Medieval History of Europe: Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Mediterranean World (22250)
Degree/study: Grau en Humanitats
Course: 3r -4t
Term: 3rd
Number of credits ECTS: 5 credits
Study hours: 125
Language of instruction: English
Professor: Dr. Linda G. Jones
Class time: TBA Room TBA
Office hours: TBA , Edifici Jaume I, rm. 20.267
Email: [email protected]
1. Course description *
This course explores the history of the Mediterranean world during the Middle Ages as the history of a region characterized by connectivity through the sustained cultural, social, political, and economic interactions among the various societies that co-existed within the Mediterranean space. Our focus of analysis will be on the following topics: (1) The factors that have contributed to the continued connectivity of the Mediterranean as a meeting place and a crossroads of the movement and exchange of peoples, ideas, and goods since Late Antiquity. (2) The development of the distinctive spheres of the Mediterranean (Christian and Muslim, eastern and western) and the intertwined histories of the Christians, Muslims, and Jews who interacted with each other in the region. Special emphasis will be accorded to analyzing the dynamics of co-existence and the complexities of the intercultural contacts and socio-economic and political relations among the three communities, and to assessing the role played by religion in the unfolding of these relations. (3) An evaluation of some of the most relevant scholarly debates regarding the connectivity or disunity of the Mediterranean (the Pirenne thesis and its critics, among others).
2. Course objectives
2.1. General skills
The ability to think historically
The ability to analyze and synthesize primary historical texts and to relate them to their historical and social context
Oral and written communication skills according to academic criteria
The ability to undertake research using academic historical methods
(*The professor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus, which will be communicated beforehand to the students.)
The skills required to work autonomously and in a group
The ability to appreciate and normalize the cultural diversity of human beings throughout history
2.2. Specific objectives and skills
Knowledge of the principal factors that have shaped the enduring connectivity and unity of the Mediterranean throughout the Middle Ages
Understanding of the processes of Christianization and Islamization of the Mediterranean and of the ensuing consequences for the region
The ability to identify the various zones of contact in the eastern and western Mediterranean and to understand the nature of the cultural, social, political, and economic interactions between them
Understanding of the dynamics of the intercultural contacts and conflicts between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the various zones of the Mediterranean
Basic knowledge of the core scholarship on Mediterranean and of the most important debates on approaching Mediterranean Studies
3. Program of study
Topic 1. General introduction to the Mediterranean: Distinguishing characteristics of connectivity; spheres of contact and influence. Scholarly approaches to Mediterranean Studies.
The making of the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Mediterranean
Topic 2. The religions of the Mediterranean: paganism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
Topic 3. The Christianization of the Mediterranean: social, cultural, political, and economic repercussions. Latin and Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Topic 4. "An Islamic lake?" The Prophet Muhammad, Islam, and the Islamization of the Mediterranean. Muhammad, Charlemagne, and the thesis of Henri Pirenne
Topic 5. The Jews: "a Mediterranean society". Religious minorities in the eastern and western Mediterranean. The dynamics and varieties of inter-communal interactions
Mediterranean "Game of Thrones": zones of power, spheres of cultural, political, and economic connectivity
Topic 6. The Byzantine Empire: the Church and the emergence of the eastern and western Mediterranean (500 to1000 CE).
Topic 7. Sicily and southern Italy: cultural crossroads between Byzantine, Arab-Islamic, and Norman rule (6th to 13th centuries).
Topic 8. Egypt, North Africa, and the Levant: the Mediterranean under the rule of the Fatimids and of the Mamluk Sultanate (10th to 15th centuries)
Topic 9. Al-Andalus, North Africa, Christian Iberia, and the broader Mediterranean. Debating the uniqueness of Iberian "convivencia"
Crossing, challenging, and defending borders
Topic 10. The Crusader States. The Latin Church and Latin Christians in the eastern Mediterranean. Wartime alliances and cultural interactions among Latin and Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Jews (11th to 13th centuries).
Topic 11. Pilgrims and pilgrimages: The Way of St. James, the Hajj to Mecca, pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Travelers and travel diaries:
Topic 12. Jews, Muslims, and Christians and the transmission of knowledge; the schools of translation
Reconfiguring the Mediterranean
Topic 13. The conquests of 1453 and 1492 and the fate of the Mediterranean. Debating the legacy of Mediterranean connectivity.
4. Assessment. In order to pass the course students must obtain at least 5 out of 10 points in each of the following activities:
4. 1. 1 Seminars (20%) Three class sessions will be devoted to seminars. Attendance and active participation in all three seminars are required. In each seminar we will discuss two or a maximum of three assigned readings, which will be posted on the "Aula Global". Students must read all the assigned texts beforehand and be prepared to discuss, ask, or respond to questions, and to critique the texts in class.
