The Story of the Middle Ages

Week 12: Exam Review


Hi everyone!

This will be the last blog post for our unit! :( No need to worry about commenting this week, the information here is just to help you continue preparing and revising for the exam.

Before I get started with my exam revision tips please do take a moment to click on the following link and fill in the attached survey on the tutorial blogs. Clare and I would really value your feedback on the blog aspect of this course we have tried this year. This is the first year we have incorporated blogs into the unit and your feedback will help us improve any online teaching component included in future years. Please go on and have your say!

Click here to take survey

Remember that the exam for our unit will be held next Wednesday (May 23rd) at our usual lecture time of 10am. You will have two hours to write a 1000 word essay on the given exam question and primary source extracts. If you are unable to attend our exam time you can also write the exam at Clayton (on Monday, May 21st at 10am), or email Clare to request an alternate sitting.

In preparing for the exam you may wish to......


- Look over the mock test on Blackboard – practice creating an essay outline
- Look over all lecture notes
- Review primary sources: chronology, thematic significance, relationships between texts
- Remember your document analysis skills: The 5 ‘W’ Questions
- Create a timeline of sources
- Review key themes and how they are connected

For fun I've pasted a couple of links below to some quirky youtube history videos. One of your classmates discovered them and brought them to my attention. To me they contain the right mixture of humour, fun and geekiness that history is all about! As a revision exercise watch these videos and see what interpretations you agree with, and which you don't. Why do you agree with some and perhaps not others? What have you learned in our course to help you support or critique the arguments presented in these videos? For instance I think he's missing the boat big time on the backwardness of Europe during the 'Dark Ages' but that video is a great intro into understanding what was happening in other parts of the world during the European Middle Ages. I hope you enjoy! There are loads of videos in the series but I've just pasted three here that I think are particularly relevant to us.

The Crusades

The 'Dark' Ages

The Rise of Christianity

Finally, as another revision exercise, I've included a medieval image below that is quite famous. Using your knowledge of the Middle Ages learned in our course what could you tell someone about the Middle Ages from looking at this image? What key themes and concepts does it combine?

God the Geometer - Codex Vindobonensis 2554
French, c.1250

I wish everyone the best of luck with the exam and your future history endevours! If anyone has any last-minute questions about any of the course material please let me know via email.

All the best,

Diana

The Black Death: Europe in the Later Middle Ages

Hi everyone,

Before beginning this week's blog post I've been asked to pass along a message from Clare.

Dear Students,

You will have received en email from SETU (Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units), inviting you to evaluate ATS 1316. Please do so! We really want to know what you think.

These surveys are taken extremely seriously by the University. They are used when staff members apply for promotion, or for other jobs. They are also used to make changes to the units for next year, drawing on student comments. These blogs, for example, emerged out of comments by students that they sometimes felt disconnected during first year. Hence, we have tried to build community and encourage your readings by running these blogs.

So let us know what you think of the unit. YOU ARE VERY POWERFUL!

Many thanks, Clare

 ...

Week 11: Famine and Disease: The Calamitous 14th Century - Tutorial Discussion Post

By: Alice, Blair, Lachlan, Briana and Kristina

Lachlan's thoughts,

Florence had a wool monopoly within its region, being the central trading point for the surrounding area. It was a political powerhouse and through this influence took over the woolen cloth industry, importing and exporting along many major trade routes. 

Venice, with its extensive networks of canals was perfect for both naval trade and ship building. They were as such capable of centralizing ship building. This brought more trade to them and made them the home port for many a ship. From this natural extension was an increase in trading power as they had the capacity to become the centre of the medieval naval world at this time. They, as such, had the biggest commercial maritime structure in the Middle Ages. 
The increase of trade in both areas lead to an ever-rising population, with a greater multitude of jobs becoming available and people being capable of finding passage to the area. The sailors who docked also allowed for the expansion of things such as brothels and taverns. All of this led to an increase of refuse within the area. The water and structures within Venice lead to an easy living area for rats, this, combined with the natural weather-effects in both these areas lead to a breeding ground for disease, thus the close living quarters allowed for the rapid spread of plague not only within these cities but also to and from the cities they traded with. 

