Here is material from last term
............................................UNIT IV
.........................TEN MEDIAEVAL MONARCHS
..What did it take to be a good ruler in the Middle Ages?
...........What qualities led to disaster?
................Could you have done it?
Each session will begin with two of you doing short presentations,
using PowerPoint if you like, on specific questions about each monarch.
The class will then award marks for your presentation by vote.
Those who do badly will have to do it again!
Out in Hawai’i there is a gang of history teachers
who make unforgettable pastiche videos
– History for Music Lovers, they call it.
I've included some of their work (with their own blurbs)
in this purple ink.
10 January
The maker of civilisation:
KING ALFRED THE GREAT OF WESSEX
Alfred was the greatest Englishman who ever lived; and one of the few people in history to create a nation more-or-less by himself, through pure willpower.
......They're still making songs about him! And so they should.
......Where on earth is Wessex?
......Watch this comic account of England from 410 to 1066 - Horrible Histories: watch it very carefully; and find out.
......Wessex was all that survived of the original seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons after the Vikings invasion. Most of England was lost to those pagan barbarians; because most of them were Danes, their domain was called the Danelaw.
......Here is a song about the Vikings (‘Personal Jesus’ by Depeche Mode). We used clips from documentaries to make this one. The song is very Viking-ish anyway.
......Only tiny Wessex, in the south and west of England, survived. And the king of Wessex was a 22 year old youth, more scholar than warrior, named Alfred.
......Here is an excellent documentary on Alfred in three parts: I, II, III
......Here's a scene from the rather good 1969 film, starring David Hemmings (famous for his eyebrows and his eyes) as Alfred.
......Here's a video about the crisis of his reign, in 878. Why didn't Alfred despair at this point? Would you?
......The rest of Alfred's reign was given over to strengthening the realm he had created: he was great patron of learning and education.
......(Here's a song about illuminated manuscripts (‘Nowhere Man’ by the Beatles) and the men who made them. . Why did manuscripts matter so much in the ninth century? What was Alfred helping to save?
......If you want to read more about him, here's what the B.B.C. says, and the contemporary British monarchy (which after all owes its existence to Alfred!)
17 January
The greatest and wickedest Slovene ever:
EMPRESS BARBARA OF CELJE
Well, not as wicked as Edvard Kardelj, perhaps. But more infamous.
......Barbara Celjska, as she was called when she was born, began her life in what is now eastern Slovenia. But by marriage she became Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and Germany, and Holy Roman Empress.
......She was also one of the scariest politicians of her age, known as the Messalina of Germany.
......And, after a spell in prison, she became notorious throughout Europe for pursuing alchemy and the occult.
......She died of the Plague in 1451.
......Research: start here, here, here, here, and here.
......A genealogy of her family, the Counts of Cilli (here in Slovene, with family tree).
Luka: Who were the Counts of Celje? What was their symbol? Why is it so familiar?
Kim: Who was Messalina? What was alchemy?
THE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT MEDIAEVAL MONARCHS TEST
17 January 2012
1. What was Alfred’s father’s name?
2. What happened at the Battle of Chippenham?
3. Who was the first Count of Celje?
4. Why was the Empress Barbara put in prison?
5. What was the Council of Constance and who was burned alive there?
6. In what town was Alfred born?
7. What did Alfred burn? (It wasn’t a heretic!)
8. Where did the Empress Barbara die?
24 January
The soap opera hero:
KING HENRY II OF ENGLAND
See the Channel Five documentary on Henry II: I, II, III;
and Anthony Harvey's 1968 film of James Goldman's 1966 Broadway play, The Lion in Winter, about Henry II in old age, reunited for a while with his amazing wife Eleanor (prelude, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII and XIV).
......And here's a song about Eleanor of Aquitaine (‘Happy Ever After’ by Julia Fordham), shot on a cold winter day in Honolulu .
......Begin your research about Henry here here, and here.
Olivia: Who was Henry's wife? Why does she matter so much?
Nika: Did Henry murder St Thomas Becket?
31 January
The saint:
ST. LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE
It is not easy, combining sainthood with the most powerful throne in Europe.
......Research: read about his family, and his misadventures on the Seventh and Eighth Crusades.
......A documentary;
images of the royal saint.
Rubin: Why did Louis want to go on Crusade?
The class assignment on Louis IX.
