Friday, 18 May 2012

The Story of the Middle Ages

Week 12: Exam Review


Hi everyone!

This will be the last blog post for our unit! :( No need to worry about commenting this week, the information here is just to help you continue preparing and revising for the exam.

Before I get started with my exam revision tips please do take a moment to click on the following link and fill in the attached survey on the tutorial blogs. Clare and I would really value your feedback on the blog aspect of this course we have tried this year. This is the first year we have incorporated blogs into the unit and your feedback will help us improve any online teaching component included in future years. Please go on and have your say!

Click here to take survey

Remember that the exam for our unit will be held next Wednesday (May 23rd) at our usual lecture time of 10am. You will have two hours to write a 1000 word essay on the given exam question and primary source extracts. If you are unable to attend our exam time you can also write the exam at Clayton (on Monday, May 21st at 10am), or email Clare to request an alternate sitting.

In preparing for the exam you may wish to......


Look over the mock test on Blackboard – practice creating an essay outline
Look over all lecture notes
- Review primary sources: chronology, thematic significance, relationships between texts
- Remember your document analysis skills: The 5 ‘W’ Questions
- Create a timeline of sources
- Review key themes and how they are connected
For fun I've pasted a couple of links below to some quirky youtube history videos. One of your classmates discovered them and brought them to my attention. To me they contain the right mixture of humour, fun and geekiness that history is all about! As a revision exercise watch these videos and see what interpretations you agree with, and which you don't. Why do you agree with some and perhaps not others? What have you learned in our course to help you support or critique the arguments presented in these videos? For instance I think he's missing the boat big time on the backwardness of Europe during the 'Dark Ages' but that video is a great intro into understanding what was happening in other parts of the world during the European Middle Ages. I hope you enjoy! There are loads of videos in the series but I've just pasted three here that I think are particularly relevant to us.
Finally, as another revision exercise, I've included a medieval image below that is quite famous. Using your knowledge of the Middle Ages learned in our course what could you tell someone about the Middle Ages from looking at this image? What key themes and concepts does it combine?

God the Geometer - Codex Vindobonensis 2554
French, c.1250


I wish everyone the best of luck with the exam and your future history endevours! If anyone has any last-minute questions about any of the course material please let me know via email.

All the best,

Diana

Thursday, 10 May 2012

The Black Death: Europe in the Later Middle Ages

Hi everyone,

Before beginning this week's blog post I've been asked to pass along a message from Clare.


Dear Students,
You will have received en email from SETU (Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units), inviting you to evaluate ATS 1316. Please do so! We really want to know what you think.
These surveys are taken extremely seriously by the University. They are used when staff members apply for promotion, or for other jobs. They are also used to make changes to the units for next year, drawing on student comments. These blogs, for example, emerged out of comments by students that they sometimes felt disconnected during first year. Hence, we have tried to build community and encourage your readings by running these blogs.
So let us know what you think of the unit. YOU ARE VERY POWERFUL!
Many thanks, Clare

 ...

Week 11: Famine and Disease: The Calamitous 14th Century - Tutorial Discussion Post
By: Louise, Ryan, Laura and Suzanne

Ryan's thoughts,

Question 1:
Explain the nature of the ‘flourishing urban civilization’ that Margaret King describes in Italy prior to the Black Death. What were the economic foundations of the civilizations of Florence and Venice?

In the years prior to the Black Death both Venice and Florence were extremely prosperous and productive. The wealth these cities produced attracted an increasing population, which in turn led to the cities dramatically increasing in size. In Florence the two main industries credited to the wealth of the city were banking and the wool industry. Venice, on the other hand, focused on trade and shipbuilding. Both cities were open to private enterprises which generated new ideas and more employment which aided the economy and prosperity further. The men who helped run the cities were merchants and had interests within their city to make it attractive and easy for trade to continue under their authoritative control.

Florence in the later Middle Ages

Venice in the 14th Century
















Suzanne's thoughts,
QUESTION 3
Does the extract from Petrarch’s Letter to Posterity indicate an optimistic or pessimistic sense of legacy?

This week's reading were clear and informative. We were represented with a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, highlighting the abundant economic and civic prosperity of European cities before the devastation of the black death in 1348. It is particularly sad to read because just as Europe’s people were enjoying the benefits of a civilised urban culture, were they so quickly plunged into the darkness of unimaginable suffering and dismay.