Florence in the later Middle Ages

Venice in the 14th Century

Alice's thoughts,

Margaret L King’s chapter from ‘The Renaissance in Europe’ discusses the revolutionary events occurring in Italy during the twelfth and thirteenth centuires. The flourishing economical, societal and educational state of northern Italy meant that ‘ordinary’ people were living very well off and the wool trade in Florence and the shipping and trading industry in Venice allowed for steady influx of wealth and structure in society. 
These thriving conditions led to an immense population boom during this stage; the walls of Florence, arranged in ‘rings’, show that, between 1000-1350, the area of the city had increased to six times the size in this relatively short period.

Revolutionary figures (especially writers and Jurists) were also beginning to emerge, setting the foundation for the coming Renaissance and influencing the general attitudes of the population. The center of intellectual culture and arts moved from the affirmation of Christian values to the interests of the people and rulers.

However, the fall of Republican society to despots and the onslaught of the Black Death in summer 1348 meant that the once-thriving society was rapidly overcome with death.

King talks about the origins of the plague; it was interesting to see that ironically it was the booming trade that was responsible for the transmission of the disease as infected rats and fleas were brought from Asia into Italy via the fleets of trading ships.

Their many attempts to control outbreak were to no avail as their lack of understanding of the plague and infection rendered doctors and citizens helpless. King highlights the corrupting effect on humanity that the widespread death and sickness had and her inclusion of primary literature sources from the few writers still operating at the time convey these feelings of hopelessness and depression.

King also talks about the disruption caused by the Black Death to the role of art and literature in society. Up until around 1350, these fields were flourishing and expanding, however, after the plague first struck no innovations in art were made until after 1400. Prominent writers from the early 14^th century, Petrarch and Boccaccio, survived the first few epidemics and continued to write until their deaths in 1374/1375, which influenced a new group of literary icons around 1400 and renewed the growth of intellectual movement and the Renaissance.

The Black Death

Blair's thoughts,

Florence and Venice were two of the largest and wealthiest city-state republics within Europe during the mid to late medieval period. Both relied upon roaring manufacturing industries, although of respectively different origins, and both had distinctly unique political structures.

Florence, located in northern modern-day Italy, was a city that thrived on wool and banking. The Florentines acted as 'tax collectors' for the Catholic Church for centuries, and this saw the rise of the Florentine banking trade. Although it was not until Papal forces defeated an Imperial uprising in Italy, and annexed the Two Sicilies from the previous Hohenstaufen Dynasty, that wool from this region became readily available to Papally aligned Florence. This saw a boom in Florentine wool refinement, making products like silks and cloths and exporting them all over Europe, East and West and provide the foundations for a thriving, manufacturing driven city-state.

The Florentine Political structure was comprised of 'Guilds', essentially modern day Trade Unions. Among the professions considered in the upper echelon – the Arti Maggiori - of the guild structure were two pertaining to the wool trade, the 'Calimala' (exporters) and the 'Lana' (producers). Also in this upper category where the Guilds of Bankers, Judges, Physicians, Silk Merchants and Furriers. The next echelon comprised 14 Guild professions, and included Blacksmiths, Bakers, Butchers, wine sellers and the like.

From this two tiered Guild system, 9 representatives were instilled for a 2 month period at a time – so no one man could gain too much power and become a quasi king. 6 of the Representatives were drawn from the top tier of Guilds, and three from the bottom tier.

Although this appears democratic, in actual fact the system was rife with corruption. A group of a few hundred powerful men known as the 'Ogliarchs' controlled elections and channelled policy direction. These men also rigged the supposedly 'random' selection of representatives of the Guilds, meaning the Ogliarchs could maintain control.

Interestingly, in 1378, the unrepresented 'Ciompi', the wool workers who had no Guild alignment, staged an uprising against the Ogliarchs, demanding a third tier of Guilds, in which they would be represented. The Ciompi gained political status, with three Guilds set up in their name and instilled various liberties among Florentine citizens, but they were crushed only 10 years later and eliminated from political life.

