HY 1010, Western Civilization I 1 Course Learning .docx

HY 1010, Western Civilization I 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit V
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Discuss key individuals in Western culture.
3.1 Identify the influence of key leaders in shaping culture
during the period 600–1000 C.E.
4. Recognize significant Western cultural practices.
4.1 Compare and contrast the features of Islam and Christianity
in the period 600–1000 C.E.
6. Recognize influences that contributed to the development of
Western society.
6.1 Trace the influences of Islamic and Carolingian society on
developments in Western society in
the Middle Ages from 600–1000 C.E.
7. Contrast attributes of Western societies across different
periods and locations.
7.1 Compare the historical attributes of Islamic and Christian

societies from 600–1000 C.E.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
3.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 8
Unit V Essay
4.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 8
Unit V Essay
6.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 8
Unit V Essay
7.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 8
Unit V Essay
Reading Assignment
Chapter 8: Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 600–1000
Unit Lesson

Castles, marauders, gargoyles, illuminations—the Middle Ages
inspire more movies and novels than any
other period in history. The Pillars of the Earth, Game of
Thrones, Robin Hood, Vikings, The Secret of Kells,
The Name of the Rose, and even Monty Python’s The Holy
Grail reflect an enduring fascination. In fiction, we
can propel ourselves into imaginary futures or steep ourselves
in the past, and something about the mystery
of such a different life captures our imaginations.
This can have a downside, however, as the repetition of such
familiar stories can lead us to assume that we
already understand this period and, therefore, neglect learning
what really happened. Entertainment stories
have to be tested by the practice of ethical historical scholarship
if the knowledge that shapes our decisions is
to be sound.
Possibly the greatest lesson to recover from the period 600–
1000 C.E. is the variation in beliefs and customs
across regions and among different peoples in the West, from
Gibraltar to Iceland, from Russia to Persia,
UNIT V STUDY GUIDE
Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 600–1000:
The Rise of Christianity and Islam

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from North Africa to the land of the Norsemen, and the “Great
Lake” of the Mediterranean in the midst. At this
same time, we see the expansion of two religions shaping
culture and politics—Christianity and Islam. There
are many questions historians explore.
-pagan cultures to
convert?
erent but also similar in the ways that Islam
and Christianity shaped societies?
cultures?
ies that
seem similar or different from our own?
cultures shape the conclusions we reach?
cultural filters?
Be Careful When Making Historical Assumptions
As we come closer and closer to our own time and see familiar
names and institutions, the temptation to

assume similarity and to assume we already know what they
mean becomes stronger.
Historians have specific guidelines to prevent these assumptions
from distorting our understanding of the
actual data from the times. Distortion of data can come from
projecting our own beliefs onto the past, resulting
in error. The measures we take to avoid error are also the
measures that help to ensure the ethical study of
other cultures. This involves five main practices students can
apply in this unit’s essay assignment. All
academic departments (disciplines) have different subjects and
methods, but all have a version of guidelines
to ensure ethical study and sound conclusions.
1. Historians seek to understand the past for itself.
Of course, we all think about where our society came from and
what we value or regret. That is an
important outcome of historical thinking for citizenship.
However, when we create knowledge about
the past, we commit to learning about the past for its own sake
and try to determine the significance
of change for those in the past—not for us. The task is to learn
what really happened before we try to
apply it.
2. Historians adopt intellectual empathy to recreate the multiple
points of view in past cultures.
This does not mean that historians feel for or agree with the
people they study but, rather, that they

