Sources of the West presents a well-balanced selection of constitutional documents, political theory, philosophy, imaginative literature, and social description to raise significant issues for classroom discussions or lectures. By reading the voices of the past, students can connect them to the present; learn to understand and respect other cultures; and think critically about history. An introductory essay, "How to Read a Document," explains the types and levels of questions students need to ask and answer to understand, interpret, and analyze each selection.

Preface

ix

How to Read a Document

xiii

Part I The Origins of Western Civilization and the Classical World

Creation Epics

1

(1)

The Epic of Gilgamesh (ca. 2000 B.C.)

2

(2)

The Creation Epic (ca. 2000 B.C.)

4

(6)

The Book of Genesis (ca. 10th--6th century B.C.)

10

(5)

Hesiod, Works and Days (ca. 700 B.C.)

15

(7)

The Ancient Near East

21

(1)

Code of Hammurabi (early 18th century B.C.)

22

(3)

The Book of the Dead (ca. 16th century B.C.)

25

(3)

The Book of Exodus (ca. 10th--6th century B.C.)

28

(4)

The Book of Isaiah (ca. 8th--6th century B.C.)

32

(6)

Ancient and Classical Greece

37

(1)

Homer, Iliad (9th--8th century B.C.)

38

(3)

Sappho of Lesbos, Poems (ca. 600 B.C.)

41

(2)

Herodotus, History (ca. 450 B.C.)

43

(3)

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (ca. 400 B.C.)

46

(5)

Plato, Apology (399 B.C.)

51

(5)

Plato, The Republic (ca. 327 B.C.)

56

(9)

Aristotle, Politics (4th century B.C.)

65

(5)

The Roman World

69

(1)

Cicero, The Trial of Aulus Cluentius Habitus (66 B.C.)

70

(4)

Virgil, Aeneid (30--19 B.C.)

74

(4)

Juvenal, Satires (ca. A.D. 116)

78

(3)

Plutarch, The Life of Cato the Elder (ca. A.D. 116)

81

(4)

Suetonius, The Life of Augustus (ca. A.D. 122)

85

(4)

The Sermon on the Mount (ca. A.D. 28--35)

89

(3)

St. Paul, Epistle to the Romans (ca. A.D. 57)

92

(6)

Part II Medieval Europe

The Early Middle Ages

97

(1)

Tacitus, Germania (98)

98

(3)

Eusebius, In Praise of Constantine (336)

101

(5)

Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (413--46)

106

(4)

Benedict of Nursia, Rule of Saint Benedict (ca. 535--540)

110

(4)

The Burgundian Code (ca. 474)

114

(6)

Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks (ca. 581--591)

120

(3)

Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of England (731)

123

(4)

Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne (ca. 829--836)

127

(5)

Islam and the Eastern Empire

131

(1)

Justinian, Code (529--565)

132

(4)

Procopius, Secret History (ca. 560)

136

(4)

The Koran (7th century)

140

(4)

Michael Psellus, Chronographia (ca. 1070)

144

(5)

Ibn Al-Qalanisi, The Damascus Chronicle (ca. 1150)

149

(5)

The High Middle Ages

153

(1)

Feudal Documents (11th--13th centuries)

154

(4)

Bernard of Angers, Miracles of St. Foy (ca. 1010)

158

(5)

The Song of Roland (ca. 1100)

163

(4)

Magna Carta (1215)

167

(3)

Francis of Assisi, Admonitions (ca. 1220)

170

(5)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (1266--1273)

175

(5)

Dante, The Divine Comedy (ca. 1320)

180

(4)

Catherine of Siena, Letters (1376)

184

(5)

Jean Froissart, Chronicles (ca. 1400)

189

(6)

Christine de Pisan, The Book of the City of Ladies (ca. 1405)

195

(2)

Margaret Paston, Letters (1441--1448)

197

(7)

Witchcraft Documents (15th century)

204

(6)

Part III Renaissance and Reformation

The Renaissance

209

(1)

Francesco Petrarca, Letters (ca. 1372)

210

(5)

Leon Battista Alberti, On the Family (1435--1444)

215

(6)

Giorgio Vasari, The Life of Leonardo da Vinci (1550)

221

(4)

Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)

225

(4)

Desiderius Erasmus, In Praise of Folly (1509)

229

(4)

Sir Thomas More, Utopia (1516)

233

(4)

Claude de Seyssel, The Monarchy of France (1515)

237

(5)

The New Worlds

241

(1)

Christopher Columbus, Letter from the First Voyage (1493)

242

(4)

Ludovico di Varthema, Travels (ca. 1508)

246

(3)

Bartolome de Las Casas, Apologetic History of the Indies (1566)

249

(4)

Bernal Diaz, The True History of the Conquest of New Spain (1552--1568)

253

(5)

Religious Reform

257

(1)

Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian (1520) and Of Marriage and Celibacy (1566)

258

(6)

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1534) and Catechism (ca. 1540)

264

(8)

Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises (1548)

272

(4)

Teresa of Avila, The Life of Saint Teresa (1611)

276

(6)

The Early Modern World

281

(1)

Anonymous, Lazarillo de Tormes (1554)

282

(3)

The Twelve Articles of the Peasants of Swabia (1524) and Martin Luther, Admonition to Peace (1525)

285

(6)

Marguerite de Navarre, Heptameron (1558)

291

(4)

Magdalena and Balthasar Paumgartner, Letters (1592--1596)

295

(4)

Anonymous, The Debate About Women: Hic Mulier and Haec Vir (1620)

299

(5)

Part IV The Ancien Regime

The Wars of Religion

303

(1)

Francois Hotman, Francogallia (1573)

304

(3)

Henry IV, The Edict of Nantes (1598)

307

(3)

William of Orange, Apology (1580)

310

(4)

Cardinal Richelieu, The Political Testament (1638)

314

(3)

Hans von Grimmelshausen, Simplicissimus (1669)

317

(7)

Subjects and Sovereigns

323

(1)

James I, True Law of a Free Monarchy (1598)

324

(5)

Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants (1579)

329

(5)

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651)

334

(4)

Sir William Clarke, The Putney Debates (1647)

338

(6)

Duc de Saint-Simon, Memoirs (1694--1723)

344

(5)

Acknowledgments

349

(6)

Photo Credits

355

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