Venice, located in north eastern modern-day Italy, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, gained independence from the Byzantine Empire in around 1000CE. Venice became a genuinely flourishing and prospering city-state, based hugely on Trade, but more importantly, Ship Building.

Because Ship Building was so important to the Venetian economy, many Noblemen became Merchants who oversaw this construction to make money, while also being involved in government activity. In 1297, these Noblemen who made up the 'Grand Council' voted that from then on, only descendants of their family could be instilled into the Council (which was the Venetian Government), creating a hereditary government instillment process – essentially a monarchy.

Two uprisings where staged against the government in Venice, in 1310 and 1354 respectively, but these where quashed easily. Although, the first did give rise to the 'Council of Ten' who were in charge of security over Venice, under the ruling Government.

This “Artificial Nobility” as described in the reader (which I find bizarre, because when in history has a nobility or monarchy not been manufactured or invented?) continued until the 1640's, when wealthy individuals could buy their way into the ruling elite. The group managed to run what is described as “the most serene republic” for centuries, giving their citizens a great deal of respect, with no wars, judicial transparency and fairness and low taxation. This political structure allowed Venice to last until 1797, one of the the last surviving city states of the Medieval period. 


Briana's thoughts,
The extract from Petrarch's Letter to Posterity indicates quite a pessimistic sense of his legacy.

Firstly, he begins the letter with "you may perhaps have heard something about me- although it is doubtful that my poor little name may travel far in space and time." By the end of the first sentence he has already played down his importance and continues to do so throughout the rest of the work by referring to his work as texts the reader "may have vaguely heard of," himself as a normal man, and his speech as weak and obscure.

Secondly, he doesn't mention any of his accomplishments. A man who was confident in the importance of his achievements would mention them in his autobiography. Petrarch, however, talks about how he was like other people by talking about his youth, old age and interests. This implies a sense that, to Petrarch, his works may not be so significant and what really is important  about him is his similarity to everyone else.

However, the fact that he bothered to write a autobiography at all could be an indicator that he does think his work will be of significance in the future and all the talk about how his work may not survive is a way to make writing about himself seem more humble.

Do you think that Petrarch has a pessimistic or optimistic view based on his autobiography?

Kristina's thoughts,

This section focuses on Margaret King’s understanding of the Black Death in her book The Renaissance in Europe and how the other documents featured in her text and in our reader reflect her knowledge of it.

King’s knowledge of the Plague is realistic and provides very factual information about this topic, such as where it began, the rapid spread of the disease, widespread death and the lack of medical knowledge of the medieval doctors. In her writings she uses the famous description of the plague from the Decameron, written by Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian humanist, poet and author in the early 1300s.  This particular piece of writing further expands what King is saying as it reveals a time of desperation in humanity, to the point of corruption in the human spirit as a result of the rapidly spreading disease and seemingly inescapable death. However, Boccaccio’s writings indicate that the Black Death would bring about a new generation of literary figures, but scholars believe this is not the case, as they only started emerging only after the Plague had subsided and after the death of Boccaccio and Petrarch, around 1390.

There are also a few other accounts from sources in the reader, many of them demonstrating the European population’s lack of understanding of what was actually occurring. Three articles in particular were significant. The first article states there were frogs raining from the sky, the second is a list of preventative and protective measures against the plague, which recommends such absurd things as to avoid bathing. The third was a letter from the Bishop of Bath and Wells which expresses the idea that he thinks God is punishing humanity. These separate documents display how medieval Europeans perceived reality at that time and show how little they really knew about the Plague, thus extending on King’s understanding of the Black Death.

The Black Death

The Sack of Constantinople and Later Crusading

Week 10: Courtly Culture and Literature in the Middle Ages/Later Crusading
Tutorial Discussion Post
By: Bede, Rafael, Martin, James and Caitlin


Bede's thoughts,
Love does not seem to be something you would associate with the slaughter and invasion of the crusades. However, Jonathan Riley-Smith presents an argument that crusading was viewed as a way of demonstrating love for Christ as well as a fraternal love for fellow Christians. There was a lot of propoganda permeated throughout the West that urged people to take up the cross as a duty to Christ and impose guilt upon those who did not. It was the least you could do to repay the agony he had gone through on the cross. Crusaders were expected to love God above even their own families and to die honourably for him in the fight against pagans and heretics if need be. Due to the feudal system being particularly dominant during the 12th and 13th centuries, advocates of courtly love referred to Christ as King or Lord to give lay people a sense of obligation to crusade.

