Sources in Medieval Culture and History

by Slocum, Kay B.

• ISBN13: 9780136157267
• ISBN10: 0136157262
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-23
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This reader is appropriate as a main text or a supplementary text for courses on medieval history, medieval literature, art history, and humanities.   The wide range of primary sources featured in this book trace the development of medieval civilization from the era of the Roman Emperor Diocletian to the late fourteenth century. The events of these years are viewed from various perspectives, including selections from legal documents, annals, letters, contemporaneous biographies, paintings, theological and philosophical treatises, historical writings, architecture, and literary extracts.  Author Kay Slocum has chosen the sources to integrate social and cultural history with more traditional material and, as a result, selections that inform the student about women and marginal groups in the medieval world are included alongside works that treat topics that are more common in the field.

Author Biography

Kay Slocum is the Gerhold Professor of Humanities at Capital University, where she is a member of the History Department. She teaches courses in Western Civilization and Medieval History, and has received the Praestantia Award for Excellence in Teaching. Other awards include an ACLS Grant for Recent Recipients of the Ph.D., NEH grants for participation in two Summer Seminars and two Summer Institutes, an NEH Travel to Collections grant, and a Lilly Grant for research.

 

Her publications include Liturgies in Honour of Thomas Becket (University of Toronto Press, 2004), Medieval Civilization (Laurence King, 2005) and many articles concerning liturgy and music in medieval culture.  She is an active member of the Medieval Academy of America and the American Musicological Association.

Table of Contents

Topical Contents

Preface

Introduction for the Student

 

Chapter 1: The Threads of Medieval Civilization: The Late Roman Empire, Christianity, and the Germanic Migrations

 

Imperial Administration and the Conversion to Christianity

 

Diocletian and the Division of the Roman Empire

1.1. Aurelius Victor, Lives of the Emperors

1.2. Lactantius,  De mortibus persecutorum

1.3. Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices

 

The Emperor Constantine

1.4. The Conversion of Constantine

1.5. The Edict of Milan

1.6. The Council of Nicaea

1.7. The Nicene Creed

1.8. Interpreting the Evidence: St Peter’s Basilica and Constantine’s Gift

 

Early Christianity

1.9. The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity

1.10. The Confessions of Saint Augustine

1.11. Saint Jerome: Letters

1.12. Pope Leo I and the Petrine Theory

1.13. The Election of Bishops

1.14. The Life of Saint Antony by Athanasius

1.15. Interpreting the Evidence: The Rule of Saint Benedict and the Groundplan of St. Gall

 

The Germanic Tribal Tradition

 

Roman Views of the Germanic Tribes

1.16. Tacitus, Germania

1.17. Ammianus Marcellinus, History of the Roman Empire

1.18. Treaty with the Vandals (271)

1.19. The Battle of Adrianople (378)

 

Chapter 2: The Heirs of Rome: Germanic Kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire

 

The Ostrogoths and Visigoths

2.1Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths

2.2. Cassiodorus, Letters

2.3. Cassiodorus, An Introduction to Divine and Human Readings

2.4. Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy

2.5. Isidore of Seville, The History of the Goths

2.6. The Visigothic Code: Provisions Concerning Women

 

The Franks

2.7. The Conversion of Clovis: Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks

2.8.The Salic Law

      

The Anglo-Saxons

2.10.  Beowulf

2.11. Bede, A History of the English Church and People

2.12. Letter to Queen Ethelburga from Pope Boniface

2.13. Jonas, The Life of Saint Columban

 

The Byzantine Empire

 

2.14. The Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian

2.15. Interpreting the Evidence: Hagia Sophia and Description by Procopius   

2.16. Interpreting the Evidence: Theodora and Justinian: The Mosaics at  Ravenna and the Secret History by Procopius

 

 

Chapter 3: The Rise of Islam

 

Muhammad and the Qu’ran

3.1.  The Night of Destiny: Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad

3.2.  How the Qu’ran was Assembled

3.3.  The Five Pillars of Islam: Passages from the Qu’ran

        The Confession of Faith (shahada)

        Prayer (salat)

        Almsgiving (zakat)

        Ramadan

        Pilgrimage (hajj)

