HST697: Order and disorder around the year 1000
15 credits (semester 1)
Module Leader: Dr Charles West
| Module Summary |
Medieval European society used to be considered lawless and violent, and at no time more so than around the year 1000, in the wake of the collapse of Carolingian order. However, many historians have turned away from working out what fragmented society in this period towards investigating what bound it together. This module examines five 'axes of order', social forces that have been understood to have structured – in very different ways – medieval European society c.950-c.1050: namely the state, the Church, feud and kinship, gender, and the gift. With these themes in mind, this module will evaluate how far this really was a 'disordered' society, and how (or whether) anthropology can help the historian with these issues. Following the weight of the historiography, the course concentrates on Francia, but it will be possible to broaden the investigation to contemporary Anglo-Saxon England and Byzantium too, to elicit contrasts and similarities.
| Module Aims |
This is a diverse field of study, with implications for a wide range of historical issues, and also a hotly contested one, which has benefited from a great deal of recent research and, usefully, translations of relevant sources. The module will thus introduce students both to historiographical debates and to a distinctive range of evidence, from juicy narratives to records of dispute and beyond. Those taking the module will develop an understanding of how historians' interpretations of Europe around the year 1000 have changed and why, and of the material and textual sources that are available to them, and they will be able to put these knowledge into a wider medieval historiographical framework.
| Teaching |
The module will be taught in five, two-hour classes. Each class will focus on one of the 'axes of order', discussing recent historiographical contributions as well as examining selected, and varied, sources. The classes will provide a structured environment for students to debate the topics raised and to share knowledge and perspectives. Students will, in addition, have an individual tutorial in which to discuss the work they will write for assessment for this module.
| Assessment |
Students will complete one or more exercises (totalling a maximum of 3,000 words) which explore one of the key themes raised by an in-depth study of this topic. Students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to handle bibliographical resources, a critical understanding of different methodological approaches and available primary sources, and an independent engagement with current historiographical debate.
| Intended Learning Outcomes |
By the end of the module a candidate will be able to demonstrate:
- The ability to evaluate and analyse sources for the study of European society around the year 1000.
- An understanding of the benefits and risks associated with interdisciplinarity.
- The ability to assess the effect and working of the social forces which integrated medieval European society around the year 1000.
- A capacity for informed and critical historical analysis.
- An ability to elaborate and defend an intellectual position and to present scholarly arguments and historiographical debates both orally and in writing.