In order to receive a grade for the seminars students must do one writing assignment for each seminar, making a total of three written exercises. Two of these writing assignments will consist of a summary of one of the obligatory readings discussed in the seminar. Both summaries must include, in addition to an exposition of the main points of the text, basic information about the author, the historical context in which it was written, and its relevance to the topic treated in class. Each summary must be between 400 and 500 words and must be handed in during the next session of class following the seminar (and not later). Late papers and papers sent by email will NOT be accepted.
4.2 1 Written essay (30%). The third writing assignment related to the seminars is a critical essay based on the readings assigned for the session. The essay must be between 700 and 800 words and must include:
-a detailed exposition and critical analysis of one of the primary historical texts discussed in class
- the textual commentary must be linked to a critical analysis of the corresponding obligatory scholarly readings or audiovisual materials included in the "Bibliography and Digital Resources" posted on the "Aula Global"/Moodle.
- a reference to the debates about the text that arose during the discussion in the seminar.
4. 3. The final examination (50%) will be composed of questions directly related to the class lectures, all the obligatory readings and digital and audiovisual resources assigned for each lecture, and all readings and other resources assigned for the seminars.
Correct grammar and spelling (in English, Catalan, or Spanish) will be taken into consideration in the evaluation of all written assignments.
Make-up grade for the course
The make-up ("recuperació") of the course will take place during the month of July and will be available only to those students who have failed the course. The make-up option is limited only to those evaluated activities that received a failed grade. Students who did not complete at least one of the obligatory assignments will not be able to recover the grade. Moreover, students are not allowed to use the make-up option in order to improve a passed grade already received.
To make up the grade for a failed written assignment (the two summaries as well as the critical essay), students must hand in a comparable written assignment based upon a different primary text source assigned for the seminars (posted in the "Aula Global"), following the same criteria used in the semester course.
The make-up final examination will follow the same criteria of the final examination of the semester course.
The maximum make-up grade that students can receive for any of the activities is 6 out of 10.
5. Bibliography and Study Resources
The digitalized texts and audiovisual resources are posted on the course website (accessible through the "Aula Global") with the denomination "Obligatory Reading" or "Obligatory Viewing" for each session of class. Students are expected to do the assigned reading or viewing activities before coming to class. Additionally, the following sources are found in or may be ordered through the UPF library:
5.1 Basic Bibliography
Abulafia, David. El Mediterráneo en la historia, Barcelona, 2006.
____________. The Mediterranean in History, London, 2003.
Adnan, Husain and E. K. Fleming, eds. A Faithful Sea: The Religious Cultures of the Mediterranean, 1200-1700, Oxford, 2007.
Braudel, Fernand. El Mediterráneo y el mundo mediterráneo en la época de Felipe II, Madrid, 2001.
Cameron, Averil. The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, London, 1993.
Goitein, S.D. "The Unity of the Mediterranean World in the 'Middle' Middle Ages." Studia Islamica, No. 12. (1960), pp. 29-42.
_____________. A Mediterranean Society: An Abridgment in One Volume, Berkeley, 1999.
Harris, W. H. Rethinking the Mediterranean, New York, 2005.
Horden, Peregrine. The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History. Massachusetts, 2000.
MacEvitt, Christopher. The Crusades and the Christian World of the East: Rough Tolerance, Philadelphia, 2008.
Pirenne, Henri. Mohammed and Charlemagne, tr. B. Miall. London, 1939
Vauchez, André, ed. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Available online through the UPF library. http://www.oxford-middleages.com/LOGIN?sessionid=9dfdb60dc31b63861d63534a24738cb6&authstatuscode=400
Vernet, Juan. El Islam y Europa. Barcelona, 1982
Vryonis, S. Byzantium: its Internal History and Relations with the Muslim World. Londres, 1972.
5.2 Complementary Bibliography
Barkai, Ron. Cristianos y musulmanes en la España medieval (el enemigo en el espejo). Madrid, 1991.
Hames, Harvey, ed. Jews, Muslims and Christians in and around the Crown of Aragon : Essays in Honour of Professor Elena Lourie, Leiden, 2004.
Metcalfe, Alex, Muslims of Medieval Italy, Edinburgh, 2009.
Nirenberg, David. Communities of Violence. Persecution of Minorities in the Middle Ages, Princeton, 1996.
5.3. Study Resources
The course website will also contain supplementary resources and links to websites of interest for the material covered in each session. These complementary digitalized texts and the links to other study materials found on diverse academic websites are included under "Study Resources" in the course website accessible through the "Aula Global".
6. Methodology
The course is designed in the form of lectures and seminars, which students are required to attend. Attendance and active participation in class and especially in the seminars is necessary in order to acquire the knowledge and the skills described above and to receive full credit for the course (see "Grade distribution").
7. Schedule of activities
The complete schedule of readings and activities assigned for each session will be posted on the "Aula Global".