7 February
The wonder of the world:
EMPEROR FREDERICK II
They called him stupor mundi, the wonder of the world. Popes trembled and sultans obeyed. He unified all the civilisations and tore apart all the kingdoms. There had never been an emperor like him - and there could never be one again, for the moment he died the Empire was wrecked, and European unity vanished for seven hundred years. He was a
man of extraordinary culture, energy, and ability – called by a contemporary chronicler stupor mundi, by Nietzsche the first European, and by many historians the first modern ruler – Frederick established in Sicily and southern Italy something very much like a modern, centrally-governed kingdom ....
Begin research here, here, here and here.
Thomas: Why was Frederick the wonder of the world?
Max: What did it mean to be Emperor in the thirteenth century?
Jonah: Was Frederick a failure?
The class assignment on Frederick II.
21 February
The lovely bully:
KING HENRY V OF ENGLAND
Vasja: How did Henry V manage to conquer France? Was he a good king or a bad king?
Shakespeare describes Henry V in the play of the same name:
The king’s ... a heart of gold,
A lad of life, an imp of fame;
Of parents good, of fist most valiant.
I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string
I love the lovely bully.
That sounds pretty scary. Watch Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 film of Shakespeare’s Henry V: the king’s famous speech before the Battle of Agincourt, Henry's climactic triumph. Here is the aftermath of that battle, and here's a song about Agincourt (‘As Tears Go By’ by Marianne Faithful): a short song about a long war .
......So who was Henry? Begin research here. Then watch the Channel Five documentary on Henry V ( I, II, III).
......Henry made the mistake of dying young. His infant son, Henry VI, grew up mad and pious, and France was lost to a character we could not have predicted: Joan of Arc (‘Seven Nation Army’ by the White Stripes; clips from the movie starring Ingrid Bergman).
......We were very fortunate to have a visiting expert on mediaeval warfare, Mr Martin McDowell (Olivia’s father).
......Mr McDowell showed us weaponry of the Middle Ages, real swords, a gambeson, leather and metal armour, and organised swordfights.
......Riff-raff from other, less important classes joined us.
6 March
..............A CLASS TEST
.......ON OUR FIRST SIX MONARCHS
Jaka: A reminder about Henry V.
13 March
The destroyer of continents:
GENGHIS KHAN
He changed the planet. His name remains terrifying. He slew forty million people, and had such a huge harem that 8% of the population of Asia now descends from him. He inspired the silliest Hollywood film of all time, The Conqueror (1956), with John Wayne immortally drawling Ah am the lahrd of all MohonGALS.
......There was a much less awful film called Genghis Khan made in 1965, starring Omar Sharif: here is the trailer, and an excerpt.
......The basic story is simple enough. It isn’t even unique. Again and again barbarians pour out of northern Asia and wipe out European civilisation. It happened in the fifth century, with the Huns. It happened in the twentieth century with the Muscovites. And it happened in the thirteenth century with the Mongols.
......Temujin was born to a petty tribe of nomads in the absolute middle of nowhere, but by his campaigns united the Mongols, assumed the title Genghis Khan, and led them to conquests which went on for a century, creating the largest land empire in history, covering almost all of Asia and reaching deep into Europe (indeed, to verge of the British International School of Ljubljana)! And on the way he slaughtered just everyone.
......We are going to watch (carefully, making notes) an ambitious documentary made by the B.B.C. in 2005 (I, II, III, IV, V); we’ll have a short test on the Mongols next week.
......Here’s the Secret History of the Mongols in English.
Maxim: Is there anything good to be said for Genghis Khan?
Nina: How did he kill so many people? Why?
20 March
The guide and ruler of the human race:
INNOCENT III
It is hard for us to grasp how important the Christian Church was in the Middle Ages. The Church was the one foundation of culture, of morality, of art, of music; it also dominated economic and to a large extent political life; and it entirely dominated intellectual life.
......The great thinker of the thirteenth century was Thomas Aquinas. Here’s a song about him (‘Venus’ by Bananarama; the stunning trio of Bambi, Vicki, and Angelica sing the popular Bananarama tune with lyrics about the great philosopher Thomas Aquinas. Vicki is the cool one. Angelica is the smart one. Bambi is blonde.) If Bambi doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about Aquinas, read this.
......Aquinas was the great brains of the thirteenth-century Church; the great spiritual leader was Francis of Assisi. Here is his famous confrontation with Pope Innocent III from Zefferelli’s film Brother Son, Sister Moon: I, II. Here's a painting of the event.
......But the power of the Church lay with Innocent III.
......The medieval church in Western Europe reached the height of its authority during his reign. Had he succeeded in a complete reform of the church, it is possible that the Reformation of the 16th century might have been avoided.