In his Letter to Posterity, Petrarch confesses that he wished he could live in any other time but his own. Although Europe had at last entered an age of economic abundance, Petrarch felt that it was also a time of ignorance and intellectual neglect. Petrarch was interested in exploring the every-day issues that were apparent in his own time such as ‘the nature of religious life, the striving for fame, the passion of love and the value of different forms of knowledge”.
The passage reads as a type of confession, a short twelve-page document, written for the people of the future. In my opinion, Petriarch writes with a pessimistic tone, rather than describing himself as the embodiment of perfection, he is candid and honest about his life and his achievements. He doesn’t embellish his intellectual triumphs but speaks introspectively of his faults and humanness.  The passage opens with “you may have heard something about me- although it is doubtful that my poor little name will travel in space and time”. I think Petrarch’s honesty is refreshing and that the passage is most important because it is one of the first instances of self-realization in historical texts. Above anything else, it is a diary chronicles a man’s thoughts and dreams.  This modern outlook has gained Petrarch the title of “Father of the Renaissance” by modern scholars.

Petrarch



Louise's thoughts,
Overall, I found the readings for this week very interesting, particularly the development of a large and structured society and the forms of government which they developed which were so unlike the feudal societies they paralleled with. And yet, they worked so much better, keeping the people perfectly happy for hundreds of years, allowing the cities to flourish and grow because many people would have wanted to live in them. I chose question four, because I am particularly interested in how the Plague affected the very structure of these self-governing cities.

4.  How does King characterise the economic and social impact of the Black Death?
Margaret King uses very graphic primary sources to help her describe the impact of the Black Death, accounts from people who were in the midst of the events of the plague. They describe a complete breakdown of society, where no one supported anyone else and family members abandoned each other, husbands and wives, parents and children. Often doctors would refuse to treat people because there was nothing they could do and they did not wish to be infected themselves. Families would just drag their dead into the street, bury them themselves, or allow them to be thrown into mass graves. The governing bodies attempted to curb the infections by quarantining certain areas.
The economy went mad, servants were difficult to find, and even then, their pay was highly inflated. The same was true of doctors, who could only be tempted to treat someone at an extremely high rate of pay.  

Victims of the Black Death

Thursday, 3 May 2012

The Sack of Constantinople and Later Crusading

Week 10: Courtly Culture and Literature in the Middle Ages/ Later Crusading
Tutorial Discussion Post
By: Stacey-Lea, Asira and James


James' thoughts

Question 1: Steven Runciman locates reasons for the failure of the subsequent crusades in the events of the First Crusade. Summarise his argument in relation to the First Crusade in particular.

Runciman's argument is based on the fact that while the crusaders were initially successful in their quest, this success eventually brought about the end of the  Byzantine Empire. The Emperor at the time, Alexius of Byzantium, was actively searching for mercenary soldiers to enrol in his army. This was, simply put, designed to ensure that Alexius maintained control. Urban II responded with a passionate plea for help (we studied this in chapter 8, he basically outlined why the average person owed it to their country to help the crusades and basically promised forgiveness of their sins in order to commit) and instead of mercenaries, Urban II inspired about a thousand Frankish knights to join the fight. Compared to the Byzantines the Franks were brutish and barbarian, and a cultural clash became more and more likely until they began to fight amongst themselves. This fighting eventually paved the way for the Muslims to recapture the Holy Land. It is important to note that these cultural issues had never really been a problem due to the geographical location of both Empires and a distinct lack of contact. The most crucial factor is the lack of control/opportunity Alexius had finding troops, usually Alexius relied on the support Byzantine troops for numbers, but with the Byzantines waging war themselves, this was not an option and help from the Turks was also not possible as even those not involved in the war would not fight against other Turks.  

Question 2: What does he mean by a 'melancholy of misunderstandings' throughout the first crusade? 

The first crucial misunderstanding as mentioned in question 1 was Urban's speech and the consequences of the speech. Instead of acquiring mercenaries as planned, Urban II paved the way for Frankish knights to join the fight who were initially useful before cultural misunderstanding ensued which left the two factions at war amongst themselves, eventually paving the way for the Muslims to recapture the Holy Land and essentially spelled the doom of the Byzantine Empire.



