Sources in Medieval Culture and History

This reader is appropriate as a main text or a supplementary text for courses on medieval history, medieval literature, art history, and humanities.   The wide range of primary sources featured in this book trace the development of medieval civilization from the era of the Roman Emperor Diocletian to the late fourteenth century. The events of these years are viewed from various perspectives, including selections from legal documents, annals, letters, contemporaneous biographies, paintings, theological and philosophical treatises, historical writings, architecture, and literary extracts.  Author Kay Slocum has chosen the sources to integrate social and cultural history with more traditional material and, as a result, selections that inform the student about women and marginal groups in the medieval world are included alongside works that treat topics that are more common in the field.

Table of Contents:
Topical Contents Preface Introduction for the Student   Chapter 1: The Threads of Medieval Civilization: The Late Roman Empire, Christianity, and the Germanic Migrations   Imperial Administration and the Conversion to Christianity   Diocletian and the Division of the Roman Empire 1.1. Aurelius Victor, Lives of the Emperors 1.2. Lactantius,  De mortibus persecutorum 1.3. Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices   The Emperor Constantine 1.4. The Conversion of Constantine 1.5. The Edict of Milan 1.6. The Council of Nicaea 1.7. The Nicene Creed 1.8. Interpreting the Evidence: St Peter’s Basilica and Constantine’s Gift   Early Christianity 1.9. The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity 1.10. The Confessions of Saint Augustine 1.11. Saint Jerome: Letters 1.12. Pope Leo I and the Petrine Theory 1.13. The Election of Bishops 1.14. The Life of Saint Antony by Athanasius 1.15. Interpreting the Evidence: The Rule of Saint Benedict and the Groundplan of St. Gall   The Germanic Tribal Tradition   Roman Views of the Germanic Tribes 1.16. Tacitus, Germania 1.17. Ammianus Marcellinus, History of the Roman Empire 1.18. Treaty with the Vandals (271) 1.19. The Battle of Adrianople (378)   Chapter 2: The Heirs of Rome: Germanic Kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire   The Ostrogoths and Visigoths 2.1Jordanes, The Origins and Deeds of the Goths 2.2. Cassiodorus, Letters 2.3. Cassiodorus, An Introduction to Divine and Human Readings 2.4. Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy 2.5. Isidore of Seville, The History of the Goths 2.6. The Visigothic Code: Provisions Concerning Women   The Franks 2.7. The Conversion of Clovis: Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks 2.8.The Salic Law        The Anglo-Saxons 2.10.  Beowulf 2.11. Bede, A History of the English Church and People 2.12. Letter to Queen Ethelburga from Pope Boniface 2.13. Jonas, The Life of Saint Columban   The Byzantine Empire   2.14. The Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian 2.15. Interpreting the Evidence: Hagia Sophia and Description by Procopius    2.16. Interpreting the Evidence: Theodora and Justinian: The Mosaics at  Ravenna and the Secret History by Procopius     Chapter 3: The Rise of Islam   Muhammad and the Qu’ran 3.1.  The Night of Destiny: Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad 3.2.  How the Qu’ran was Assembled 3.3.  The Five Pillars of Islam: Passages from the Qu’ran         The Confession of Faith (shahada)         Prayer (salat)         Almsgiving (zakat)         Ramadan         Pilgrimage (hajj) 3.4.  Jihad: Passages from the Qu’ran and the Sayings of Muhammad 3.5.  Women in Islamic Society   Founding of the Caliphate and the Expansion of Islam 3.6.  The Founding of the Caliphate and 3.7.  The Accession Speech of Abu Bakr 3.8.  Abu Bakr on the Rules of War 3.9.  