3.4.  Jihad: Passages from the Qu’ran and the Sayings of Muhammad

3.5.  Women in Islamic Society

 

Founding of the Caliphate and the Expansion of Islam

3.6.  The Founding of the Caliphate and

3.7.  The Accession Speech of Abu Bakr

3.8.  Abu Bakr on the Rules of War

3.9.  The Muslims Conquer Iberia

3.10. The Treaty of Tudmir

3.11. The Pact of Umar

 

Muslim Art and Culture

3.12.  Interpreting the Evidence: Al-Azhar Mosque and Documents of Support

3.13.  Interpreting the Evidence: Qibla, “Umar in Jerusalem” and the Qu’ran

      

Poetic Voices from Islam

3.14.  An Arabic definition of poetry by Ibn Qutayba

3.15.  A Lyric from the Kitab al-Aghani (The Book of Songs) by Abu l—Faraj al-Isfahani

3.16.   A Jewish Voice in al-Andalus: Samuel the Nagid

3.17.   Scheherazade: A Tale from The Thousand and One Nights

 

Chapter 4: Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance

 

The Coronation of Charlemagne

4.1.  Einhard: The Coronation

4.2.  The Biography of Pope Leo III

4.3.  The Annals of Lorsch

4.4.  A View from Byzantium: The Chronicle of Theophanes

 

The Creation and Governance of the Empire

4.5. Einhard: Charlemagne’s Wars Against the Saxons

4.6. Missionary Activity in the Empire: Letter of Boniface to Pope Zacharias (742)

4.7. Capitulary for Saxony (775-790)

4.8. General Capitulary for the Missi Dominici (802)

 

Royal Estates

4.9. The Capitulary De Villis

 

The Carolingian Renaissance and the Preservation of Classical Learning

4.10. Interpreting the Evidence: Palatine Chapel at Aachen and Descriptions by Einhard  and Notker

     

Charlemagne’s Educational Programs: A Link to the Future

4.11. Einhard: The Emperor’s Devotion to the Liberal Arts

4.12. Notker “the Stammerer”

4.13. De Litteris Colendis (On the Study of Letters)

4.14. Interpreting the Evidence: Ivory Book Cover and De Diversis Artibus by Theophilus   

4.15. A Carolingian Mother’s Advice to her Son: Handbook for William by Dhuoda

 

A World Destroyed: The Disintegration of the Empire

4.16. The Treaty of Verdun (843)

 

Viking, Muslim and Magyar Invasions

4.17. The Annals of St. Bertin,

4.18. The Annals of Xanten

4.19. The Annals of St. Vaast

4.20. The Magyars: An Account by Liudprand of Cremona

4.21. Normans in France: The Baptism of Rollo

 

 

Chapter 5: The Development of Vassalage and Agricultural Change

 

 Aristocratic Life: the Experience of the Knight

 

 Rituals of Homage and Fealty

 5.1.  The Homage Ceremony

 5.2.  Immixtio manuum

 5.3. Homage to Several Lords

 

Obligations of Vassals

5.4. Feudal Aids

5.5. Inheritance provisions

 

The Rituals of Knighting from the Book of Chivalry by Geoffroi de Charny

5.6.    The Knighting Ceremony

 

Medieval Warfare and the Peace and Truce of God

5.7. Peace of God, proclaimed in the Synod of Charroux (989)

5.8.    Truce of God, proclaimed by the Archbishop of Arles (1035-41)

 

Interpreting the Evidence: The Medieval Castle

 5. 9. The Bayeux Tapestry

 5.10. Bodiam Castle

 

Those Who Work

 

Interpreting the Evidence: Life on the Manor

5.11. The Village of  Cuminor from the Domesday Book

5.12. A Manor belonging to Peterborough Abbey (c. 1125)

5.13. A Manor in Sussex (Early 14^th century)

5.14. Freedom for the Serf (1278)

5.15. The Lord’s Manor House (Mid-thirteenth century)

     

Women’s Work

5.16. The Office of the Dairymaid from the Book of the Office of Seneschal

5.17. The Yield from the Dairy

5.18. The Serving Maid

5.19. Visual Evidence from the Luttrell Psalter

 