must try to understand how specific people actually experienced
events and acted within their own
worlds.
3. Historians use only evidence from specific times to generate
and explain insights about those times.
This is a fundamental rule of logic—you cannot understand the
past by using data that did not come
from it. Anachronism, which is the insertion of subsequent
developments or ideas into the past and
projection of present values onto the past, mars our views of the
past. In this unit especially, we will
see that the meanings of words we think we know very well
used to be different. Whether studying
Christian, Muslim, Irish, Persian, or Viking culture, students of
history ideally realize that while they
are studying a variety of cultures out of which theirs may have
evolved, these past cultures are not
the same as a student’s own culture. Beliefs and meanings of
words and phrases change, so
historians create definitions reflecting what was meant at the
time.
4. Historians expect to be surprised and remain eager to learn
what they do not know!
Generalizations erase actual variations among cultures, within
cultures, and across time. We look for
the unique and complex to deepen our understanding. We allow
these understandings to evolve with
new data. We read accounts that counter our own to enhance the

complexity and reliability of our
work; this is called anticipating objections.
5. Historians pay attention to different types of evidence.
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Exploring cultures that ranged widely in how they recorded
events and ideas requires reading
artifacts for what they tell us about their societies. During this
period, cities, spaces, technologies, and
images all provide clues to culture.
Students of history, then, seek to recreate as nearly as possible
the culture in its own moment. With these
guidelines, students can enter that unfamiliar world of the past
with the mindset of an explorer of the
unknown, making strange what we might assume is familiar.
Learning the complex details of early medieval
life enables us to learn from the past as well as to enjoy our
fictions about it.

600–1000 C.E.
The rise of new central powers or kingdoms coincided with a
loosened grip on local culture, laws, and social
practices over this period. While adherents of Islam and
Christianity gained converts, local faiths persisted or
accompanied sanctioned beliefs. Kings and caliphs, or Muslim
rulers, adapted Roman administrative
practices and created new political entities while local lords and
monks generated their own sometimes
greater local authority. The key to understanding this period is
awareness of a dynamic or fluid political
landscape molded by competing forces—on one hand to extend
and on the other to resist centralized power.
The Rise of Islam
Within 100 years of Mohammed’s visions in the 7th century
C.E., most people on the Arabian Peninsula had
converted to Islam and were ruled by Islamic caliphs. During
the next century, Islam spread throughout the
Middle East toward India, across North Africa, and into most of
what is modern Spain. Scholars identify
several historical reasons for the rapid acquisition of so much
territory by Muslim rulers:
over succession of rival
caliphs (Sunni vs. Shi’a) that spread to
conquests of once Hellenistic and Roman regions;
Empire) due to continuous fighting
against the Persians;
fering protections for the families, practices,

and property of Christians and Jews
(“Peoples of the Book” who were viewed by Muslims as sharing
in the covenant between God and
Abraham);
particularly on the unified nature of God or
Allah, that appealed to people used to debate over the nature of
Jesus and the Trinity;
technologies; and
ing and the
application of technology to agriculture,
architecture, and civic engineering that raised standards of
living (McKay et al., 2017).
The Expansion of Christianity
By the end of Late Antiquity (around 650 C.E.), the unified
Roman empire no longer existed, but the power
bestowed by Constantine in the West and Justinian’s enforced
uniformity of belief in the Byzantine Empire
aided the spread of Christianity. There were many reasons why
Christianity and Christian governance
continued to spread:
Charlemagne, who required conversion of
vanquished Lombards and Germans;
by conquest or service and bound serfs

to a lord’s land and command;
kingdoms;
sometimes even governing in
competition with kings or nobles (for a summary of this
process, see p. 243 of the textbook);
-like taxation policies augmenting the authority of the
Merovingian dynasty (established by
Clovis, 481 C.E.);
-like cities (civitas),
decrees (capitularies), and overseers
(comites) true to Roman traditions of loyalty;
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-century expansion of Charles Martel’s power and
cooperation with the Church followed by
Charlemagne’s determination to rebuild Roman glory through
patronage of the arts, architecture,
engineering, education, and scholarship; and