What was ironic about Crusader propoganda was that it conflicted with Christian values such as 'love thy neighbour'. While Christians were encouraged to harbour a love for their fellow Christians, they were made to hate their enemies. St Augustine avoided this hypocrisy by arguing that killing pagans and heretics was ridding them of their sinful lives and actually a form of merciful love. He compared it to parents punishing their children out of love for them. Augustine also asserted that, by allowing the sins of their neighbours to be committed, Christians were in fact sinning themselves. The hatred of the enemy was apparently outweighed by the service done to Christ by dispatching them and by a need to protect fellow Christians from the evils of heresy and paganism.

Although love of God and fellow Christians spurred crusaders on, there appears to have been a xenophobic hatred of the enemy that was promoted by the clergy.

Crusaders arriving at Constantinople

...

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment with this week's blog post and highlight a couple of links you all may find interesting. 

Firstly, you may wish to check out the online access to an exhibit currently being held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It is entitled 'The Romance of the Middle Ages' and I think may be interesting to check out especially as this week in lecture we will be learning all about courtly love and culture during the Middle Ages. Part of my own work involves the study of courtly love so I couldn't resist telling you all about this!

http://medievalromance.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/romance-home 

Exhibition Poster

Secondly, here is a link to the medieval and renaissance courses Monash offers in November-December of every year in Prato, Italy. Clare mentioned them in our last lecture and I've posted the link here for anyone who wishes to find out more information. Who doesn't love Italy right?

http://www.asatours.com.au/cc21212-monash-renaissance-florence/1405-cc21212-monash-florence-overview

http://www.ita.monash.edu/study/non-monash.html

All the best,

Diana

Francis & Dominic: The Rise of the Mendicant Orders

Week 9: Francis and Dominic - Poverty and City Life: Tutorial Discussion Post            

By: Paul and Amber

Paul's thoughts,

In Celano's account of St. Francis' life, it can be at times hard to read it like you would a modern biography, giving a very one-eyed look at his life. But this is in part because it was written shortly after his death, and as a new saint. However, it gives a good insight into his life, or his perceived life, giving an ideal look at a saint, possibly the ideal look of a man in the Christian sense. Francis is portrayed as fanatically Christian in this. He and his followers practiced mortification of their bodies, and placed themselves in stress positions to keep from falling out of concentration or asleep during prayer. However, the other view you get of Francis is of an intensely loving man, loving of everyone and thing around him, in a very evangelical Christian sense, trying to preach to everyone and everything. This includes an Egyptian Sultan during a Crusade and animals.

In Celano's text, there is a large focus on Francis' relationship with the natural world, and in particular, birds. He writes about Francis’ famed way with animals, reporting that they would listen to him preaching the gospels and also that they would be calm around him, as if actually listening. It's explained that he acted and believed it was as important as if he was preaching to people, seeing animals as other creatures of God, reasoning that they too should be able to listen to the word of God. I thought this was actually a very modern idea, like the early animal rights movement but with a heavily Christian motivation.

Le Goff’s article mainly focuses on Francis’ life and the increasing urbanisation of the period. In it he argues that the urbanism helped to make Francis’ order possible, allowing his preaching and lifestyle, and making them able to reach a large audience in the towns and cities. However, this was also a danger as similar movements, like the Waldensians, had been accused of heresy by the Papacy as a result mainly of ‘taking over one of the monopolies of the clergy, namely preaching’.

St Francis preaching to the birds - by Giotto

St Dominic

Amber's thoughts

Both Saint Francis (1181 – 1226) and Saint Dominic 1170 – 1221) were

born during a time of prosperity for Medieval Europe.  With a massive

increase in population, land clearances and advancement in farming

were beginning to make life in Western Europe a little easier.  Groups

of people were beginning to form villages that usually centred around

a church or castle and the urbanisation movement began.  These new

urban villages were centres for culture, the economy and politics but

these people also needed a change from the sometimes uneducated and

unmotivated teachings of the church and this is where the Franciscan

and Dominican orders emerged.

