Written Assignments

First essay assignment (Deadline: Tuesday, September 19)

On November 27, 1095 Pope Urban II formally launched preparations for the First Crusade with a great speech in the cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand, south-central France. The First Crusade culminated in the siege and conquest of the city of Jerusalem by European forces in June and July, 1099.

In Allen & Amt, no. 12, one can read four different near contemporary accounts of the speech of Pope Urban II at Clermont: that of Fulcher of Chartres, Robert the Monk, Balderic of Dol, and Guibert of Nogent.

These excerpts are available in substantially similar form online, at The Internet Medieval Sourcebook (IMS), with the addition of the brief anonymous Gesta francorum. None is a verbatim or official account; each account is different.

Write a succinct essay (of 1000 - 1200 words, or about 4 pages) contrasting the various versions of Urban’s speech. Review the accounts carefully, noting differences and similarities. What, in your opinion, did Urban actually say in the speech? Why was it so successful?

Furthermore, in judging the impact of the speech, consider the accounts of the First Crusaders' treatment of European Jews in 1096, by the Hebrew chronicler Solomon son of Samson, also on-line at the IMS; a part of this excerpt is printed in Allen & Amt, no. 14. How does this testimony affect your understanding of Pope Urban’s message and the way in which it was received and acted upon?

While your essay must be rhetorically constructed around a single thesis question of your own crafting, you may find it useful in preparing the essay to consider some or all of the following questions: How do the different retellings differ in scope, detail, and point of view? What are the common threads—if any? What might account for the differences of focus, or even of fact? Among the differing narratives, is there a 'best' version; if so, why? Is it important to reconstruct what he actually said, or to reconstruct what the chroniclers supposed him to have said? Why is this distinction important? What do you conclude about the usefulness or reliability of medieval narrative sources from this contrast?

This essay is due at the beginning of class Tuesday, September 19.

Second essay assignment (Final deadline: Friday, December 8)

This second project is open-ended: you are invited to delve into a particular theme suggested by any of the material (themes, theatres, campaigns, ideology) covered in the course, in greater detail than in the classes, or assigned readings. The topic should be pursued in primary sources and backed up by additional reading and documentation in appropriate secondary sources as appropriate to the topic. The first phase is to select not only a theme but a primary source text from which to work.

For example, you may want to write on an event (a battle or siege, etc.), or the character of a particular crusading figure (Godfrey, King Richard, Saint Louis, Emperor Frederick) contrasted in (at least) two different primary sources. Questions would take the form not necessarily of "which is the truth?" but rather, "what can the differences tell us about the authors and audiences?" One could trace the ideology of 'Holy War' in various narrative or preaching texts. One could look at art or literature (even more recent art or literature) depicting Crusading—paintings from the 'Crusade Museum' in Versailles, or Sir Walter Scott's two crusading novels. The Oxford Illustrated History could be significant source of ideas as well. If there is demand, right after break we could circulate a list of other sample topics for brainstorming.

You should be (or should become) familiar with bibliographic searching in the library catalogue as well as with resources that take you beyond books into scholarly journal articles (JStor, for example). For those of you who have not done history-based library work and want to learn, I am willing to arrange a library session to help launch you on this process (on-line searching, journal indices, etc.).

The first step is to identify suitable sources; the second step is to read enough into them to formulate a thesis question and begin to outline the essay you will write. To help the process along, you must observe a preliminary deadline:

By Tuesday, November 14, please submit (by e-mail) a short statement of the thesis question of your essay with a bibliographical listing of the primary and secondary sources. Picking a 'thesis question' is not necessarily binding, but this excercize requires you to have selected a topic area, to have examined one or more source texts, and to have given your thesis some initial thought.

The essay must be 10 pages, typed, double-spaced; it is due in final form on Friday, December 8. Late essays will be penalized and will not be accepted without prior arrangement.

Also on this site is a bibliography of narrative sources, in English translation, on many aspects of the Crusades. There are also many non-narrative sources available in translation, for example legal texts and deeds from the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Please consider your ideal choice as early as possible, and speak with me about topic areas now if you have no inklings yourself.