-purposing of the beliefs,
practices, and holy places of the vanquished
faiths (McKay et al., 2017).
The Decentralizing Impacts of Civil War, Migrations, and
Invasions
To add to the influence of expanding Christianity and Islam,
consider the impact of peoples from other regions
as refugees, migrants, marauders, challengers, and conquerors.
A caliph’s rule could be destabilized through
war with Christian leaders or via warring factions within Islam
(we will discuss this further in Unit VI). In
Christian Europe, even among what were called kings, authority
on the ground was limited, and strength
depended on the loyalty and military resources of local lords or
dukes. This decentralized feature left the
frontiers of any kingdom or duchy, manor, or civitas vulnerable
to violent attack or extortion.
The Vikings, or Northmen, radiated out of the North Sea and
into coastal regions in northern and southern
Europe, creating an economy of fear by trading on their earned
reputation for ruthlessness. They pillaged and
burned or extorted payment and so undermined the authority of
kings and lords by force or debt. Masters of
navigation and shipbuilding, the Vikings pounded with
formidable force against monastery outposts and the
hopes for expansion held by kings on the European continent.
Viking dominance pushed people away from
the coasts, and as a result, the Viking impact rippled inland. For
example, in what is now Eastern Europe,
these attacks generated migrations south and east into central
Europe and Russia that resulted in the
Moravian Kingdom.

Still, how does our habit of calling the Vikings invaders reflect
assumptions that we then project back onto the
time based on our knowledge of the modern map? In a society in
which boundaries shifted regularly, and
expansion of caliphs and Christians pushed peoples around the
West, why do we call some invaders and
others conquerors?
We are used to seeing in our maps a permanence that might lead
us to think that boundaries were also
similarly set during the Middle Ages. However, by the time a
monk or soldier might draw a map during this
period, the borders had already likely shifted. Montgomery
(2008) suggests that a truer picture of cause and
effect arises if we step back and witness the movement instead
of branding it. The artifact remnants of Viking
society reveal a society of family and law, including the use of
what we think of as grand juries (McKay et al.,
2017). Alcuin of York (as cited in Browne, 1908) noted the
following thoughts on the time.
The pagans have contaminated the sanctuaries of God, and have
poured out the blood of [saints]
round about the altar; have laid waste the house of our hope,
have trampled upon the bodies of saints
in the temple of God like [dung] in the street…It is now nearly
350 years that we and our [others] have
dwelt in this most fair land, and never before has such a horror
appeared in Britain as we now have
suffered at the hands of pagans. And it was not supposed that
such an attack from the sea was
possible. Behold, the church of the holy Cuthbert is deluged
with the blood of the priests of God, is
spoiled of all its ornaments; the place more venerable than any

other in Britain is given as a prey to
pagan races. (p. 132)
Arabic accounts of Vikings suggest an alternative picture; they
intended to trade rather than to destroy, and it
is probable that they traded with Arabs (Montgomery, 2008).
Yet, many accounts written by victims confirm
Alcuin’s version. Historians must consider how point of view
shapes our conclusions when trying to determine
which account is accurate and just how accurate each account
may be.
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Culture in the Medieval West
The chronological account can leave out so much—such as the
variations in Viking behaviors giving the false
impression of time marked by strife alone. It may be more
accurate to think of the Middle Ages to 1000 C.E.
as a medieval tapestry woven from many threads into questions
to explore. The required textbook reading is
essential to understanding the political developments and also

looks more closely at cultural questions
accompanying them.
Wisdom and Power in the City
Among the cultural developments of this period are methods of
governing that relied on administrative and
civic expertise. Christian and Muslim leaders became patrons of
learning, promoting wisdom in new centers
of scholarship. Throughout world history, there occur episodes
of educational reform revealing their times.
These often reflect the needs and aspirations of ruling groups.
During the period we are studying in this unit,
leaders of both faiths supported schools that could fulfill their
social and political vision. By no means dark,
this age was challenged to create the stability and wealth that
protected knowledge and encouraged
innovation.
Writing is an innovation scholars study closely and, as with all
artifacts, writing is best understood as reflecting
specific times. The anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss
identified early, nonwriting cultures to be among the
most creative in human history, producing the means of survival
through agriculture, social hierarchies, and
cooperation. In these societies, he conjectured that memories
might survive only a few generations, but the
development of oral traditions and architecture guaranteed that
ideas and values would survive longer.
Writing was essential to the growth of more complex forms of
cooperation, like cities, with written records
acting as what Levi-Strauss (1961) called artificial memory. He
claimed that when writing became
widespread, it facilitated the control and even enslavement of
people. This is a very broad claim, and
historians would not adopt it without first looking closely at

