Freshman Seminar Class
Schedule--Crusades
The listing of assignments on this schedule is meant to indicate
that you should already have read the material for a given day by
the time you get to class on that day. Any mention of "Text"
is a reference to A Concise History of the Crusades, by Thomas F.
Madden (or New Concise history, depending on the edition you are
reading from).
Aug 23—Intro to Your Freshman Seminar--Welcome to College!
Aug 25—Intro to Our Topic: The
Crusades
Reading: the Wikipedia entry on "The Crusades." Please read
the "intro" section and the next short section, "Terminology,"
before class starts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades
Aug 28--More introduction--Some general issues. Bring a
copy of the reading to class, either printed or electronic.
Read for this class, "Why Muslims See the
Crusade So Differently From Christians"
https://www.history.com/news/why-muslims-see-the-crusades-so-differently-from-christians
AND read Text (the Madden book mentioned above--read from your own
copy or from the Archive.org link below) Preface, pages vii-x.
https://archive.org/details/newconcisehistor0000madd/page/n5/mode/2up
Aug 30—The Medieval
European World--History in the "longue durée" and the short
one too
Watch these two pieces of a documentary series by Terry
Jones (formerly of Monty Python):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7YZr1U6jU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8bZRmMCy1U
Sep 1--Some
College Issues: The Academic Skills Center and more
Sep 4—Focus on Medieval Europe
Watch carefully David Macaulay's great exploration of the Gothic
Cathedral. This takes 57 min. Be sure to watch
it in full.
Sep 6--The Rise of
Islam: From Mecca to the Vast Empire
Watch Ollie Bye's quick visual chronology
of Islam's growth in the Middle East
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I14x4-q_Gj4
Sep 8--Some More College Issues:
Writing a paragraph
Sep 11--The Byzantine
Empire, and Related Matters.
Read Chapter 2 of Arthur Goldschmidt's great history, A
Concise History of the Middle East.
https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof0011gold
You can follow the link, but to read the book, you will need to
join Archive.org. This is free. Just follow the onscreen
instructions. Then, once you are a member, from the page the
above link opens, you just borrow the book for whichever time
suits you. Look at the Table of Contents to find your way to
Chapter 2. Please read carefully. You can re-borrow as many
times as you like. FYI, Archive.org is a magnificent collection
of millions of books, journals, articles, etc. that will help
you all the way through college research projects in many
disciplines.
Sep 13--Early
Medieval Spain and the Beginnings of Reconquista.
Watch this Youtube video, a
bit cheesy, but a very good overview of the beginnings of the
Reconquista
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPXFzb3kk8Y
and watch Ollie Bye's neat visual chronology of the Reconquista
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmtzmqLOAVA
Sep 15--College issues:
What is
Plagiarism?
Beginning of Class--Map Quiz No. 1: Basic
Historical Europe.
Sep 18—The Medieval World of the Late
Islamic Caliphate: A Sophisticated Culture.
Read from A Concise History
of the Middle East, Chapter 7
https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof0011gold
Sep 20—The
Late Caliphate, the Fatimids, the Seljuqs, and the Origins
of the Crusades.
Read Chapter 5 of A
Concise History of the Middle East.
https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof0011gold
Sep 22--Writing an Essay
in College.
Beginning of Class--Map Quiz No. 2: Basic Historical
Middle East.
Sep 25—The Call to the
Crusades.
Read Text ch. 1 (Text refers to the Madden book mentioned at the
top of this schedule)
from your own copy or on Archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/newconcisehistor0000madd/page/n5/mode/2up
Sep 27--Documents on the Crusades: Five
versions of the Pope's Clermont speech:
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/urban2-5vers.asp
(Bring the digital or printed text; be ready for an
in-depth discussion of the differences in the
versions)
Sep 29--About the First Paper: Form, Citations, Sources
Oct 2—The First Crusade.
Read Text ch. 2
Oct 4--Military Logistics,
Tactics, and Other Matters.
From this anonymous, partly eyewitness accout called Gesta
Francorum, read the brief Intro, No. 4, No. 5, No. 8, and Nos. 10
through 17
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/gesta-cde.asp#godfrey
Oct 6--Fall Break--No Class
Oct 9—College issues: Sources--Primary Documents
and the Internet
Oct 11—Midterm
Exam--bring a greenbook, that is, a test booklet, and a
couple of pens, not pencils or anything erasable.
Oct 13--The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and
the Second Crusade. Text ch. 3.
Watch this pretty good documentary, only 9 min., on the
Second Crusade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5c_R9BGDcw
(also be reading the
substantial primary sources for the next weeks)
Oct 16—The
Decline of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Read Text ch. 4
Oct 18—Middle Eastern Sources
The Chronicle of ibn al-Athir, pp. 1-4 (pdf
pp. 8-10) and pp. 12-22 (pdf pp. 8-20).
Usamah ibn Munqidh, The Book of
Contemplation, pdf pp.
15-27
and read
same guy, An Arab-Syrian Gentleman and Warrior, pp.
46-59 (pdf 6-16)
Oct 20--College Issues:
Discussion of Research and Prep
for the Second Paper.
Paper 1 is due on Thursday, Oct.
19, at 11:59pm via Turnitin.com
Oct 23—College Issues:
Library Visit and Instruction with Librarians
Oct 25--European Sources:
First, download the book Memoirs of the Crusades in pdf:
https://ia802600.us.archive.org/22/items/MemoirsOfTheCrusades/MemoirsOfTheCrusades.pdf
Within this book, read:
Villehardouin Chronicle: 1-20 ( pdf
48-67) and pp. 26-48 (pdf 73-95)
AND
Joinville Chronicle:
173-244 (pdf pp. 220-290)
Oct 27--The
Fourth Crusade.
Text ch. 5.
Oct 30—The
Venetians and Other Italian Participants
Read this fine undergraduate (!!) article:
"A Calculated Crusade: "Venice,
Commerce, and the Fourth Crusade"
Nov 1--Internal European "Crusades"
Read Text ch. 6.
Nov 3--College issues: More on Plagiarism.
Nov 6—The Fifth Crusade: Frederick II Hohenstaufen.
Text ch. 7
AND watch this 38 min. documentary by the Spanish filmmaker Alvaro
Orus on Frederick II.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF1MIGuyn60
Nov 8—St. Louis and his
Crusades.
Text ch. 8.
Nov 10--Modern Middle Eastern interpretations.
Watch at least the first fifteen minutes of the 1963 Egyptian
movie, Saladin (al-Naser Salah el Dine OR Naser Salah el Dine)
Paper 2, research
essay, due on Fri., Nov. 10, at 11:59 pm via Turnitin.com
Nov 13—Some
later Crusades.
Text ch. 9.
Nov 15—Loose Ends.
Text ch. 10,
Conclusion
Nov 17--College issues: Studying for Finals
Nov 20-24—Thanksgiving Break.
Nov 27--Thinking About the Crusades.
Read this thoughtful article: "The Crusades:
Consequences and Effects"
https://www.ancient.eu/article/1273/the-crusades-consequences--effects/
Nov 29--No Class
Dec 1--No Class
Exam Week begins on Monday, Dec. 4.