The crusading army approaching Constantinople
Stacey-Lea's thoughts,


I personally find that the Crusades are a highly controversial aspect of Christendom. While I have barely any knowledge of Christendom in any way, I feel the reasoning behind the Crusades is somewhat flawed. Under the pretence of ‘love’ Christians went into battle and while reading I thought of what we now know as Patriotism, and whether these acts are of a similar principle. Only over the ‘love’ of other Christians rather than of their country, it still seems to me that the wars of today, now that we haven’t got conscription for battles, are calling upon perhaps a similar ideal (obviously talking to someone currently battling would reveal more information on this matter).
In the third reading I found it particularly interesting that the Fourth Crusade ended up on a completely different path to what it had originally set out for. This was due to poor dealings which I feel if it were a true act the love of God, perhaps dealing wouldn’t be so prominent? It seems a little out of character for those who are claiming to be humble. I also found the siege of Constantinople and the subjection to three days of pillaging as well as looting, rape and murder of the Greeks to be completely unnatural. These are members of a Christian faith and I feel that these actions disbar the ideals of Christendom.
However, the aspect of propaganda all through the crusading time is intriguing. In this time there wasn’t much chance of education and those who had it were generally the ones propelling the propaganda anyway. The lack of education to those who were being preached to seemed to have caused a confusion toward the understanding of what it meant to go on a Crusade (personal opinion, of course). In perpetuating the idea of if you were to go on the Crusade it was for the love of God, and that they would be ‘soldiers of Christ’, was the strongest message in the sermons from the leaders. Along with this the love of thy neighbour and thy enemy became entangled until the actions of what the Crusaders were truly doing became to some extent lost, as seen in the call from Byzantium in the second reading.

Q3. Jonathan Riley-Smith asks whether or not we consider ‘Crusading as an Act of Love’, what does he mean by this?
Jonathan Riley-Smith looks at all aspects of Crusading and through this finds the propaganda around the act that so often called into question one's love of Christ, and it was the love of Christ that called Christian ‘warriors’ to give up their possessions, take the cross and follow. Riley-Smith calls into question the love of enemies, hardly regarded by the crusade preachers, which is where the change in the Church’s aversion toward violence became prominent. Through the exploration of the preachings from this time, Riley-Smith defines which aspects of love were highlighted to the Christians to get them to fight, and calls into question whether it was wholly an act of love, including these other aspects.
Q4. What evidence does Riley-Smith use to argue that a theological notion of love underpinned Crusading?
Much of Riley-Smith’s evidence comes from the crusade preachers as well as letters between authorities as well as direct passages and an anonymous twelfth-century poet. Each set of direct evidence that Riley-Smith calls on denotes in some fashion the love of God which then transforms into taking the cross. Riley-Smith highlights the blind devotion of the crusaders as well through passages saying that the crusaders would renounce earthly desires and possessions so as to follow the path of Christ. Concentrating on passages from Christ, Riley-Smith backs up his arguments of devotion and love that the crusaders had as well as their actions when taking the cross.


Asira's thoughts,


I found this weeks readings were not what I was expecting them to be as I had my mind set on crusading as an act of love meaning ‘love’ in a romantic sense. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was about faith and devotion to God which reinforced, in my mind, just how important religion was in the Middle Ages. My favourite part of the readings was reading about the Forth Crusade in ‘The Crusades A Reader’ by Allen and Amt. What I liked most about it were how the accounts were written and made me feel as if I was there during the voyage of the crusaders.

5. Discuss the events of the Fourth Crusade, as outlined in the primary sources. Reconstruct the chronology of events for the class.

1198: Pope Innocent III succeeded to the papacy and the aim of his pontificate was the calling of a crusade. Many of the European monarchs ignored his call due to their own struggles.
1199: A crusading army was organised by Count Thibaut of Champagne at a tournament and envoys were sent to Venice and Genoa to arrange transport to Egypt which was the object of the crusade. The doge of Venice opened negotiations and organised transport for 38,000 crusaders and food for nine months all in exchange for a payment of 85,000 silver marks.
1202: Pope Innocent III announced the prohibition of attacks on any Christian state. When the pilgrims arrived in Venice, they were no more than 1,000 knights and 50,000 or 60,000 foot-soldiers. The doge of Venice demanded his payment be made nonetheless for the promised amount and the pilgrims were reduced to extreme poverty while still owing 36,000 marks. That winter the doge proposed the army travel to the city of Zara. He wanted to punish the people because of the evils he accused them of and claimed the pilgrims would find supplies there in plenty for the city was rich. In Zara, on November 11, messengers of the city approached the doge and offered to surrender the city and their property in exchange for their lives. The doge was advised to accept the proposal by the barons and counts but found the messengers gone from his tent when he returned. The plan of surrender was given up by them. Though the people of Zara waved flags in their windows to prove their Christianity, the crusaders attacked the city for five days until the surrender was reoffered. The doge remained in Zara until Easter. When Zara was taken, Pope Innocent III excommunicated the crusaders for defying his prohibition.
1203: The crusaders were too poor to travel further and so Boniface of Montferrat proposed they travel to Constantinople and take provisions there. To do this they helped reinstate the claimant of the Byzantine throne, Alexios IV Angelos, and his father. When the crusaders later went to him to ask for their payment in return for their services, Alexios denied them anything and commanded them to leave his lands. The doge then spoke with the emperor who refused still.
1204 (Sack of Constantinople): The crusaders attacked Constantinople in 1203 but were unsuccessful in their initial attack until 1204 when weather conditions aided the Venetian ships to get closer to the city so they could enter. Alexios and his father both died during the siege. The pilgrims maintained that it was because of their sins they had failed to capture the city or achieve anything, but the bishops and clergy announced their war was a righteous one and they should attack the Greeks. The attack on Constantinople, it is said, was motivated by an age-old cultural and religious antagonism between the Latins and the Greeks based on the ‘Massacre of the Latins’ in 1182. The city was looted and Byzantium’s holy relics were taken. When the crusaders returned to Rome, Pope Innocent III welcomed them home and accepted them back into the Church.



6. Explain why the Fourth Crusade was so controversial, discuss with reference to the various accounts in the primary sources.

The diversion to Constantinople caused much controversy during the time of the Fourth Crusade. When Pope Innocent III heard of the attacks and the conduct of the pilgrims he reprimanded them for their siege on Constantinople and was ashamed. He claimed the crusaders were seeking their own ends and not that of Jesus Christ for whom the crusade was supposed to be dedicated. He admonished them for their sacrilege to the Church by plundering and sullying the holy places. This was the worst of their crimes, wrote Niketas Choniates in his account of the Sack. Many sacred relics and materials, including the altar, were destroyed by the crusaders. They looted, raped and murdered the Greeks and the estimated amount looted was around 900,000 silver marks. However, Pope Innocent’s welcoming of the crusaders on their return to Rome caused much deliberation over whether he was truly outraged, or the journey to Constantinople had been planned all along.

...


Hi everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment with this week's blog post and highlight a couple of links you all may find interesting. 

Firstly, you may wish to check out the online access to an exhibit currently being held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It is entitled 'The Romance of the Middle Ages' and I think may be interesting to check out especially as this week in lecture we will be learning all about courtly love and culture during the Middle Ages. Part of my own work involves the study of courtly love so I couldn't resist telling you all about this!


Exhibition Poster
Secondly, here is a link to the medieval and renaissance courses Monash offers in November-December of every year in Prato, Italy. Clare mentioned them in our last lecture and I've posted the link here for anyone who wishes to find out more information. Who doesn't love Italy right?



All the best,

Diana

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Francis & Dominic: The Rise of the Mendicant Orders

Week 9: Francis and Dominic - Poverty and City Life: Tutorial Discussion Post
By: Will, Joe, Ollie and Emily


Will's thoughts,


The readings this week reflect the formation of a new society in medieval Europe. That is to say, that a great deal of influential changes come into effect. Urbanisation occurred, and this is particularly influential as it changed the whole mind-frame of the society. The concept of feudalism was disbanded and society valued things not on birth and family, but on possessions and property, on material wealth. We also take note of the fusion between military orders of the religious and the warrior in that the religious life and the code of chivalry seemed to merge. Law changed as well, as practices of justice were now observed upon the basis of the seriousness of faults and crimes, considered in relation to the scale of facts, and to the situation and intention of the sinner. Perhaps most interesting, however, is the Church itself also changed, seemingly plunging into one of its darker periods in history, perhaps corresponding to the new mind-set for material wealth. With a series of reforms (It must be noted that the reforms of the Church were also in response to the changing world, in an effort to adapt to outside events as well as inspired by other less noble factors), some revealing setbacks such as the crusades deviating from their original purpose, to the inability of the Church to adapt to a new society of money, new forms of violence, and a new sense of temptation inflicted upon citizens of medieval Europe, it is made clear that the Church too had dramatically changed, at the turning of this new society. It would seem that as urbanisation occurred, the Church seemed to spiral into one of its most morally incorrect points in its expansive history. It is likely for this reason that Francis of Assisi is also mentioned in the readings, for he was a child of the town, growing up a merchant's son, and fixed firmly into the newly urbanised society. However, he also wanted to live a life of devout poverty and redefine the values of the Church, attempting to prove that even the lay people were worthy and capable of leading a truly apostolic life. I find the most interesting segment of this chapter, however, is the greed that seems to form, and how the Church responded to said greed.

Painting of Pope Innocent III


From Celano’s stories, how do you understand Francis’ relationship with the natural world?
Francis relationship with the natural world seems initially to be of an odd nature, as his entire life and comprehension of the world was based on his urban upbringing. In terms of his initial reaction with the natural world, he would have been a man concerned with material wealth and maximised utility. However, in achieving what seems to be an overwhelming epiphany, Francis disbanded his life of material wealth for a life of total poverty and worship to God. Hence his relationship with the natural world is particularly intimate, as he no longer saw it as a means to improve wealth, but as a creation of God, that must be comprehended and respected everyday, as is reflected in his constant and touching intimacy with the animals he encountered on his journeys. Thus, his relationship is one of great spirituality, as his life moved so drastically in terms of priorities, from that of one concerned with harvesting the world for wealth, to coexisting with the world, to achieve peace. 