each society and time, but it does enable us to
think about the link between writing and power during this time.
(Top left) The Oseberg ship on display at the Viking ship
museum,
Oslo, Norway (c. 800–850)
(Paulle, 2016)
(Right) Detail from the Oseberg ship
(Karamell, 2005)
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While Islam originated among the
simple Bedouin societies near the
deserts of the West, not all Arabs
were Muslim nor were all Muslims
Arab. During the first century after
Mohammed’s visions, the 7th century
C.E. Arab Muslims were placed above
non-Arab Muslims. However, as the
religion spread, other ethnicities

acquired increasing influence,
including Persians, Berbers, and
Turks.
Just as Christianity spread among
people of many ethnic origins, so
too did Islam. The philosophies
and technologies of Muslim-
governed regions became more and
more sophisticated as the religion
spread through the cosmopolitan
Hellenistic and Roman cities to the
east. The idea that God’s power
was expressed in all of creation
encouraged a reverence for learning
about the universe and seeking the
greatness of God in its laws. The belief that the Qur’an was
dictated by God created an emphasis on the text
that encouraged literacy and included mastering, assessing, and
reconciling Islam with ancient Greek and
Roman philosophy. These efforts advanced rational inquiry into
astronomy, chemistry, mathematics,
philosophy, and medicine.
In a merging of faith and civic governance that became
widespread during the Middle Ages, centers of
knowledge formed in the East in North Africa and on the
Iberian Peninsula. One of the most famous of these
was the House of Wisdom commissioned in Bagdad in the 9th
century C.E. by Caliph Al Ma’mun. The House
of Wisdom created a city of scholars who were intent on
building a library of manuscripts from across the
known world. These were public libraries open to local and
visiting

scholars, further encouraging the dissemination of ideas.
Houses of Wisdom spread through conquest and migration
around
the Mediterranean, and the city of Cordoba in Spain became the
jewel of learning in the medieval West. These studies had a
practical impact that shaped healthy, prosperous cities—
sometimes
relying on mathematics and sometimes on crafts and public
works,
such as canals, fountains, and plumbing, rivaling Rome’s. Glass
and metal forges produced the beads, tiles, and molds that
adorned
the cities with geometric patterns or passages from the Qur’an.
Gardens marked the courtyards of the wealthy and public
spaces,
patterned on what was believed to be the geometric language of
God’s universe. In a way, the city itself became a text in which
humanity lived, magnifying the presence of God’s word.
At first supported by the monasteries and then by
Charlemagne’s
determined drive to recapture Roman glory, knowledge was also
highly prized in Christendom, contradicting what the name Dark
Ages implies about the period. Despite his immense conquests,
which comprised a swath of Europe from modern-day France to
Italy to parts of Germany, Charlemagne’s control was dependent
on
the alliances among tribes and powerful families. He aimed to
strengthen his rule through cultural achievement and alliance
with
the Church. Like his ancestors Charles Martel (714–41) and
Pippin
Illustration from a transcript of Muhammed ibn Umail al-
Tamimi’s book Al-mâ'

