This course examines the development of Western history from the rise of the ancient Greek polis to the discovery of the New World, circa A.D. 1500. We will discuss how ancient Greece and Rome created large spheres of influence in the Mediterranean world and beyond during ca 500 B.C to 500 A.D. The developments of political social, and cultural structures will be analyzed.

The course then moves on to examine Medieval Europe from a variety of angles. First we will study the transition from the Graeco-Roman world into the new medieval structures of kingdoms. The rise of Christianity and its importance as a bedrock for the new medieval societies will be discussed. Different phases of medieval development will be studied. We will discuss structures that were common to the West as a whole, and regional variations that created a dynamic and sometimes conflict-riddled region. One lecture is devoted to a comparison between medieval Scandinavia and the rest of Western Europe.

The course ends with a discussion on the Late Middle Ages, a period that saw interesting developments in Western societies as well as the beginnings of the discovery of the New World. Both developments proved crucial on a global as well as a local level.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the course, students will:

1. Be able to have a better understanding of the history and culture of ancient and medieval Europe
2. Be able to critically think about related issues of ancient and medieval Europe
3. Be able to gain basic understanding of the ancient and medieval history and development of the world as a whole

NB: The schedule gives lecture topics and suggested key references. The entire literature list is posted under References. 

1. 30 % tutorial
2. 20 % mid-term quiz
   (The mid-term quiz will take place during a class and students need to answer two questions out of three)
3. 50 % final paper (ca. 3000 words)

Time and Venue (Group A Wed 2:30-4:15p.m/Group B6:30-8:15p.m., will be confirmed after the add-drop period)

1. Film – see, review and discuss
2. The medieval origins of the modern state (Group Discussion and 500 words review)
3. Present suggestions for final paper – work in progress to be discussed (Part 1)
4. Present suggestions for final paper – work in progress to be discussed (Part 2)

Ancient Greece:

Forrest, W.G.: A History of Sparta

Fox, Robin Lane: Alexander the Great

Frost, Frank: Greek Society

Jones, A.H.M., Athenian Democracy

Kagan, Donald: Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy

Kitto, H.D.F.: The Greeks

Starr, Chester: A History of the Ancient World

Starr, Chester: The Ancient Greeks

Tarn, W.W.: Alexander the Great

Greek historical writing:

Herodotus: The Writings

Thukydides: The History of the Pelopponesian War

Greek plays:

Homer: The Illiad

Homer: The Odyssey

Sophocles: Antigone

Plato: The Republic

Plato: The Last Days of Socrates

Virgil: The Aeneid

Ancient Rome:

Gibbon, Edward: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Kagan, Donald> Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Why Did it Collapse?

Kagan, Donald: The End of the Roman Empire: Decline or Transformation?

Starr, Chester: The Ancient Romans

Starr, Chester: The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476

Roman historical writing:

Caesar, Julius: The Conquest of Gaul

Medieval history:

Barraclough, Geoffrey: Medieval Papacy

Behringer, Wolfgang: Witches and Witch-Hunts: A Global History

Ferruolo, Stephen: The Origins of the University

Haskins, Charles H.: The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century

Havinghurst, Alfred F.: The Pirenne Thesis

Hollister, C. Warren: Medieval Europe

Hollister, C. Warren: Roots of the Western Tradition

Hollister, C. Warren: The Making of England

McNeill, William: The Rise of the West

McNeill, William: Europe’s Steppe Frontier, 1500-1800

McNeill, William: The Global Condition: Conquerors, Catastrophes, and Community.

McNeill, William: The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000

McNeill, William: The Shape of European History

McNeill, William: A World History

Painter, Sydney: French Chivalry

Russell, Jeffrey B.: A History of Medieval Christianity

Russell, Jeffrey B.: A History of Heaven

Russell, Jeffrey B.: Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages

Russell, Jeffrey B.: Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians

Southern, R.W.: The Making of the Middle Ages

Southern, R.W.: Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages

Strayer, Joseph: On the Medieval Origins of the Moderns State

Also:

Jacobsson, Sverrir: “The Emergence of the North”, in Scandia 75.2, 2009:2. Provided as PDF.

Medieval authors:

Einhard (ca 770-840 S.D.): The Life of Charlemagne (Vita Karoli Magni)

More, Thomas (1478-1535 A.D., Saint): Utopia

Machiavelli: The Prince

On the conquest of the New World:

Hart, Jonathan L.: Columbus, Shakespeare and the Interpretation of the New World

Kadir, Djelal: Columbus and the Ends of the Earth: Europe’s Prophetic Rhetoric as Conquering Ideology.

Sale, Kirkpatrick: The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy

Washington, Irving: The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus

Phillips, William: The Worlds of Christopher Columbus

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at here.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

• In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment. 
• Students are fully aware that their work may be investigated by AI content detection software to determine originality.
• Students are fully aware of the AI approach(es) adopted in the course. In the case where some AI tools are allowed, students have made proper acknowledgment and citations as instructed by the course teacher.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.

The copyright of the teaching materials, including lecture notes, assignments and examination questions etc., produced by staff members/ teachers of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) belongs to CUHK. Students may download the teaching materials produced by the staff members/ teachers from the Learning Management Systems, e.g. Blackboard adopted by CUHK for their own educational use, but shall not distribute/ share/ copy the materials to a third-party without seeking prior permission from the staff members/ teachers concerned.