Time and Location
M, W, F between 10:40 and 11:30
Anderson Hall 019
Description
The Middle Ages were a formative period in the history of France. Irrespective of whether people in the 10th or 11th centuries thought of their land(s) as France, France existed, as did the political obligations to the French king. There has been a recent scholarly effort to dismantle the idea that France existed as such at an early date. Some have dismissed the idea as the product of the 19th-century nationalism, others have focused on regions of France, in an attempt to show how different various parts of the future France were in relation to each other. However, France was clearly a political concept (at the very least) during the reign of Louis VII. Louis’s title nonetheless still made reference to the Franks, for he was a rex Francorum. Suger, who wrote a biography of the king’s father, called the country regnum Franciae, the kingdom of France. Territory, not ethnicity was what mattered in the 12th century. A clear distinction between the French and the other peoples of Europe came with the Second Crusade, in which there was an opportunity to meet Germans in large numbers, who, though still perceived as Franci, were not French. With Breton, Basque, and Flemish pushed to the peripheries, a sense of linguistic commonality (if not yet uniformity) is expressed in the literary explosion of the 12th century. To look back from that century means therefore to understand how the basic elements of Frankish history became French. To look forward for another century or so, is to see how France began to be built.
This course is designed as a chronological and topical introduction to the history of medieval France, from the abandonment of the Roman province of Gaul to the beginning of the Hundred Years War. Since this is a survey, it is impossible to cover everything. Instead, the course will offer a selection of representative topics from a much larger possible list. We will examine some of the key political, economic, and social developments that had historical significance, the growth of the Church and its relation to the State, and the growth of urban culture in medieval France. Anyone with enough curiosity and desire to learn is welcome.
Textbooks
- Marios Costambeys, Matthew Innes, and Simon MacLean. The Carolingian World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. [hereafter Costambeys]; ISBN 9780521564946; on two-hour reserve in Library West
- Paul Edward Dutton (ed.). Carolingian Civilization. A Reader. 2nd edition. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004. [hereafter Dutton]; ISBN 1551114925.
- Alexander Callander Murray (ed.). From Roman to Merovingian Gaul. North York/Tonawanda: University of Toronto Press, 2008. [hereafter Murray]; ISBN 9781442600959.
- Elizabeth M. Hallam and Charles West. Capetian France, 987-1328. 3rd edition. Abingdon/New York: Routledge, 2020. [hereafter Hallam]; ISBN: 9780429289828; available as e-book through Library West
Assignments and grading policies
There is no attendance policy, but you are responsible for attending all lectures and reading the required texts. Class participation may be taken into account to determine the overall grade. The basis for evaluation of performance will be four quizzes and two exams (Midterm and Final). The unannounced quizzes are exclusively based on primary source readings from your Dutton and Murray books and will consist only of multiple-choice questions (no essay). A careful study of these texts is necessary for a good performance at the quiz. The Midterm and Final exams will cover everything from lectures and readings. Both Midterm and Final will consist of two parts: an identification and/or multiple-choice part, and a short essay, in which you will be asked to synthesize your knowledge of the topic, dropping in facts to show that you understand the concrete aspects of that topic. Only the Midterm will be cumulative. In other words, the Final examination will cover only the material since the Midterm examination. Make-up Midterm and Final exam will be given for very serious reasons, in which case you will have to produce some official proof. There is no make-up for quizzes. Extra-credit work will be accepted only for students with active participation in class discussions. The format of the extra-credit option shall be discussed with the instructor during regular office hours. The following point system will be used in determining the final grade:
Quizzes: 40 points
Midterm: 30 points
Final exam: 30 points
Total: 100 points
The following scale will be used in determining your final grade.
| Points | Grade |
| 97-100 | A |
| 93-96 | A- |
| 88-92 | B+ |
| 81-87 | B |
| 75-80 | B- |
| 68-74 | C+ |
| 61-67 | C |
| 55-60 | C- |
| 48-54 | D+ |
| 41-47 | D |
| 35-40 | D- |
| under 30 | E |