The Franciscans

St. Francis preached the rewards and virtues of a religious life and

soon gained followers.  They were to live among the people and own no

possessions as he insisted on complete poverty.  The Franciscans sought

to imitate the life of Christ and this appealed to many lay people.

His charismatic manner and appreciation of the natural world and

equality within the human world also appealed to many lay people and

attracted women followers such as a St. Clare of Assisi.  Although at

the time it was not seen a right for women to travel around the

countryside a preach St. Francis did not believe in these social

restrictions and gave them the same rule as the men.  Although he was

not successful and the women who followed him were confined and made

to follow St. Benedict’s Rule.

The Dominicans

Dominic Guzman a Spanish priest started the Dominican order.  They

were an order that revolved around education and the control of Cathar

Heresy and travelled from town to town engaging Cathar leaders in

public debate. They formed a base in Toulouse and followed the Rule of

St. Augustine.  Then in 1217 St. Dominic gave orders to his followers

to travel through Europe and infiltrate the Universities.  Unlike the

Franciscan order women who wanted to follow The Dominicans were

subject to strict enclosure in accordance to St. Dominic’s beliefs.

*** Lecture Recording Problems ***

Hi everyone

There have been some problems with the lecture recordings for Week 7. Please note the following message from Clare. If anyone is writing their essay topic on Week 7 and missed the lecture please let me know asap as I may be able to meet with you to go over the material.

'Unfortunately the audio of the week 7 lectures have not been recorded. The slides are available, however, on both MULO and Blackboard. I am very sorry for the inconvenience, but sometimes technology does fail. I know that some of you have clashes and need to rely on the recordings. I would urge, however, those of you who can attend the lectures to do so, because that is the only absolutely guaranteed way that you have of hearing the material'


Any questions or concerns at all please just let me know.

All the best,

Diana

Early Crusading

Week 8: Early Crusading - Tutorial Discussion Post


Hi everyone!

Remember that this week we will not be having lectures or tutorials due to the ANZAC day public holiday. However, you are all expected to comment on this blog post and your comments this week will form your participation mark for the week.

A couple of quick notes before I get into the topic for this week.

1) You may have noticed that I have set up a poll on the right-hand bar of the blog on the library tutorial. I would be extremely grateful if you could take a second to vote on how useful (or not) you found the library tutorial I ran in Week 6. This will help me improve my lesson in future years and will also provide myself and Clare with valuable feedback on the usefulness of the library tutorial in general.

2) Week 9 presenters - remember that your blog post is due (emailed to me) by 12pm, Thursday April 26th
.........

Right! On to the Crusades!

I know that we have already had a lecture on the First Crusade but we have yet to have an opportunity to discuss it. Now is the time! Our readings for this week, you'll have noticed, consist of a number of accounts of Pope Urban II's speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095 in which he put out the call for the First Crusade. Our secondary source is an article by Christopher Tyerman on the development of the Crusading ideal and how it was intertwined with European society at the time. Christopher Tyerman is a leading historian of the Crusades and later this term we will be introduced to the work of another expert, Jonathan Riley-Smith.

I'd like everyone to focus this week on the tutorial discussion questions in the reader when considering their comments as I think the questions are quite comprehensive. I've added a couple of questions about the primary source to also help get folks thinking about the complex issue of crusading.

Christians and Muslims in battle during the Crusades

Questions:

1) Discuss the accounts of Urban's speech. In what ways do they differ?
2) What reasons can you give for these variations?
3) According to Urban, who are the enemies of Christendom? How are they characterized? (ie. by ethnicity, religion, etc.) Does Urban seem to have any understanding of Islam?
4) Why should Christians go on crusade? What benefits will they receive according to Urban?
5) What goal does Urban set for the crusaders? What is their mission to the Holy Land meant to achieve?
6) Where is the Holy Land?