al-waraqî (The Silvery Water), 900–960 A.D. An excellent
example of the
traveling scholar, al-Tamimi was a Spanish-born Arab who
studied in Egypt and
travelled through North Africa and Iraq.
([Illustration from a Transcript of The Silvery Water], ca. 960)
Geometric garden in one of the main
courtyards of the Alcázar of Segovia,
governed by the Almoravide Berber
dynasty (Gryffindor, 2008)
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III (751–68), Charlemagne gained the support of the Church by
forcing conversion of conquered peoples and
ensuring protection of Church lands. Learned monks, bishops,
and popes advised him. His children became
abbots and abbesses of powerful monasteries, melding secular
and religious networks that helped him secure
the realm.
Learning and applications of knowledge to public works were
not as prevalent in Christian as in Islamic
society up to 1000 C.E. but did generate new institutions that

ultimately fueled advances in the late Middle
Ages. In 760–840 C.E., the Carolingian Renaissance (meaning
Charlemagne’s Renaissance) transformed the
education of the ruling groups from the traditional learning of
Roman and Greek works to Christian works,
encouraging a more Christian-focused society. Scholars, many
of whom were monks, provided commentary
on scriptures and offered Roman and Greek philosophy
reconsidered through a Christian lens.
While society remained mostly rural, and most European towns
were built of wood and dirt, Charlemagne
advanced the notion of cleanliness and godliness by establishing
the hot spring town of Aachen as his
imperial seat, with the springs providing the public stage for
interchange among learned and ruling men
(Nelson, 2001). The geography of the town reflected the social
order, with Charlemagne’s palace at the
center and residences of administrators and nobility arrayed
around him. The town radiated outward from the
church and law courts in this center.
Aachen was Charlemagne’s innovation—an urban center
organized around a secular ruler rather than the
more prevalent bishopric with the Church at the center of
intellectual and social life. Charlemagne’s authority
was necessary to create a Christendom that would host human
salvation.
Thinking of cities as a means of communicating a worldview
and enacting authority reminds us that they, too,
are historical artifacts that reflect their times.
Writing and Power: Scriptoria and Illumination

In Islam, the power of Allah was thought to be so great that it
was felt that images should not seek to capture
the divine. How could the glory of God be represented by the
skill of an artist? In addition, God should be
loved and feared. How might such human representation distort
the believer’s fear and awe of that infinite
Map of the city of
Aachen created by
George Braun and
Frans Hogenberg in
1572 that provides
a comprehensive
view of the city’s
layout and
organization
(Braun & Hogenberg,
1572)
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being? Hence, adornments of gardens, homes, markets, and

mosques were limited to geometric patterns or
scripture presented in beautiful lettering. However, this was not
solely a Muslim concept; Christian societies,
perhaps influenced by Islam, also battled concerning how to
correctly portray God.
In Unit IV, we considered how the image of Jesus changed as
theology concerning the nature of the Trinity
solidified. The iconoclast controversy refers to disputes,
especially between the Eastern and Western
churches, over illustrations of God and scripture. In the
Byzantine Empire, such images and icons were
banned by Emperor Leo in 730 C.E., resulting in widespread
destruction of icons and persecutions of their
owners. Uses of these images or icons ranged from regarding
them as strictly symbolic reminders of holiness
or aids to prayer to actually believing in them as being bridges
to the divine. Some were seen as sources of
miraculous answers to prayers. In Western Europe, though,
images of the Trinity and biblical scenes, while
sometimes also thought miraculous, became crucial teaching
tools when explaining the faith to mostly
illiterate populations.
We can see the different views of using images of God, Jesus,
and the Holy Spirit by comparing places of
worship, such as the Islamic Jameh Mosque in Iran, to the
Christian Santa Maria Maggiore (circa 440 C.E.).
Consider how the adornments of the two places of worship
reflect the function of the building itself in
instructing the faithful. Therefore, in addition to considering
cities as artifacts, we can add sacred spaces as
yet another way of researching a culture.

