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CS92PROD
War in the Middle Ages
HIST 268
Spring 2007
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: MDST 268

Images of war and violence tend to predominate in the popular imaginary of medieval Europe-Crusading knights bedecked in armor, rough and tumble Vikings in their longships, Robin Hood in tights with his band of "merry men." Of course we know hat Europe prior to the accoutrements of the modern state-courts, police, judicial officers-was not a place of ceaseless violence, conflict, and war. Nevertheless war, violence and conflict were central facets of European civilized life; they served highly theorized and extremely practical purposes, based on religious and social customs perhaps more often than on formal governmental procedures and institutions. In this course we will examine such theories and practices as the theory of just war and the practice of blood feud. We will also consider some of the ways that the emergence of central judicial authority transformed the concepts, terms and execution of war towards the end of our period (roughly the fifth through fourteenth centuries). We will explore the development of technologies of warfare specific to the period, the emergence of a literature of medieval masculinity, and treatises on strategy and the spiritualization of knighthood.

Essential Capabilities: Speaking, Writing
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST
Course Format: Lecture/DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: None
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available

Last Updated on DEC-21-2024
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