Interpreting the Evidence: Rural Life and Technological Development

5.20. Walter of Henley’s Husbandry and the Luttrell Psalter

5.21. Watermills in the Domesday Book and the Luttrell Psalter

5.22. Windmills in the Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond and the Luttrell Psalter

 

Chapter 6: The Centralization of Political Control from the Tenth to the Twelfth Century

 

The Monarchies of France, England, and Christian Iberia

 

France

6.1.The Election of Hugh Capet as King of France

 

Interpreting the Evidence: Three Views of the Norman Conquest

6.2. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1066)

6.3. The Bayeux Tapestry

6.4. Gesta Guillelmi by William of Poitiers 

 

England and William the Conqueror

6.5. Statutes of William the Conqueror

6.6. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

 

Iberia 

6.7.   A Christian Monarch in Iberia: Sancho Abarca, King of Navarre

 

The Ottonian Empire and Germany

 

The Deeds of Otto the Great: The Battle of Lechfeld (955)

 6.8. Liutprand of Cremona

 

Interpreting the Evidence: Otto III

6.9. The Chronicon of  Thietmar of Merseburg

6.10. The Gospel Book of Otto III

6.11. The Book of the Golden City of Rome  

 

Interpreting the Evidence: Monastic-Feudal Connections

6.12. Grant of Land to a Monastery

6.13. The Cross of Abbess Matilda of Essen

 

The Investiture Controversy

6.14. The Pope’s Prerogatives According to Gregory VII

6.15. Letter from Henry IV

6.16. The Incident at Canossa

6.17. Decrees Against Lay Investiture

6.18. Agreements of Worms (1122)

 

Eastern Europe , Russia, and Scandinavia

 

Hungary

6.19 “Apostolic King”: A Letter from Pope Sylvester II to King Stephen of Hungary

6.20. The Laws of King Stephen of Hungary

 

Russia

6.21 Olga “the Beautiful”: A Tenth-Century Russian Ruler    

 

Scandinavia

6.22 The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason

 

The Byzantine Empire

6.23. Preface to On Ceremonies by Emperor Constantine VII

 

 

Chapter 7: Monastic Reform, Pilgrimage, and Crusade

 

The Monastic Reform Movement

 

7.1.  Interpreting the Evidence: Foundation Charter of the Abbey of Cluny (910), Ground Plan, and Description by Odilo of Cluny

7.2.  Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercian Order

7.3.  Bernard on Cluny

 

Pilgrimage

 

Pilgrimage Journeys: Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and Canterbury

7.4. The Pilgrim Udalrich

7.5. The Pilgrim Saewulf

7.6. The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela

7.7. Interpreting the Evidence: Pilgrimage to Canterbury: Thomas Becket and a Stained-Glass Panel from Canterbury Cathedral

 

The First Crusade

 

“God Wills It”:  Pope Urban’s Summons to the First Crusade

7.8.  From the Gesta Francorum (Deeds of the Franks)

7.9.  Fulcher of Chartres

7.10.  Robert the Monk

7.11. Balderic of Dol

7.12. A Hebrew Chronicle: the Massacres of Jews

7.13. A Woman’s Perspective: From the Alexiad by Anna Comnena

7.14. Ibn al-Athir: A Muslim View of the Crusade

 

Two Accounts of the Origins of the Templars

7.15. William of Tyre

7.16. Michael the Syrian

 

The Reconquista

7.17. The Poem of the Cid

7.18. The Conquest of Lisbon

 

 

Chapter 8: Romanesque Culture

 

Architecture, Sculpture, and Objects of Devotion

8.1. “A White Mantle of Churches”: The Five Books of History by Rodulphus Glaber

8.2. Interpreting the Evidence: The Vezelay Chronicle and the Church of  Sainte

8.3. Interpreting the Evidence: The Western Tympanum at Autun and the “Besetting Demons”                    

8.4. Interpreting the Evidence: The Reliquary and Miracles of Saint Foy, Virgin Martyr                    

8.5.  The Relics of Saint Cuthbert

8.6. Interpreting the Evidence: Suger’s Chalice and On the Various Arts by Theophilus                    

8.7.  “O Vanity of Vanities”: Bernard of Clairvaux on Religious Art

 

Literature

8.8.  “Noble Lord, Knight of Gentle Birth”: From The Song of Roland

8.9.  Abraham: A Play by Roswitha of Gandersheim

 