Gran Mezquita de Isfahán,
Jameh Mosque of Isfahan,
was continuously built
from 771 until the end of
the 20th century. Note
that there are no images
representing God; instead,
calligraphy is used to
represent the Qur’an.
([Mosaic Tile at Gran Mezquita de
Isfahán, Irán], 771 A.D.)
Pictured is the coronation
of the Virgin with angels,
saints, Pope Nicolas IV, and
Cardinal Colonna. The apse
mosaic is located in Basilica
di Santa Maria Maggiore;
the artist is Jacopo Torriti
(1295), with parts from the
original mosaic (5th
century). Note the use of
images.
(Torriti, 1295)
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The medieval scriptorium interestingly combined writing,
images, and sacred duty in the production of copies
of scripture and classical works. In monasteries, the books of
scripture and commentary were painstakingly
reproduced by hand in scriptoria or rooms designed to amplify
light and avoid the risk of candle fire.
Earlier units noted how the impact of writing was limited by
what people had available as writing materials. In
the early Middle Ages, vellum (stretched animal skin) was so
difficult and expensive to make that its scarcity
limited communication of thought, bureaucratic control, and
literacy. When Muslims imported paper from the
Chinese and refined the process to make it cheaper and
smoother, the use of paper hastened the spread of
the knowledge of the ancients and of scriptures.
Development of new forms of writing by monks seemed one
way to stave off the decline of learning and
preserve the faith. Their devotion to this task became a central
feature of most monasteries, and the scriptoria
were sites of sacred work. Benedict himself wrote laborare est
orare, meaning work is prayer, and both writing
and the prayers punctuating each day were holy endeavors,
further associating learning with a spiritual
pursuit. Copied manuscripts sometimes included the monk’s
own commentaries—some serious and some
bawdy—enhancing our understanding of what was both sacred
and profane or ideal and real in their
missions. Some classical texts were edited, some wording was
changed, and some works were suppressed
over concerns about the influence of Greek and Roman writings
on orthodoxy that led to a search for
authentic versions among scholars from the Renaissance on.

The novel by literary scholar and philosopher Umberto Eco, The
Name of the Rose, captures this sacred and
profane universe very well. The 1986 movie of the same name,
starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater, is
also helpful because it reflects the complexity of monastic life,
including a devotion to knowledge combined
with a fear of it. (Students who consider screening the film
should be aware that it contains scenes that some
viewers will consider inappropriate.)
During this period in history, books became precious—the size
of a person’s library became a matter of great
pride. The Caliph of Cordoba, Al-Hakam II, was rumored to
possess over 400,000 books, a massive number
even today (Hamerly, 2015). Compare this to the largest known
Christian library, the Imperial Library of
Constantinople, which is thought to have contained around
100,000 books and one of the largest private
libraries—Origen’s, which was expanded by his student,
Pamphilus, to 30,000 items (Parkes, 2016; Tanner,
1979). Building libraries depended on what monks could
acquire and copy. The wars, including Viking raids,
slowed growth of collections in the Christian far West (Harris,
1999).
The Celts: A Window Onto Medieval Change
The conversion of the Celtic peoples, particularly in Ireland and
Scotland, illustrates many of the themes in
this unit. Ireland and Scotland were the far reaches of the
Roman Empire; as they were the farthest away,
they were the soonest abandoned when inflation and unrest
brewed. The conquest by Christian rulers led to
the establishment of monasteries to complete the work of
conversion.

The story of St. Patrick’s conversion of Ireland in the 6th
century C.E. has some typical features. The story
tells of his miracles, including driving all the snakes from
Ireland. This myth is an apocryphal story—meaning
false, but widely regarded as true, as we learned in Unit IV—
that uses Celtic pagan symbols to describe the
rapid conversion to Christianity. The truth is that St. Patrick
converted Celtic priests, whose arms were often
tattooed with snakes as symbols of eternity. It is not clear how
much of this conversion St. Patrick himself
achieved, but in the myth, he cleansed Ireland fully from pagan
belief, clearly represented by the priests’
snake tattoos.
This kind of story appears in the lives of other saints hallowed
by history for their roles in conversion of pagan
cultures. In another, St. Boniface, who anointed King Pepin, is
credited with destroying Germanic paganism
by cutting a sacred tree with one fell swing of the axe!
Metaphorically speaking, he gained many converts by
proving that cutting the sacred groves of pagan worship did not
result in Thor’s wrath. He also gained many
converts in armed battle against pagan tribesmen.
Another feature of the period exemplified by the conversion of
Celts is syncretism, which is the merging of
pagan and Christian belief by rebranding symbols, spaces, and
the imaginations of worshippers. Constantine
himself re-inscribed Rome with Christian symbols, and the
practice proved to be an effective strategy in the
rapid expansion of Christianity. St. Benedict crushed a pagan
statue of Apollo and built on the statue’s

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remnants the altar of his monastery. St. Patrick climbed up a
pagan holy mountain to pray, beating back
crows all the way. In doing so, he rebranded another sacred
space—the formerly pagan mountain became
what is considered the holiest mountain in Ireland, currently
attracting around one million Christian pilgrims
each year. In addition, the crow, once treasured by pagans,
became a figure of evil (Butler, 2012).
The experience of the Celts reflects typical impacts caused by
invasion and migration as well as the
pleasures and dangers of the monastic mission. The monks of
Iona in Ireland created one of the largest
libraries of Western Christian Europe but lost most of its
contents to Viking attacks. Terrorized like so many
coastal peoples, the monks escaped to found a new monastery at
Kells, where they reestablished their
scriptorium. The Book of Kells turned scripture into high art.
Begun sometime in the 8th century C.E., it is one
of the greatest achievements of Celtic art and of the practice of
illustrating scripture, called illumination. The
pictures amplify the awe of the reader but also emphasize key
figures and lessons. They also offer another
example of syncretism—incorporating earlier Celtic symbols
and runes into Christian scripture.

Early medieval cultures speak to us about their values and
social organization through written records,
architecture, art, city plans, monasteries, education, laws, ritual,
and myth. Looking at any of these, we often
see encounters between and transformation of cultures in this
period, rendering the old label of Dark Ages
defunct. These early Middle Ages were violent, turbulent,
decentralized, and challenging, but they did not lack
innovation or beauty. Further research on any artifact or feature
from these times should reveal, then, the
complex world from whence it came.
References
Braun, G., & Hogenberg, F. (1572). Civitates Orbis Terrarum,
Band 1 [Illustration of a map]. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Braun_Aachen_UBHD
.jpg
Browne, G. F. (1908). Alcuin of York: Lectures delivered in the
Cathedral Church of Bristol in 1907 and 1908.
Retrieved from
https://archive.org/details/alcuinyorklectu01browgoog
The Book of Kells—The Incipit to the Gospel of John
(Folio 29 Recto, ca. 800b?)
The Book of Kells—The Incipit to the Gospel of
Matthew
(Folio 29 Recto, ca. 800a?)

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Butler, J. (2012). St. Patrick, folklore and Irish national
identity. In A. Heimo, T. Hovi, & M. Vasenkari (Eds.),
Pyhä Urho – Saint Urho – Fakeloresta folkloreksi – from
fakelore to folklore (pp. 84–101). Turku,
Finland: University of Turku.
Folio 29 recto [Illustration in The Book of Kells]. [ca. 800a?].
Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KellsFol029rIncipitM
atthew.jpg
Folio 292r [Illustration in The Book of Kells]. [ca. 800b?].
Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KellsFol292rIncipJoh
n.jpg
Gryffindor. (2008). Jardin Alcazar Segovia [Photograph].
Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jardin_Alcazar_Segov