The Muslims Conquer Iberia 3.10. The Treaty of Tudmir 3.11. The Pact of Umar   Muslim Art and Culture 3.12.  Interpreting the Evidence: Al-Azhar Mosque and Documents of Support 3.13.  Interpreting the Evidence: Qibla, “Umar in Jerusalem” and the Qu’ran        Poetic Voices from Islam 3.14.  An Arabic definition of poetry by Ibn Qutayba 3.15.  A Lyric from the Kitab al-Aghani (The Book of Songs) by Abu l—Faraj al-Isfahani 3.16.   A Jewish Voice in al-Andalus: Samuel the Nagid 3.17.   Scheherazade: A Tale from The Thousand and One Nights   Chapter 4: Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance   The Coronation of Charlemagne 4.1.  Einhard: The Coronation 4.2.  The Biography of Pope Leo III 4.3.  The Annals of Lorsch 4.4.  A View from Byzantium: The Chronicle of Theophanes   The Creation and Governance of the Empire 4.5. Einhard: Charlemagne’s Wars Against the Saxons 4.6. Missionary Activity in the Empire: Letter of Boniface to Pope Zacharias (742) 4.7. Capitulary for Saxony (775-790) 4.8. General Capitulary for the Missi Dominici (802)   Royal Estates 4.9. The Capitulary De Villis   The Carolingian Renaissance and the Preservation of Classical Learning 4.10. Interpreting the Evidence: Palatine Chapel at Aachen and Descriptions by Einhard  and Notker       Charlemagne’s Educational Programs: A Link to the Future 4.11. Einhard: The Emperor’s Devotion to the Liberal Arts 4.12. Notker “the Stammerer” 4.13. De Litteris Colendis (On the Study of Letters) 4.14. Interpreting the Evidence: Ivory Book Cover and De Diversis Artibus by Theophilus    4.15. A Carolingian Mother’s Advice to her Son: Handbook for William by Dhuoda   A World Destroyed: The Disintegration of the Empire 4.16. The Treaty of Verdun (843)   Viking, Muslim and Magyar Invasions 4.17. The Annals of St. Bertin, 4.18. The Annals of Xanten 4.19. The Annals of St. Vaast 4.20. The Magyars: An Account by Liudprand of Cremona 4.21. Normans in France: The Baptism of Rollo     Chapter 5: The Development of Vassalage and Agricultural Change    Aristocratic Life: the Experience of the Knight    Rituals of Homage and Fealty  5.1.  The Homage Ceremony  5.2.  Immixtio manuum  5.3. Homage to Several Lords   Obligations of Vassals 5.4. Feudal Aids 5.5. Inheritance provisions   The Rituals of Knighting from the Book of Chivalry by Geoffroi de Charny 5.6.    The Knighting Ceremony   Medieval Warfare and the Peace and Truce of God 5.7. Peace of God, proclaimed in the Synod of Charroux (989) 5.8.    Truce of God, proclaimed by the Archbishop of Arles (1035-41)   Interpreting the Evidence: The Medieval Castle  5. 9. The Bayeux Tapestry  5.10. Bodiam Castle   Those Who Work   Interpreting the Evidence: Life on the Manor 5.11. The Village of  Cuminor from the Domesday Book 5.12. A Manor belonging to Peterborough Abbey (c. 1125) 5.13. A Manor in Sussex (Early 14th century) 5.14. Freedom for the Serf (1278) 5.15. The Lord’s Manor House (Mid-thirteenth century)       Women’s Work 5.16. The Office of the Dairymaid from the Book of the Office of Seneschal 5.17. The Yield from the Dairy 5.18. The Serving Maid 5.19. Visual Evidence from the Luttrell Psalter   Interpreting the Evidence: Rural Life and Technological Development 5.20. Walter of Henley’s Husbandry and the Luttrell Psalter 5.21. Watermills in the Domesday Book and the Luttrell Psalter 5.22. Windmills in the Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond and the Luttrell Psalter   Chapter 6: The Centralization of Political Control from the Tenth to the Twelfth Century   The Monarchies of France, England, and Christian Iberia   France 6.1.The Election of Hugh Capet as King of France   Interpreting the Evidence: Three Views of the Norman Conquest 6.2. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1066) 6.3. The Bayeux Tapestry 6.4. Gesta Guillelmi by William of Poitiers    England and William the Conqueror 6.5. Statutes of William the Conqueror 6.6. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle   Iberia  6.7.   A Christian Monarch in Iberia: Sancho Abarca, King of Navarre   The Ottonian Empire and Germany   The Deeds of Otto the Great: The Battle of Lechfeld (955)  6.8. Liutprand of Cremona   Interpreting the Evidence: Otto III 6.9. The Chronicon of  Thietmar of Merseburg 6.10. The Gospel Book of Otto III 6.11. The Book of the Golden City of Rome     Interpreting the Evidence: Monastic-Feudal Connections 6.12. Grant of Land to a Monastery 6.13. The Cross of Abbess Matilda of Essen   The Investiture Controversy 6.14. The Pope’s Prerogatives According to Gregory VII 6.15. Letter from Henry IV 6.16. The Incident at Canossa 6.17. Decrees Against Lay Investiture 6.18. Agreements of Worms (1122)   Eastern Europe, Russia, and Scandinavia   Hungary 6.19 “Apostolic King”: A Letter from Pope Sylvester II to King Stephen of Hungary 6.20. The Laws of King Stephen of Hungary   Russia 6.21 Olga “the Beautiful”: A Tenth-Century Russian Ruler       Scandinavia 6.22 The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason   The Byzantine Empire 6.23. Preface to On Ceremonies by Emperor Constantine VII     Chapter 7: Monastic Reform, Pilgrimage, and Crusade   The Monastic Reform Movement   7.1.  Interpreting the Evidence: Foundation Charter of the Abbey of Cluny (910), Ground Plan, and Description by Odilo of Cluny 7.2.  Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercian Order 7.3.  Bernard on Cluny   Pilgrimage   Pilgrimage Journeys: Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and Canterbury 7.4. The Pilgrim Udalrich 7.5. The Pilgrim Saewulf 7.6. The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela 7.7. Interpreting the Evidence: Pilgrimage to Canterbury: Thomas Becket and a Stained-Glass Panel from Canterbury Cathedral   The First Crusade   “God Wills It”:  Pope Urban’s Summons to the First Crusade 7.8.  From the Gesta Francorum (Deeds of the Franks) 7.9.  Fulcher of Chartres 7.10.  Robert the Monk 7.11. Balderic of Dol 7.12. A Hebrew Chronicle: the Massacres of Jews 7.13. A Woman’s Perspective: From the Alexiad by Anna Comnena 7.14. Ibn al-Athir: A Muslim View of the Crusade   Two Accounts of the Origins of the Templars 7.15. William of Tyre 7.16. Michael the Syrian   The Reconquista 7.17. The Poem of the Cid 7.18. The Conquest of Lisbon     Chapter 8: Romanesque Culture   Architecture, Sculpture, and Objects of Devotion 8.1. “A White Mantle of Churches”: The Five Books of History by Rodulphus Glaber 8.2. Interpreting the Evidence: The Vezelay Chronicle and the Church of  Sainte 8.3. Interpreting the Evidence: The Western Tympanum at Autun and the “Besetting Demons”                     8.4. Interpreting the Evidence: The Reliquary and Miracles of Saint Foy, Virgin Martyr                     8.5.  The Relics of Saint Cuthbert 8.6. Interpreting the Evidence: Suger’s Chalice and On the Various Arts by Theophilus                     8.7.  “O Vanity of Vanities”: Bernard of Clairvaux on Religious Art   Literature 8.8.  “Noble Lord, Knight of Gentle Birth”: From The Song of Roland 8.9.  Abraham: A Play by Roswitha of Gandersheim     Chapter 9: Religion and Politics in the Twelfth Century   Politics in France and England 9.1.      Power and the Monarchy: Deeds of Louis the Fat by Suger 9.2.      Henry II and the Angevin Empire: The Instruction of A Prince by Gerald of Wales          The Becket Controversy 9.3.   A Mother’s Plea: Letter from Empress Matilda to Thomas Becket 9.4.   Becket’s Martyrdom: From the Vita by Edward Grim 9.5.   Interpreting the Evidence: A miracle of Saint Thomas of Canterbury and Stained-Glass from Trinity Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral    Politics in Germany   Frederick I [Barbarossa] 9.6.  Letter of Frederick I to Pope Eugene III 9.7.  Pope Eugene’s Reply 9.8.  