chivalry / Tournaments
W Nov 9 Chivalry / Tournaments
[Th Nov 10 Optional Movie; The Warlord at 7:00pm in HH225]
DeVries 283-318; write book review
either on Stanton
W Nov 16 Naval Warfare
Nicolle II; finish Wikipedia
project
[W Nov 23
Thanksgiving Holiday]
[Tu Nov 29 Optional Movie:
The Vikings
at 7:00pm in HH111]
W Nov 30 New Infantry, New Weapons
List #10:
Late Medieval Warfare;
work on examination essays
[Tu Dec 6 Optional Movie;
Alexander Nefsky at 7:00pm in HH111]
W Dec 7 Toward National Armies
Finish Examination Essays
W Dec 14 at 7:30 pm Final deadline for submitting examination essays. These may be left under the door of HH143, or in the History Office, or submitted by email to John.Howe@ttu.edu.