 

Chapter 9: Religion and Politics in the Twelfth Century

 

Politics in France and England

9.1.      Power and the Monarchy: Deeds of Louis the Fat by Suger

9.2.      Henry II and the Angevin Empire: The Instruction of A Prince by Gerald of Wales

        

The Becket Controversy

9.3.   A Mother’s Plea: Letter from Empress Matilda to Thomas Becket

9.4.   Becket’s Martyrdom: From the Vita by Edward Grim

9.5.   Interpreting the Evidence: A miracle of Saint Thomas of Canterbury and Stained-Glass from Trinity Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral 

 

Politics in Germany

 

Frederick I [Barbarossa]

9.6.  Letter of Frederick I to Pope Eugene III

9.7.  Pope Eugene’s Reply

9.8.  Treaty of Constance, 1153

9.9. The “Stirrup Episode”

9.10. The “Besançon Episode”

     

The Crusader Kingdoms and the Third Crusade

The Crusader Kingdoms

9.11. The History of Fulcher of Chartres

9.12. The Memoirs of Usmah ibn-Munquidh

           

The Third Crusade

 

The “Horns of Hattin”: Overture to the Third Crusade

9.13.  The Chronicle of Otto of St. Blasien

9.14.  Ibn Shaddad: The Life of Saladin

9.15.  A Letter from Pope Clement III Concerning the Third Crusade

9.16.  The Death of Frederick Barbarossa: From The Chronicle of Otto of St. Blasien      

        

 

Chapter 10: Social and Cultural Revival in the Twelfth Century

 

The Urban World: Cities and Guilds

10.1.  A Description of Twelfth-Century London by William FitzStephen

10.2. Guild Statutes: Spur Makers and Leather Tanners

 

Architecture: Birth of the Gothic Style

 10.3. Interpreting the Evidence: De Consecratione by Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory of Saint Denis

    

Secular Literature

10.4.   Images of  Lancelot, by Chrétien de Troyes

10.5.   Interpreting the Evidence: Marie de France: The Lay of the Nightingale

10.6.   The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus

10.7.   Songs by Troubadours, Trouvères, and Trobairitz

 

A Medieval Romance: Abelard and Heloise

10.8.  Historia Calamitatum  by Peter Abelard

 10.9.  Letter to Abelard from Heloise

 

Religious and Philosophical Literature

10.10. Sic et Non by Peter Abelard

10.11. Averroes: On the Harmony of Religion and Philosophy

10.12. Maimonides: Guide for the Perplexed

10.13. Interpreting the Evidence: “Cry out therefore, and write thus!”: The Visions of Hildegard of Bingen

 

Chapter 11: Political and Economic Developments in the Thirteenth Century

 

France and England

11.1.  Interpreting the Evidence: A Paragon of  Kingly Virtue: Joinville’s Chronicles of the Crusades, the Life of Saint Louis and a  Manuscript Illumination from Bible

            Abr égée

11.2.  Philip IV Calls the First Estates General

11.3.  “An Execrable Evil”: Philip IV and the Templars

11.4.  Unam Sanctam:  Boniface VIII and Philip IV

11.5.  Magna Carta

 

The Holy Roman Empire

11.6. Frederick II and Germany                                                          

11.7. Frederick II and Pope Innocent IV  

 

The Iberian Peninsula

11.8.  The Proper Virtues of a King: From the Siete Partidas

11.9.  Cantigas de Santa Maria by Alfonso X, “The Wise”

11.10.  The Church and the Jews in Thirteenth-Century Spain

             

The Byzantine Empire

11.11.   Villehardouin’s Chronicle: The Conquest of Constantinople

11.12.   Nicholas Mesarites: A Byzantine Lament

 11.13.   Niketas Choniates: On the Statues

 

Commerce and Trade

 

The Growth of Trade in Northern Europe

11.14. Lubeck and Hamburg Seek Mutual Protection (1241)

11.15. The Hanseatic League

11.16. London and the Hansa Negotiate

 

Italy

11.17. Trade in the Mediterranean Sea: Venice

11.18. Padua: The State Promotes Commerce

 

The Mongol Threat         

11.19.  The History of the World-Conqueror by Juvaini

 