ia.jpg
Hamerly, D. (2015). The Córdovan Library of Caliph al-Hakam
II and the case for interculturalism (University
paper). Retrieved from http://www.donhamerly.info/wp-
content/uploads/2015/04/cordoba.pdf
Harris, M. H. (1999). History of libraries in the Western world
(4th ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
[Illustration from a transcript of The Silvery Water]. [ca. 960].
Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_Umayl_The_Silve
ry_Water.jpg
Karamell. (2005). [Photograph of detail carving from
Osebergskipet, Vikingskipmuseet, Oslo]. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osebergskipet-
Detail.jpg
Lévi-Strauss, C. (1961). Tristes tropiques (J. Russell, Trans.).
London, England: Hutchinson.
McKay, J. P., Hill, B. D., Buckler, J., Crowston, C. H.,
Wiesner-Hanks, M. E., & Perry, J. (2017). A history of
Western society: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment (12th
Concise ed., Vol. 1). Boston, MA:
Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Montgomery, J. (2008). Arabic sources on the Vikings. In S.
Brink, & N. S. Price (Eds.), The Viking world (pp.

550–561). London, England: Routledge.
[Mosaic tile at Gran Mezquita de Isfahán, Irán]. (771 A.D.).
Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gran_Mezquita_de_Is
fah%C3%A1n,_Isfah%C3%A1n,_Ir%C
3%A1n,_2016-09-20,_DD_64.jpg
Nelson, J. L. (2001). Aachen as a place of power. In M. B. de
Jong, F. Theuws, & C. van Rhijn (Eds.),
Topographies of power in the early Middle Ages (pp. 217–242).
Retrieved from
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/columbiasouthern/detail.a
ction?docID=3003932
Parkes, V. (2016, December 26). From papyrus to parchment:
The Imperial Library of Constantinople. Ancient
Origins. Retrieved from https://www.ancient-
origins.net/history-important-events/papyrus-parchment-
imperial-library-constantinople-007251
Paulle. (2016). [Photograph of Oseberg ship]. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54937245
Tanner, T. M. (1979). A history of early Christian libraries from
Jesus to Jerome. The Journal of Library
History (1974-1987), 14(4), 407–435. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25541013
Torriti, J. (1295). The coronation of the Virgin with angels,
saints, Pope Nicolas IV and Cardinal Colonna
[Mosaic ceiling]. Retrieved from
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ggiore.jpg
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
Suggested Reading
In order to access the following resources, click the links
below.
The following video provides an overview of a scientific
renaissance in medieval Islam. You are encouraged
to watch the first three segments: Islam, Scientific Method and
Heritage; Islamic Empire; and Funding Quest
for Knowledge. If you wish to learn more, you can continue
viewing through the remaining segments of the
video.

Oxford Scientific Films (Producer). (2009). The empire of
reason: Science and Islam–The Golden Age [Video
file]. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS
&url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPla
ylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=47837
For a transcript of Segments 1–3, please click here.
Charlemagne creates the Holy Roman Empire and hosts the
Carolingian Renaissance in the following video.
You are encouraged to view Segment 4, Carolingian
Renaissance.
RCR Producciones (Producer). (1989). Carolingian Renaissance
(Segment 4 of 8) [Video file]. Retrieved from
ylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=1956&loid=11582
To view a transcript of this video segment, click on the
“Transcript” tab near the top right corner of the page.
The Irish monasteries were central to the preservation of
learning, and most famous are the beautiful hand
drawn and illuminated (illustrated) Christian scriptures known
as The Book of Kells. This video provides a
historical view, but you may want to do a web search for the
animated film The Secret of Kells that reflects
how critical and precious both learning and written scripture
came to be in a medieval world Viking migration

without the overarching protection of a strong Roman military.
You are encouraged to watch Segment 5, Book
of Kells on Display, and Segment 6, Making the Book of Kells,
of the video to learn more about this beautiful
manuscript.
Ulster Television Enterprises (Producer). (1987). The book of
Kells [Video file]. Retrieved from
ylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=4329
For a transcript of Segments 5 and 6, please click here.
&url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=273866
&xtid=47837
&xtid=47837
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-
102948337_1
&xtid=1956&loid=11582
&xtid=1956&loid=11582
&xtid=4329

&xtid=4329
&xtid=4329
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/bbcswebdav/xid-
102948338_1

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