7) Tyerman locates the origin of the crusades in a particular 'symbiosis of interests and values'. What does he mean by this?
8) Tyerman argues that although crusading emerges out of a distinctive tradition in the Latin West, it also contained unique and novel features. What are these features?
9) What does Tyerman mean when he says that ' crusading was not a monolithic movement'?
10) Tyerman says that the effect of the crusades on Europe and Europeans tended to be of 3 sorts, what were they?

*** As always your posts can reflect on these questions or on any other aspects of the readings you found interesting or challenging ***

Pope Urban II calling the First Crusade

......

Finally I'd just like to draw everyone's attention here to a wonderful exhibit of medieval Persian manuscripts that is currently on at the State Library of Victoria. In our course we only briefly encounter the medieval Islamic world and for anyone interested in understanding more about the culture of the Middle East in this period I highly recommend going to this exhibit. It's absolutely beautiful!

http://exhibitions.slv.vic.gov.au/love-and-devotion

From the State Library Exhibit 'Love and Devotion'

From the State Library Exhibit 'Love and Devotion'

Eve, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary - Medieval Women and Gender Roles

Week 7: Relics and Devotional Life / Medieval Men and Women - Tutorial Discussion Post
By: Tori, Hannah and Mimi


Tori's thoughts

Life for women in the Middle Ages, as shown by the readings for this week, especially the section by Christiane Klapish-Zuber, was not all princesses and wealth. For some women in the Middle Ages it's true they were lucky enough to be born into wealthy families of privilege, but even then a woman would often be used as a tool to buy peace through marriage, her own wishes often ignored.

The majority of women in this time were peasants. Spending their lives toiling in the fields and tending to the household chores and raising children. 

Real life for women in the Middle Ages was very different from the images we are often fed through Hollywood’s glamorous interpretations. Women had to be hard working and strong. They were the central figure for family life but were subjected to the least amounts of human rights.

The definition of a woman revolved around the men she was associated with. For example, if a woman was married to a brewer she would be considered the brewer's wife no matter what personal traits or skills of her own she possessed. 

The picture that Christine Klapish-Zuber paints of the medieval woman is, in her own words, gloomy. But, it is a realistic representation giving a thorough description of the life of medieval women. 


Hannah's thoughts

It’s really interesting how the two texts differed in their presentation of women in Medieval Europe.  I won’t discuss the second text because I don’t want to overlap the other two girls' posts.

There seems to be two different opinions of women in Medieval Europe, one where women are seen as sinners, due to Eve, and the contrasting view that women bought people closer to God, by Mary giving birth to Jesus.

Women were characterised by their sexuality either as a virgin, widow or married. Virginity was regarded as the highest and most righteous status; however, women were also expected to bear children. With Mary being both a virgin and the bearer of Jesus she set an unattainable goal of maintaining her virtue as a virgin and fulfilling her expectations of society and the Bible by being a mother. By giving birth to God, Mary bought people closer to Him, and raised the opinion held of women.

 Women still seemed to be quite oppressed, maybe not as badly as in Ancient Rome, however, definitely viewed as less virtuous than men despite Mary providing a stronger link between God and people.

Mary Magdalene is presented as a devout Christian and a realistic goal for women to strive towards. She was sinful and transformed into the ideal Christian, spreading the name of Christ and performing miracles with the help of God.

Eve of course is viewed negatively due to her committing the first sin which shattered the perfect world that was the Garden of Eden. Eve is the main reason women were viewed as more likely to sin then men.

Scholastica is presented as a woman with a very close link to God. It seems implied that she knew she was going to die soon and wished to spend more time with her brother, using her close bond with God she is said to have caused a storm which prevented his leaving. Then, when she died, she visited her brother whilst being carried by angels. This reinforces the wonder of God and how those who formed a close bond with him would be blessed by the Heavens.

Some women seem to be quite awe inspiring in Medieval Europe and treated as equals to men, such as Joan of Arc, who managed to gather respect from many. For a woman in Medieval Europe Joan of Arc accomplished amazing feats, that’s inarguable, but was it through ingenuity, the grace of God, luck or something entirely different that allowed her to accomplish so much?

How realistic a goal do you think Mary Magdalene set for Medieval European Women? 

*** Please post any comments, questions or reflections ***