Treaty of Constance, 1153 9.9. The “Stirrup Episode” 9.10. The “Besançon Episode”       The Crusader Kingdoms and the Third Crusade The Crusader Kingdoms 9.11. The History of Fulcher of Chartres 9.12. The Memoirs of Usmah ibn-Munquidh             The Third Crusade   The “Horns of Hattin”: Overture to the Third Crusade 9.13.  The Chronicle of Otto of St. Blasien 9.14.  Ibn Shaddad: The Life of Saladin 9.15.  A Letter from Pope Clement III Concerning the Third Crusade 9.16.  The Death of Frederick Barbarossa: From The Chronicle of Otto of St. Blasien                  Chapter 10: Social and Cultural Revival in the Twelfth Century   The Urban World: Cities and Guilds 10.1.  A Description of Twelfth-Century London by William FitzStephen 10.2. Guild Statutes: Spur Makers and Leather Tanners   Architecture: Birth of the Gothic Style  10.3. Interpreting the Evidence: De Consecratione by Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory of Saint Denis      Secular Literature 10.4.   Images of  Lancelot, by Chrétien de Troyes 10.5.   Interpreting the Evidence: Marie de France: The Lay of the Nightingale 10.6.   The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus 10.7.   Songs by Troubadours, Trouvères, and Trobairitz   A Medieval Romance: Abelard and Heloise 10.8.  Historia Calamitatum  by Peter Abelard  10.9.  Letter to Abelard from Heloise   Religious and Philosophical Literature 10.10. Sic et Non by Peter Abelard 10.11. Averroes: On the Harmony of Religion and Philosophy 10.12. Maimonides: Guide for the Perplexed 10.13. Interpreting the Evidence: “Cry out therefore, and write thus!”: The Visions of Hildegard of Bingen   Chapter 11: Political and Economic Developments in the Thirteenth Century   France and England 11.1.  Interpreting the Evidence: A Paragon of  Kingly Virtue: Joinville’s Chronicles of the Crusades, the Life of Saint Louis and a  Manuscript Illumination from Bible             Abrégée 11.2.  Philip IV Calls the First Estates General 11.3.  “An Execrable Evil”: Philip IV and the Templars 11.4.  Unam Sanctam:  Boniface VIII and Philip IV 11.5.  Magna Carta   The Holy Roman Empire 11.6. Frederick II and Germany                                                           11.7. Frederick II and Pope Innocent IV     The Iberian Peninsula 11.8.  The Proper Virtues of a King: From the Siete Partidas 11.9.  Cantigas de Santa Maria by Alfonso X, “The Wise” 11.10.  The Church and the Jews in Thirteenth-Century Spain               The Byzantine Empire 11.11.   Villehardouin’s Chronicle: The Conquest of Constantinople 11.12.   Nicholas Mesarites: A Byzantine Lament  11.13.   Niketas Choniates: On the Statues   Commerce and Trade   The Growth of Trade in Northern Europe 11.14. Lubeck and Hamburg Seek Mutual Protection (1241) 11.15. The Hanseatic League 11.16. London and the Hansa Negotiate   Italy 11.17. Trade in the Mediterranean Sea: Venice 11.18. Padua: The State Promotes Commerce   The Mongol Threat          11.19.  The History of the World-Conqueror by Juvaini     Chapter 12: Religious Ferment and Social Change   New Directions in Spirituality: Waldensians and Cathars   The Waldensians and Cathars 12.1. Peter Waldo: From an Anonymous Chronicle (c. 1218) 12.2. Walter Map: On the Waldensians (1179) 12.3. View of the Cathar Movement by Eckbert, Abbot of Schönau 12.4. Pope Gregory IX: Vox in Rama 12.5. Albigensians: from the Inquisitor’s Guide of Bernard Gui   New Religious Orders   The Franciscans 12.6. The Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi 12.7. “Little Flower of the Blessed Francis”: The Rule of Saint Clare            The Dominicans 12.8. Concerning Reading: From the Dominican Constitutions 12.9. Interpreting the Evidence: De Modo Orandi: From the Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic   New Communities: The Beguines and the Devotio Moderna 12.10. Cartulaire de Beguinage de Sainte-Elizabeth a Gand, Concerning the Beguines  12.11. Mechthild of Magdeburg: The Flowing Light of the Godhead  12.12. The Following of Christ: The Spiritual Diary of Gerard Groote  12.13. Salome Stricken: A Way of Life for Sisters               A Female Visionary: Margery Kempe and the Vicar 12.14. The Book of Margery Kempe   The Fourth Lateran Council: Heretics and the Jews 12.15.  