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HIST 210
Major developments in the political, social, and religious history of Western Europe from the accession of Diocletian to the feudal transformation. Topics include the conversion of Europe to Christianity, the fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of Islam and the Arabs, the "Dark Ages," Charlemagne and the Carolingian renaissance, and the Viking and Hungarian invasions.
This Yale College course, taught on campus two times per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Fall 2011.
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Paul Freedman, Chester D. Tripp Professor of History
Central Texts
Charlemagne's Courtier: The Complete Einhard. ed. Paul Edward Dutton, Broadview Press, 1998.
Gregory of Tours: The Merovingians. ed. Alexander Callander Murray, Broadview Press, 2006.
Procopius, The Secret History. ed. Richard Atwater, University of Michigan Press, 1961.
Wickham, Chris, The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. Viking, 2009.
Richards, Julian, The Vikings: A Very Short History. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Course Packet
Augustine, Confessions, ed. James Joseph O'Donnell. Oxford University Press, 1992.
Berkey, Jonathan Porter, The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Brown, Peter, The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150-750. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1971.
The Burgundian Code: Book of Constitutions or Law of Gundobad, ed. Katherine Fischer Drew. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972.
Fichtenau, Heinrich, The Carolingian Empire. Blackwelll, 1957.
Jones, A.H.M., Constantine and the Conversion of Europe. English Universities Press, 1948.
Rule of St. Benedict, ed. Ruth J. Dean. Blackwell, 1964.
Short paper, mid-term exam, and long research paper.
Short paper: 20%
Mid-term exam: 30%
Long research paper: 40%
Lecture 1 Course Introduction: Rome's Greatness and First Crises
Lecture 2 The Crisis of the Third Century and the Diocletianic Reforms
Lecture 3 Constantine and the Early Church
Lecture 4 The Christian Roman Empire
Lecture 5 St. Augustine's Confessions
Lecture 6 Transformation of the Roman Empire
Lecture 7 Barbarian Kingdoms
Lecture 8 Survival in the East
Lecture 9 The Reign of Justinian
Lecture 10 Clovis and the Franks
Lecture 11 Frankish Society
Lecture 12 Britain and Ireland
Lecture 13 Monasticism
Lecture 14 Mohammed and the Arab Conquests
Lecture 15 Islamic Conquests and Civil War
Lecture 16 The Splendor of the Abbasid Period
Lecture 17 The Crucial Seventh Century
Lecture 18 The Splendor of Byzantium
Lecture 19 Charlemagne
Lecture 20 Intellectuals and the Court of Charlemagne
Lecture 21 Crisis of the Carolingians
Lecture 22 Vikings / The European Prospect, 1000
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Course Books and Other Related Titles
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About Professor Paul Freedman
Paul H. Freedman is the Chester D. Tripp Professor of History at Yale. He received an MLS and PhD in History from University of California at Berkeley, and specializes in medieval social history, the history of Spain, comparative studies of the peasantry, trade in luxury products, and history of cuisine. Since coming to Yale, Professor Freedman has served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in History, Director of the Medieval Studies Program and Chair of the History Department. He also published his third book, Images of the Medieval Peasant (1999) and two collections of essays: Church, Law and Society in Catalonia, 900-1500 and Assaigs d'historia de la pagesia catalana (writings on the history of the Catalan peasantry). More recently Freedman edited Food: The History of Taste, an illustrated collection of essays about food from prehistoric to contemporary times. His book on the demand for spices in medieval Europe was published in 2008 by Yale University Press; it is entitled Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination.