Week 1:
Lecture 1 (Thursday 1/24)
The Roman world (download lecture slides)
Week 2:
Lecture 2 (Tuesday 1/29)
The late Roman empire (download lecture slides)
Reading: Rosenwein ch. 1; SB 1.3, 1.4, 1.10, 1.11
Rosenwein = Barbara Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages, Volume I: From c. 300 to c. 1150, 2nd ed.
SB = Barbara Rosenwein, ed., Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, Volume I.
No class (Thursday 1/31)
Cancelled due to instructor illness
Reading: Rosenwein, ch. 2
Week 3:
Lecture 3 (Tuesday 2/5)
Barbarian invasions and settlement (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 1.14; Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, book 2
Video (Thursday 2/7)
“Biography: Justinian”
Reading: SB 1.12, 1.13; Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, books 3 and 4
Week 4:
Lecture 4 (Tuesday 2/12)
Francia and Italy (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 1.16, 2.16; Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, books 5, 6, 7
Discussion 1 (Thursday 2/14)
Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks
Reading: Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks, books 8, 9, 10
Week 5:
Video (Tuesday 2/19)
Quiz 1 (late antiquity, Merovingians, Italy to 750)
“Islam, Empire of Faith” episode 1
Lecture 5 (Thursday 2/21)
The formation of Byzantium (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 2.1, 2.2
Week 6:
Lecture 6 (Tuesday 2/26)
Rise of Islam and Ummayad Caliphate, 622-750 (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 2.7, 2.9, 2.10
Lecture 7 (Thursday 2/28)
Muslim invasions and Byzantine resistance; Iconoclasm (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 2.3, 2.4, 2.5
Week 7:
Lecture 8 (Tuesday 3/4)
Anglo-Saxon England (download lecture slides)
Reading: Begin Beowulf
Video (Thursday 3/6)
Quiz 2 (early Islam, Umayyads, Byzantium to 787)
“In Search of Ancient Ireland”
Week 8:
Lecture 9 (Tuesday 3/11) (download lecture slides)
Early Irish society and the Irish church
Reading: Life of Columbanus by Jonas (online text)
Discussion 2 (Thursday 3/13)
Beowulf
Reading: Finish Beowulf
Week 9:
Lecture 10 (Tuesday 3/18)
The Carolingian World (download lecture slides)
Reading: Rosenwein, ch. 3; Einhard, Life of Charlemagne
Lecture 11 (Thursday 3/20)
Latin Christian culture: center and periphery (download lecture slides)
Paper 1 due in class today
Spring Break 3/24-28 No classes
Week 10:
Discussion 3 (Tuesday 4/1)
Lives of Charlemagne
Preparation: Read Notker, Life of Charlemagne; review Einhard, Life of Charlemagne
Video (Thursday 4/3)
Quiz 3 (Ireland, England, Carolingians)
“The Vikings” episode 1
Week 11:
Lecture 12 (Tuesday 4/8)
The Viking Age: the West (download lecture slides)
Reading: Rosenwein chapter 4, SB 4.18
Lecture 13 (Thursday 4/10)
The Viking Age: the East (download lecture slides)
Week 12:
Lecture 14 (Tuesday 4/15)
The Slavic world (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 3.5, 3.6
Lecture 15 (Thursday 4/17)
Kievan Rus (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 4.11
Week 13:
Lecture 16 (Tuesday 4/22)
The Abbasids (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 3.2, 3.11, 4.1
Lecture 17 (Thursday 4/24)
Muslim Spain (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 3.12, 3.13, 3.14
Week 14:
Lecture 18 (Tuesday 4/29)
Byzantine resurgence (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 3.3, 4.2
Lecture 19 (Thursday 5/1)
Byzantine resurgence 2 (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 4.7, 4.8
Paper 2 due in class today
Week 15:
Lecture 20 (Tuesday 5/6)
The tenth century (download lecture slides)
Reading: SB 4.3, 4.13, 4.14
Discussion 4 (Thursday 5/8)
Travel and commerce in the early medieval world
Prepare to discuss SB 2.2, 3.2, 3.3, 3.11, 4.13
Week 16:
Conclusion (Tuesday 5/13)
Quiz 4 (Vikings, Byzantium to 1000, Slavic world, 10th century Europe)