Raymond of Toulouse and the Cathar Heresy 12.16. Interpreting the Evidence: “Blind Synagoga” and the Provisions of the Council     Chapter 13: Intellectual and Artistic Development in the High Middle Ages   The Medieval University 13.1. Early Statutes of the University of the Sorbonne 13.2. Rules of the University of Paris (1215) 13.3. “Please Send Money”: The Balade of a Student at Orleans   Philosophy and Science in the Thirteenth Century 13.4. The Scholastic Method: From the Summa Theologica  by Thomas Aquinas 13.5. The Journey of the Soul into God by Saint Bonaventure 13.6. Summa contra gentiles by Saint Thomas Aquinas 13.7. Roger Bacon and the Beginning of Modern Experimental Science   Literature in the Thirteenth Century 13.8. The Romance of the Rose 13.9. A Poetic Disputation: The Owl and the Nightingale   Gothic Architecture 13.10.  Interpreting the Evidence: The Cathedral as Symbol 13.11.  Architecture and Geometry: The Portfolio of Villard de Honnecourt 13.12.  Interpreting the Evidence: Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral and Gervase of Canterbury                    13.13.  Interpreting the Evidence: Rose Window of Notre Dame and Jean de Jandun’s Description     Chapter 14: The Fourteenth Century: Disorder and Vitality   Famine and Plague 14.1. Famine: The Chronicle of Jean de Venette             The Black Death: Pestilence from East to West 14.2. The Origins of the Plague: Historia Byzantina 14.3. Constantinople: From the History of John VI Kantakouzenos 14.4.  Palestine: Al-Wardi’s Essay on the Report of the Pestilence 14.5.  Florence: From the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio 14.6.  France:  From the Chronicle of Jean de Venette 14.7.  England: From the Chronicle of Henry Knighton   Peasant Revolt 14.8. Statute of Laborers 14.9. Interpreting the Evidence: Peasant Revolts from the Chronicles of Froissart and an Illumination Depicting Wat Tyler and John Ball              The Hundred Years War 14.10. The Battle of Crecy (1346): Description from the Chronicles of Froissart   The Avignon Papacy: Crisis in the Church 14.11. Letter of Petrarch Concerning the Avignon Papacy 14.12. A Letter of Catherine of Siena to Pope Gregory XI             Fourteenth Century Literature and Art 14.13. “Heavenly Love”: The Divine Comedy by Dante 14.14. “Earthly Love: Sonnets  by Petrarch 14.15. “Earthly Pleasure”: A Tale from the Decameron by Boccaccio 14.16. “The Cook’s Tale” by Chaucer 14.17. A Feminine Voice: The Debate on Romance of the Rose by Christine de Pizan 14.18. Interpreting the Evidence: Lamentation: A Fresco of Giotto and Remarks by Boccaccio and Ghiberti

About the Author :
Kay Slocum is the Gerhold Professor of Humanities at Capital University, where she is a member of the History Department. She teaches courses in Western Civilization and Medieval History, and has received the Praestantia Award for Excellence in Teaching. Other awards include an ACLS Grant for Recent Recipients of the Ph.D., NEH grants for participation in two Summer Seminars and two Summer Institutes, an NEH Travel to Collections grant, and a Lilly Grant for research. Her publications include Liturgies in Honour of Thomas Becket (University of Toronto Press, 2004), Medieval Civilization (Laurence King, 2005) and many articles concerning liturgy and music in medieval culture.  She is an active member of the Medieval Academy of America and the American Musicological Association.