Were the Vikings all that bad?

Here is an article from National Geographic suggesting that accounts of Vikings as ferocious predators were somewhat exaggerated, especially by the literate clergy who wrote these accounts and were frequently victimized by them.

Viking Weapon Recycling

The famed Norse warriors, many of whom settled parts of eastern and northern England in the Middle Ages, recycled as they fought, new excavations in the United Kingdom suggest. READ MORE

New Evidence on the Black Death Courtesy of the Onion

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/rat_shit_covered_physicians

Updated Instructions for Final

Just to make sure everyone understands:

-The final will consist of TWO essays rather than the 3 I originally announced.

-You may choose ANY TWO of the questions I have posted. You are not required to answer Part A. However I would strongly advise History Majors who will be taking the Senior Comps to answer Part A because it is the question I will ask for this class.

-Essays should be 4-5 pages.

-You will be graded on how well your answer reflects an understanding of the course content and how well you use examples from the course readings.

-All work will be due at 1pm on Wednesday of finals week. I will be in my office between 12 and 1. Late work will be penalized. Hard copies only please.

Modern Day Apparitions

Medieval culture had an "enchanted" worldview in which the miraculous was part of everyday life. All levels of society believed that the supernatural was woven into the fabric of the visible world. Many people believed these forces made themselves apparent in the contexts of their ordinary lives as they worked in their fields, workshops, and houses. A big part of what separates modernity from the more distant past is the so-called "disenchantment" of the world as the Scientific Revolution and the secularization of politics and society changed how the western world viewed the natural world. However these ties with our cultural past have not been completely cut as this gallery shows.

Readings for Black Death Book

In the interests of making the most out of the little time we have left I'm going to narrow the focus of our discussion of the Black Death book to the cultural response, which will fit in well with the more general "collapse of the medieval synthesis" that is the subject of your final. Therefore, we will give particular focus to Parts 5-7, which covers some of the episodes of mass hysteria as well as artistic representations of the plague. It should be fun...

Final Fall 2009 PART B3

Discuss the origins and consequences of the church reform movement of the tenth and eleventh centuries. How did it change the nature of the church? How did it contribute to the increase of social stability and the centralization of authority. How did it contribute to an increase in the persecution of people who were considered to be outsiders?

final Fall 2009 PART B2

The so-called medieval synthesis, with its sense of social reciprocity and divinely ordained hierarchy, was fatally weakened during the fourteenth century. Describe the factors that led to this collapse and their relationship to the political, social, and economic trends of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Final Fall 2009 PART B1

The story of Tristan and Isolde is a product of the so-called Twelfth-Century Renaissance. Describe this Renaissance, how it came about, its main social and cultural features, and how it transformed medieval society. How does Gottfried von Strasbourg’s tale fit into this Renaissance and the changes in aristocratic culture it brought about? Use examples from the text.

Final Fall 2009 PART A

Historians typically describe medieval society as a hybrid of Roman, Germanic, and Christian culture. Discuss the history behind how each of these cultures was integrated into medieval society, and how the influence of each was evident in medieval society.

FINAL EXAM INSTRUCTIONS

The final exam will be take-home just like the midterm. For some reason the University has scheduled the final exam time for 8 am Wednesday 16 December. Unless there is a demand to keep it at the original time, I will have the deadline for exams and rewritten papers from 1230-130pm that day. This overlaps the other exam times, so it will not interfere with any other finals you may be taking that day.

The final exam will have two parts: a cumulative questions that everyone answers, and a more topical Part B that everyone will answer TWO questions from. For history majors looking ahead to Senior Comps, I always ask the question from Part A, so putting some good thought into this answer will benefit you in the future.

An adequate answer for these questions should be a minimum of 4-5 pages. Since you have nearly four weeks to think of these questions, and I am placing them on a blog where you can discuss them, I am expecting each of you to push yourselves beyond the mediocre.

All materials must be turned in as hardcopies. I will not accept email attachments.

NYT Article on Roman France

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/travel/17romfrance.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

New Techniques and the Roman Catacombs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8027650.stm

Animal Sacrifice in Medieval Hungary

Some interesting evidence of pagan influences on medieval Christianity

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090406-dogs-buried-hungary.html

Part B Question Two

Describe how and why feudalism came about in medieval society. How did it function? How was it more of a social than a political system?

Part B Question One

Medieval Christianity developed out of a wide range of cultural traditions from classical Greece and Rome, the Middle East, and the Germanic world. Discuss the influence of each of these cultures on medieval Christianity. How was orthodoxy established in the early church?

Question A

PART A:
Historians often make the claim that the Roman Empire never fell, it simply changed into something else. What historical evidence would support this claim? Discuss the endurance of Roman culture and Roman ideals in Western Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic worlds.

Midterm Directions

I have posted each of the questions separately so the discussion threads won't become too tangled.

Directions: Answer Part A and ONE question from Part B in essay form. Your answer should be supported by examples from the course readings, including the reading packet. An adequate response will be at least 3-5 pages. Please refer to the online style sheet linked to the syllabus for formatting standards. Midterms are due in class on Friday, 16 October.