070192 GR Guided Reading (2015W)

This Guided Reading offers a broad introduction to a formative period of European history, during which the institutions supporting the medieval "Church" and "State" underwent a number of fundamental transformations. The course begins in the middle of the eighth century, when Pope Stephen II travelled north from Rome to confirm the kingship of the new ruler of the Franks, Pippin the Short. At the end of the period under investigation, the reigning emperor Henry V signed a treaty with Pope Calixtus II, ending what is now known as the Investiture Controversy. In between these two momentous events, the Carolingian Empire rose then fell, leaving behind it new political landscapes: non-royal rulership in the West (which would go on to become present-day France and England) and redefined expressions of imperial rule in Central and Eastern Europe, where the Byzantine Court and the emergent Holy Roman Empire interacted at the highest level.

The course aims not to be comprehensive, but rather seeks to examine a series of significant moments and flashpoints during a politically experimental period in order to assess continuity and change over time and space. Through weekly classes, which encourage critical readings of medieval sources and modern historiography (such as Chris Wickham and Timothy Reuter), we will examine how some of the most crucial forces within the history of Christian Europe developed and transformed in relation to one another. We will explore, moreover, the ways different forms of authority were represented (and contested) by contemporaries: together with a selection of important secondary literature, a range of primary sources will be distributed, discussed and examined, including chronicles, biographies of rulers, letters, hagiographies and visual sources.

This Guided Reading will be conducted predominantly in English. It will consist of regular individual reading and written assignments alongside participation in group discussions, which may also be held in German.