St Francis after
reforming his life

A painting of urban life during the time of St Francis




















Ollie's thoughts,

We see initially in the first reading that life, especially in the agricultural sector, was beginning to flourish. This dramatic improvement in the agricultural way of life is demonstrated by the use of more efficient farming techniques, i.e horses used instead of oxen, better and more diverse crops and the start of mechanisation. In this time of change, like in the agricultural sector, we see urbanisation take place, where the towns now became focal points and places where trade could be undertaken.
The second reading by Slocum goes into detail about the Inquisition where heretics were persecuted by the Church who regarded heresy “as treason against society”. This attempt to find the heretics demonstrates in my eyes, that the Church at this point was beginning to feel s
omewhat threatened and needed to assert its authority over society. Slocum also includes information on two Mendicant orders, the Franciscan and Dominican orders. These orders were groups of friars who went around Europe exerting the Christian faith and reaffirming heretics’ trust in the Christian Church. Interestingly we see that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that Christ was now not portrayed as a ruler but as a kind and loving person who gave his life for others.
In the third article on Francis of Assisi we are given an insight into why this famous saint was canonized and what made him an extraordinary human being. Overall I found these readings to be quite interesting, in that it gave a sense of what life was like for Christians and the Church during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Q1. Summarise Slocum’s explanation of the foundation of the Franciscan Order
The foundation of the Franciscan Order is one of preaching the positive attributes that the apostolic life has to offer by example. The Franciscans believed that one should only need the very basics for life and there was no need for great wealth. The Order proceeded to eat only what they needed, posses only what they had on their backs and to give whatever wealth they had to the poor.  Similarly we see that the Order as well had to live with and amongst the people instead of becoming isolated in their quest to become closer to God. Unlike many other orders the Franciscans did not have to answer to any bishop or cardinal, they spoke directly to the Pope since they were given approval by the Pope. In the simplest terms the Franciscan Order attempted to follow in Jesus' footsteps and to live life the way he did, which was for others.

Q2. Summarise Slocum’s explanation of the foundation of the Dominicans order
The Dominicans unlike the Franciscans emphasized learning and education in such a way that resembles early Christian teachings. The Dominicans, with their focus being on education, went from town to town to instil the Christian message without any formal place of residence. Unlike the Franciscans who lived as Christ did the Dominicans attempted to live their life as apostolic as possible, where they would preach the word of Christ through education. Furthermore, one of the most pivotal features of the Dominican order was the hierarchy system. Each member was voted into certain ranks, that person would then be responsible for the rest of the members below him. In addition, unlike many other orders the Dominicans did not have to answer to any bishop or cardinal, they voiced their opinions directly to the Pope since they, like the Franciscans, were accepted by the Pope as a ‘legitimate’ order. Overall the Dominicans lived a life of education, where life was lived on the road as they believed that it was the best way to expand the teachings of the Christian Church.

St Francis preaching to the birds - by Giotto
Joe's thoughts,

This week’s readings focused on two religious groups, the Franciscans and the Dominicans. Both of which focused on living a holy life, however, they did have some minor differences. It seems as though both were driven by their leaders Francis of Assisi and Dominic Guzman. The rise of both groups highlights the power and significance of religion in medieval Europe, as these men were able to encourage others to join their groups and live lives heavily focused around piety and spirituality. 

In Celano’s account of Francis’s life, with what values does he imbue the figure of Francis? Discuss with examples from the text.

Celano uses his account of Francis’s life to imbue values such as humility, divinity, spirituality and an amazing affinity with nature and animals.
Celano suggests Francis became a man of profound humility after rejecting “his former life and father’s” ideologies, which were focused around trade and material wealth, rather then spiritual development. This is clear through Celano’s description of Francis as a “servant of the most high”, and is further compounded when Francis “stripped off his clothes and threw them aside… and stood in front of everyone”. Furthermore Celano explores “the Franciscan emphasis on humility”, implying that it is a pivotal aspect of the order as a whole, along with being a key value held by Francis himself.
Celano also explores Francis’ deep divinity and piety, suggesting that it was one of his foremost values. This is initially established after “the crucifix moved its lips and began to speak” while Francis was visiting “the church of St. Damien”. This divine moment acted as a major catalyst in Francis’s life, prompting a change leading to “holy passion [which was] deeply imprinted in his heart”. Similarly Celano highlights Francis’s divinity after a bishop sensed that he was “divinely inspired”. This is compounded as Francis discovered that “Christ’s disciples were supposed to possess neither gold… nor bread… nor tunics”, prompting him to claim “This is what I want! This is what I’m looking for!” A discovery which lead Francis to abandon his “shoes… staff… [and be] satisfied with a single tunic”.

