HIS 362K • Power/Authority in Middle Ages
This course is about power and authority - taken here to mean the distinction between the ability to use physical force and the legitimate right to wield it in medieval Europe. In reality, this struggle for power and authority came to symbolize a struggle between the secular and ecclesiastical elite. This struggle, in its various forms, was a remarkable catalyst for historical development during this period. Much of our modern political theory has developed as a consequence of these struggles. This course, covering the period from ca. 750 to ca. 1450, will examine the relationship between Church and State, which is indelibly etched into our own society, examine the growth of centralized, national monarchies in the later middle ages, and analyze the beginnings of modern political theory that this struggle produced.
Midterm I 30% Midterm II 30% Final 30% Class Participation 10%
Geoffrey Barraclough, The Origins of Modern Germany Uta-Renate Blumenthal, The Investiture Crisis. Brian Tierney, Crisis of Church and State, 1050-1300. Antony Black, Political Thought in Europe, 1250-1450. C. Warren Hollister and John W. Baldwin, "The Rise of Administrative Kingship: Henry I and Philip Augustus," American Historical Review