......Lothair of Segni was born in 1160 or 1161, educated in Rome, Paris, and Bologna, and in 1190 made a cardinal deacon by Pope Clement III, although he was not yet a priest. (What is a cardinal? Find out.) When Pope Celestine III died on January 8, 1198, Lothair was immediately elected pope, taking the name Innocent III. He was only 36.
......The medieval popes had accumulated a great deal of political influence in the affairs of Europe, and Innocent was determined to exercise it. He declared:
It is the business of the pope to look after the interests of the Roman Empire, since the empire derives its origin and its final authority from the papacy ....
In this he was not altogether successful. He did manage to assert his control over the city of Rome and to consolidate the power of the church in the Papal States of central Italy. He did not succeed in gaining political control over the Holy Roman Empire. In his last years Innocent deposed the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and helped his ward, Frederick II, obtain the throne because of his promises never to threaten the power of the papacy - promises Frederick broke after Innocent's death. Nor was he able to end the strife between King Philip II of France and King John of England.
......Within the church Innocent sought to instill the virtues of poverty and kindness in the clergy and was instrumental in founding the Dominicans and Franciscans. The Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, proclaimed the dogma of transubstantiation, bound all Roman Catholics to confession at least once a year, and instituted other reforms among clergy and laity. In addition, Innocent inspired the Fourth Crusade, which, against his wishes, conquered Constantinople and set up a Latin Empire.
......It was while Innocent III was making preparations for a crusade to conquer the Holy Land that he was stricken with a fever. He died on July 16, 1216, in the city of Perugia.
......Think about papal conclaves - the extremely exciting business of choosing a new pope. Here's a drama from 2006, The Conclave; and a documentary in Italian (I, II III).
Vid: What did it mean to be the Pope in the thirteenth century?
Why was Innocent such a great pope?
The Innocent III assignment.
EASTER HOLIDAYS
10 April
The most fortunate man in the world:
ABD-AR-RAHMAN III, CALIPH OF CÓRDOBA
I have now reigned above fifty years in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honours, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot: they amount to Fourteen: - O man! place not thy confidence in this present world!
......Begin research here, here, here, here, here, and here. Here's a nice animated map.
......Some films: Bettany Hughes' documentary When The Moors Ruled In Europe (2005) is largely about Abd-ar-Rahman III. This PBS documentary The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain (2007) (1'18") is mainly about the Jews of Cordoba. Scenes from Youssef Chahine's sympathetic film about Islamic Spain, al Massir (1997); and the very unsympathetic epic, El Cid (1961).
What was a caliph?
What was the Moslem state of Córdoba?
17 April
So tough he could tame Vikings:
HAROLD I 'FAIRHAIR', KING OF NORWAY
She wouldn't marry him because he was just the chieftain of a petty kingdom on a fjord. So he swore not to cut his hair until he had conquered all the others. The results were ugly. But he became the first King of Norway, and founder of the Norwegian state.
a bad person: What were the Northmen or Vikings?
a bad person: How did Harold manage to unite Norway?
Attila the Hun (‘Here Comes the Rain Again’ by Eurythmics) Attila- the original rockstar- fur, women, drunkenness...croaking from a nose bleed after a night of excess. Huns are fun - when you sing about them instead of getting ran... The Crusades (‘Eyes Without a Face’ by Billy Idol) Scenes from Kingdom of Heaven and a documentary. mediaeval knights (‘Friday Night’ by Lily Allen) We love Lily. And history. A quick overview of the life of a typical European knight during the Middle Ages. Clips from ‘A Knight’s Tale’ with the late Heath Ledger King Arthur (‘Nature Boy’ by Eden Ahbez) Clips from the movie Excalibur and a haunting tune made famous by Nat King Cole (and sung by David Bowie on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack) Black Death (‘Hollaback Girl’ by Gwen Stefani) Gutenberg (‘Sunday Girl’ by Blondie) This text-only video is appropriate for the man who gave us text - printed text, anyhow, and lots of it. Charlemagne (‘Call Me’ by Blondie) . Mrs. B rocks out to the Blondie classic with a crown from Burger King. Documentary footage added for effect . William the Conqueror (‘Sexyback’ by Justin Timberlake) You will never, ever forget the date of the Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings after watching this. Ever. That is a REAL sword, btw. Beowulf (‘Luftballons’ by Nena) Copernicus (‘Because’ by the Beatles). Pretty animation (Premiere and After FX) about the sun, and bright, shiny stuff, and Copernicus The Canterbury Tales (‘California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and The Papas)
.....