St Francis receiving the stigmata - by Giotto

Emily's thoughts

The readings this week follow the shift in social culture, in turn affecting every aspect of medieval life such as the economy, social hierarchy and religion.  With the rapid expansion of urbanization we see towns entering a form of industrialization and social environments adapting to its time. This adaption sees the role of power falling into the hands of people such as merchants who run trade, therefore the money. Consequently society no longer recognizes power in terms of birth and family but rather possession and property. The power of wealth is undoubtedly a main cause of the deterioration of feudalism.
In the mist of this transition a new form of spirituality was adopted with Christ portrayed as suffering rather then righteous. The readings also examine heavily Francis Assisi and his reasons towards an apostolic life, which is mirrored in the rise of urbanization.

Q. Le Goff places Francis life in the context of increased urbanization. What argument does Le Goff make about the impact of urban life upon Francis’ religious life?

With the dramatic increase in population and movement of urbanization in the medieval West it is no surprise that the surrounding environment affected Francis’s life and in turn his religious life. In a sense the powerful movement of urbanization also saw a movement of social structure. Social inequality was based on possession and poverty rather than birth and family. Le Goff’s focus point of his argument is stated in the first few lines of the text when discussing increasing population, ‘All these people had to be fed, materially and spiritually’, which is soon followed by the introduction of urbanization. In times of social and economic shifts the doors to foreign ideologies appear to gain more ground and appeal to the public. With the rise of urbanization Le Goff explains that the holy burghers, lay people and Mendicant friars accepted towns. Merchants controlled the trade, which in turn controlled the money. With the merchants following Christendom, which was very fragmented due to the economic and social environment, a new form of currency system was developed which took over the function of the monasteries. Therefore, with Christendom being run by those powerful in towns, the shift of religion shifted with the growth of urbanization. Le Goff illustrates that with urbanization promoting the power of possession and property, consumerism and ‘greed’ were seen to mirror society. This new form of society changed the Church. The social and economical environment opened the doors for Francis’s religious beliefs in greed and bourgeoisies consumerism, resulting in the introduction of apostolic life.






Saturday, 21 April 2012

*** Lecture Recording Problems ***

Hi everyone

There have been some problems with the lecture recordings for Week 7. Please note the following message from Clare. If anyone is writing their essay topic on Week 7 and missed the lecture please let me know asap as I may be able to meet with you to go over the material.

'Unfortunately the audio of the week 7 lectures have not been recorded. The slides are available, however, on both MULO and Blackboard. I am very sorry for the inconvenience, but sometimes technology does fail. I know that some of you have clashes and need to rely on the recordings. I would urge, however, those of you who can attend the lectures to do so, because that is the only absolutely guaranteed way that you have of hearing the material'


Any questions or concerns at all please just let me know.

All the best,

Diana

Thursday, 19 April 2012

Early Crusading

Week 8: Early Crusading - Tutorial Discussion Post


Hi everyone!

Remember that this week we will not be having lectures or tutorials due to the ANZAC day public holiday. However, you are all expected to comment on this blog post and your comments this week will form your participation mark for the week.

A couple of quick notes before I get into the topic for this week.

1) You may have noticed that I have set up a poll on the right-hand bar of the blog on the library tutorial. I would be extremely grateful if you could take a second to vote on how useful (or not) you found the library tutorial I ran in Week 6. This will help me improve my lesson in future years and will also provide myself and Clare with valuable feedback on the usefulness of the library tutorial in general.

2) Week 9 presenters - remember that your blog post is due (emailed to me) by 12pm, Thursday April 26th
.........

Right! On to the Crusades!

I know that we have already had a lecture on the First Crusade but we have yet to have an opportunity to discuss it. Now is the time! Our readings for this week, you'll have noticed, consist of a number of accounts of Pope Urban II's speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095 in which he put out the call for the First Crusade. Our secondary source is an article by Christopher Tyerman on the development of the Crusading ideal and how it was intertwined with European society at the time. Christopher Tyerman is a leading historian of the Crusades and later this term we will be introduced to the work of another expert, Jonathan Riley-Smith.

I'd like everyone to focus this week on the tutorial discussion questions in the reader when considering their comments as I think the questions are quite comprehensive. I've added a couple of questions about the primary source to also help get folks thinking about the complex issue of crusading.

Christians and Muslims in battle during the Crusades


Questions:

1) Discuss the accounts of Urban's speech. In what ways do they differ?
2) What reasons can you give for these variations?
3) According to Urban, who are the enemies of Christendom? How are they characterized? (ie. by ethnicity, religion, etc.) Does Urban seem to have any understanding of Islam?
4) Why should Christians go on crusade? What benefits will they receive according to Urban?
5) What goal does Urban set for the crusaders? What is their mission to the Holy Land meant to achieve?
6) Where is the Holy Land?