 

Chapter 12: Religious Ferment and Social Change

 

New Directions in Spirituality: Waldensians and Cathars

 

The Waldensians and Cathars

12.1. Peter Waldo: From an Anonymous Chronicle (c. 1218)

12.2. Walter Map: On the Waldensians (1179)

12.3. View of the Cathar Movement by Eckbert, Abbot of Schönau

12.4. Pope Gregory IX: Vox in Rama

12.5. Albigensians: from the Inquisitor’s Guide of Bernard Gui

 

New Religious Orders

 

The Franciscans

12.6. The Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi

12.7. “Little Flower of the Blessed Francis”: The Rule of Saint Clare

          

The Dominicans

12.8. Concerning Reading: From the Dominican Constitutions

12.9. Interpreting the Evidence: De Modo Orandi: From the Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic

 

New Communities: The Beguines and the Devotio Moderna

12.10. Cartulaire de Beguinage de Sainte-Elizabeth a Gand, Concerning the Beguines

 12.11. Mechthild of Magdeburg: The Flowing Light of the Godhead

 12.12. The Following of Christ: The Spiritual Diary of Gerard Groote

 12.13. Salome Stricken: A Way of Life for Sisters

             

A Female Visionary: Margery Kempe and the Vicar

12.14. The Book of Margery Kempe

 

The Fourth Lateran Council: Heretics and the Jews

12.15.  Raymond of Toulouse and the Cathar Heresy

12.16. Interpreting the Evidence: “Blind Synagoga” and the Provisions of the Council

 

 

Chapter 13: Intellectual and Artistic Development in the High Middle Ages

 

T he Medieval University

13.1. Early Statutes of the University of the Sorbonne

13.2. Rules of the University of Paris (1215)

13.3. “Please Send Money”: The Balade of a Student at Orleans

 

Philosophy and Science in the Thirteenth Century

13.4. The Scholastic Method: From the Summa Theologica  by Thomas Aquinas

13.5. The Journey of the Soul into God by Saint Bonaventure

13.6. Summa contra gentiles by Saint Thomas Aquinas

13.7. Roger Bacon and the Beginning of Modern Experimental Science

 

Literature in the Thirteenth Century

13.8. The Romance of the Rose

13.9. A Poetic Disputation: The Owl and the Nightingale

 

Gothic Architecture

13.10.  Interpreting the Evidence: The Cathedral as Symbol

13.11.  Architecture and Geometry: The Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt

13.12.  Interpreting the Evidence: Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral and Gervase of Canterbury                   

13.13.  Interpreting the Evidence: Rose Window of Notre Dame and Jean de Jandun’s Description

 

 

Chapter 14: The Fourteenth Century: Disorder and Vitality

 

Famine and Plague

14.1. Famine: The Chronicle of Jean de Venette

           

The Black Death: Pestilence from East to West

14.2. The Origins of the Plague: Historia Byzantina

14.3. Constantinople: From the History of John VI Kantakouzenos

14.4.  Palestine: Al-Wardi’s Essay on the Report of the Pestilence

14.5.  Florence: From the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

14.6.  France:  From the Chronicle of Jean de Venette

14.7.  England: From the Chronicle of Henry Knighton

 

Peasant Revolt

14.8. Statute of Laborers

14.9. Interpreting the Evidence: Peasant Revolts from the Chronicles of Froissart and an Illumination Depicting Wat Tyler and John Ball

            

The Hundred Years War

14.10. The Battle of Crecy (1346): Description from the Chronicles of Froissart

 

The Avignon Papacy: Crisis in the Church

14.11. Letter of Petrarch Concerning the Avignon Papacy

14.12. A Letter of Catherine of Siena to Pope Gregory XI

           

Fourteenth Century Literature and Art

14.13. “Heavenly Love”: The Divine Comedy by Dante

14.14. “Earthly Love: Sonnets  by Petrarch

14.15. “Earthly Pleasure”: A Tale from the Decameron by Boccaccio

14.16. “The Cook’s Tale” by Chaucer

14.17. A Feminine Voice: The Debate on Romance of the Rose by Christine de Pizan

14.18. Interpreting the Evidence: Lamentation: A Fresco of Giotto and Remarks by Boccaccio and Ghiberti