7) Tyerman locates the origin of the crusades in a particular 'symbiosis of interests and values'. What does he mean by this?
8) Tyerman argues that although crusading emerges out of a distinctive tradition in the Latin West, it also contained unique and novel features. What are these features?
9) What does Tyerman mean when he says that ' crusading was not a monolithic movement'?
10) Tyerman says that the effect of the crusades on Europe and Europeans tended to be of 3 sorts, what were they?

*** As always your posts can reflect on these questions or on any other aspects of the readings you found interesting or challenging ***


Pope Urban II calling the First Crusade

......

Finally I'd just like to draw everyone's attention here to a wonderful exhibit of medieval Persian manuscripts that is currently on at the State Library of Victoria. In our course we only briefly encounter the medieval Islamic world and for anyone interested in understanding more about the culture of the Middle East in this period I highly recommend going to this exhibit. It's absolutely beautiful!

http://exhibitions.slv.vic.gov.au/love-and-devotion

From the State Library Exhibit 'Love and Devotion'

From the State Library Exhibit 'Love and Devotion'


Thursday, 12 April 2012

Eve, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary - Medieval Women and Gender Roles

Week 7: Relics and Devotional Life / Medieval Men and Women - Tutorial Discussion Post
By: Emily, Jessica and Claire



Here are some photos to show the duties and tasks of the Medieval woman.



Emily
I was so excited about this week's readings. I am so glad I chose gender for my research assignment and am so excited to get started. I especially found the view of women in Christian theology of most interest. It is interesting to see how women were categorized as the source of sin. I also found Mary Magdalene's story interesting, as she became the example that most women could imitate, as she was a sinner like most humans.

Claire
Women in the medieval west were seen through the ideas of the Bible and Christian tradition. That is, they were regarded as morally and physically weaker and thus were treated so. When I was studying the lives and duties of these women I thought it was interesting to note that nearly all our information and primary sources about the lives of women in this era was written by upper class men or priests. Also, that 90% of these women were peasants so it is valid to wonder about how accurate the information on the lives of these women is, as well as that the vast majority of women lived their lives by the hand of their husband and duties as a wife and mother.
The first readings of this week were on the relics and devotional life of women. Two of the most famous women that we researched are the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. Mary was revered during this period as she was the unattainable idea, being both a virgin and a mother. However, despite her sinlessness, Mary Magdalene was shown greater reverence and held in greater glory as she was a “everywoman” and a repentant sinner, so for most women of this period, they could easily relate to her.
How women lived and survived at this time was for many a struggle, against the men whom they belonged too, whether it was a husband, father or uncle and against the restrictions and limitations that society and the Church forced upon them. However, some women managed to rise above this and inspired other women to push the boundaries.

Jessica
This week’s readings are all about the lives of women in the Middle Ages. There is a strong focus on marriage and the roles of women depending on their sexual status (either as virgins, wives or widows), but there is also a bit of a focus on religious women and how laywomen were expected to behave based on these role models.
The first reading is a compilation of religious excerpts describing the roles of women such as the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and Scholastica, who, as some us hopefully all remember, was Benedict’s sister. The original sin of Eve is portrayed as woman’s ‘betrayal’ of man, leading people of the Middle Ages to believe the idea that man is superior to woman. However, the status of women is somewhat redeemed by the Virgin Mary, pure and wholesome, both virgin and mother of God.
Mary was an unrealistic role model for women in that she is an ‘unattainable ideal’, but Mary Magdalene, an extreme sinner who was redeemed by Christ, offered a more identifiable character. The writings (mostly by men) state that, even though she had sinned quite a lot, she was able to become one of Christ’s top followers.
Marriage and the roles of sex are visited later in the readings. It was generally seen that sex was a bestial act, a sin unless for the purpose of procreating even within a marriage. It was forbidden to engage in sexual relations when one was barren or pregnant, as they could not lead to offspring (and sex during the latter state could taint the baby). It was also illegal to engage in sexual relations during menstruation – people feared that any child conceived during this time would be an abomination!
It is very interesting to look back upon the role of marriage in the Middle Ages – women were basically prizes bestowed upon men who were, on average, ten years older than them. They were slaves to their husband and had to obey them completely – something we now think of as barbaric. Marriage was the only option for women, who (in the upper classes) didn’t work unless it was some kind of needlework to keep their hands busy and chase away idle thoughts.

Tutorial Discussion Questions:

Emily
Q1. From your reading of the documents, what view of women is implied in Christian Theology? 
From the readings, I found that most women were viewed in a contradictory light. Christianity preached equality, however, women were seen as morally and physically weaker then men. They were also perceived through the role which Eve played. She was made through Adam and was, as stated in the bible, his 'helper'. Evidently, roughly 90% of European women lived in the countryside dependent upon the land. Furthermore, the readings brought to my attention that society put full responsibility of mankind's sin on women. It was Eve who took the first bite of the forbidden fruit. In this way, women were seen as the source of all sin and were thus disrespected. However, some argue (such as St. Clair) that it was also a woman who restored life. Mary was chosen by God to give birth to Jesus Christ who evidently suffered and died for us. On the other hand, Mary was an ' unattainable’ ideal for women in the Middle Ages to follow. Moreover, women could also live a religiously individual lifestyle, although 
parallel to male religious orders.

Claire
Question 2: How are women such as Eve, Mary, Mary Magdalene and Scholastica characterised in these texts?
Women in the Medieval period were regarded as morally and physically weaker, and constantly tempted by desires, always needing protection and supervision by their men to ensure they did not sin. However, some women exceeded expectations for their lives and became saints in the eyes of Christians. Eve was the first women, made from one of the ribs of Adam, and is the mother of all living things. The story of Eve is how the serpent beguiled her into eating a piece of fruit from the tree of knowledge and then gave some to her husband. This act led God to punish them for their disobedience and punish them with the need to toil for their food for the rest of their lives. This story is told to highlight the inherent weakness of women. The virgin Mary is characterised as the “unattainable ideal” as she was both the mother of Jesus yet still a virgin, therefore, sinless. Virgins in this time were held with reverence, for their innocence, so Mary being both a mother and a virgin was an ideal woman. However, Mary Magdalene was a wealthy and beautiful woman who gave into her pleasures and desires and repeatedly sinned, however, she repented her sins and preached Christ fervently and performed miracles in the name of God. Mary was held in greater glory as she was a everywoman and managed to repent her sins and became a saint. Scholastica, who as we know was Benedict’s sister, would be visited by her brother once a year, and would spend the night in prayers and spiritual talk and praise. She is characterised as a revered and divine woman who lived her life with the preaching of Christ and without sin, and at the time of her death ascended to heaven to the almighty God.

Emily
Q3. From these sources, do you think that sexuality was understood in positive or negative terms? From the sources, I think that women were seen in a negative perspective. Men in the Middle Ages put women into categories. They defined them by their body, gender and through their relationships. They often put women in a sexual status such as virgin, wife or widow. Women were generally not to be heard off. They were to keep their aspirations and opinions to themselves, having utmost obedience towards their brother, father and husband. Furthermore, there was no such thing as love. Women were given into marriage by their father in order to resolve issues with certain family households. In this way, a women was expected to accept the man whom her father chose. Generally the man was roughly ten years older than her. ' She was the embodiment of peace' (page 288) and was expected to maintain harmony between the two families. The only time a woman was allowed to speak against her husband was the refusal of sex whilst pregnant. They believed to have sex whilst pregnant was a grave sin and that the child would be born deformed or shamed. In addition, women were not physiologically mature enough to get married and have children roughly at the ages of 17 to 18.

Jessica
Q3. From these sources, do you think sexuality was understood in positive or negative terms? Sexuality was viewed in an entirely negative light. The only good to come of it was producing children and thus it was illegal to use contraception or in any other way try to prevent impregnation.

Jessica
Q4. What impediments does Klapisch-Zuber see to studying the lives and experiences of medieval women?
Klapisch-Zuber states that it is difficult to study fully the lives of medieval women as many records only pertain to the upper classes, and inaccurate records hinder the process even further. While birth records describe large amounts of children in families, it is very hard to know how many survived their parents, or, in fact, their first few years of life. Personal journals are some of the main sources relied upon, and these may be incorrect or misleading for any number of reasons.

Claire
Question 5: How does Klapisch-Zuber describe the duties of wives in the Middle Ages?
Wives in the Middle Ages, whether they were a peasant or noble born, were responsible for the domestic duties, maintenance of the household and their children. A good wife was a sensible, sweet and temperate women who would regulate the circulation of good within the household, raise the children and teach them the rudiments of reading. She also had to ensure that the house was well maintained, and that when her husband came home, there was dinner of the table and the “pleasures of a hot bath”.  The wife was also expected to direct the servants, if they had them, and punish them if required and to be an example of piety and goodness to the household and ensure they were never insubordinate to her husband. In their spare time, to ensure they were not ideal, they were expected to spin and weave so their hands and “foolish minds” were always occupied. As this shows the women of the Middle Ages had extensive duties and responsibilities in their homes. 

** All questions, comments and reflections welcome ***