Ulfberht swords on display at the British Museum Viking exhibit In Dr. Caldwell's presentation on the Vikings 9/10/14 | Up to this point, I had not taken a pre-modern history class. As a history major in a department with a strong pre-modern history faculty, this seemed irresponsible of me. What can I say? I have a slight obsession with everything from the French Revolution on. I don't want this to sound like I was coerced into the class. Out of the classes I could have chosen with pre-modern subject matter, Medieval warfare seemed like the best choice. And even with older sources and less concise documentation of events, I thought I had experience in breaking down historical texts. This was before I read our first primary source. |
It covers the political, cultural, and territorial chaos from the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE to around the beginning of the Age of Exploration and the Renaissance in the sixteenth century. This is actually my only Clarkson history class this semester due to the four Communication classes, a SUNY Potsdam Anthropology class, and Microeconomics class I'm taking. But this raw, gritty, and traditional history is challenging in a way I didn't expect. I've covered most modern history through the seven previous history classes on my schedule. I'm also learning about the origins of human culture and form through this "Prehistory of Europe" Anthropology class at SUNY Potsdam. But there was still a gap in my knowledge of Medieval history.
So far, we have covered the Carolingian dynasty (Emperor Charlemagne and the subsequent disputes of his greedy descendants), the Vikings, and the overall expansion of different populations through war and cultural diffusion in the period 1000-1200 CE. While the culture of Europe was evolving dramatically during this period, Dr. Ellen Caldwell focused the class in on military strategy and the mechanics of war.
Dr. Caldwell is an Associate Professor of the Humanities in the HSS department with a special interest in what she called "the classics". Greek and Roman texts absorbed her interest during her previous studies. She also worked to gain knowledge of ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance culture in her work and classes. As she explained on her Clarkson webpage regarding her scholarly interests, "My work traces the ways in which the popular culture of the Renaissance both reflects and is embedded in the larger political, economic, and social contexts" (link to Clarkson page below). Dr. Caldwell began the class "War in the Middle Ages" after students expressed a desire for an outlet for their passion of Medieval history and sources. She designed the class first to educate students about the warfare at the time, but more importantly to analyze primary sources. Primary sources are the bread and butter of all historians. Since most of what they study happened in the past, written and illustrated resources are how they form concepts of the past. And as historians in her class, they were expected to exercise this skill.
These sources that Dr. Caldwell has gathered weren't all intended for future cultural and military analysis. The prose of Latin and Old English sources doesn't match that of modern English While experts have experience in translating and interpreting sources, students new to the field such as myself had a difficult time adapting to the language. The accounts featuring the leaders we are studying typically show them in a heroic light; that much is clear. The sources we examined are written by a cleric or member of the ruler's court with an obvious bias. We do have secondary sources such as our textbook, Medieval Warfare: A History by Maurice Keen. However, Dr. Caldwell is treating us as historians. We are expected to grow our skills in primary source analysis.
Take for example Nithard's History documenting the inheritance dispute between Charlemagne's grandchildren that ultimately led to the end of the Carolingian line. Nithard was in fact Charlemagne's grandson and the cousin of Charles the Bald, Louis the German, Lothar I, and Pepin II. He was part of Charles' court during the Battle of Fontenoy (June 841 CE) and later recorded the events that led up to the battle as requested by Charles. The account began as Louis the Pious, the brothers' father, attempted to rein in his sons as they tried to dominate Frankish lands through battle. After Louis the Pious passed, Charles and Lothar began two-year campaigns in Frankish lands that eventually led to the Battle of Fontenoy in the now-Burgundy region near Auxerre. Dr. Caldwell gave us a list of questions to conduct a military analysis with Nithard's account as our source. The questions covered topics like who the author was, where and when the source was written, reasons for battle, size and composition of the armies, strategy in the campaigning and subsequent battle, and the consequences of the battle both immediately and ultimately for these Carolingian populations. I had a more difficult time that I initially thought I would answering these questions. I suppose I'm just used to historical sources with language very similar to my own.
So far, we have covered the Carolingian dynasty (Emperor Charlemagne and the subsequent disputes of his greedy descendants), the Vikings, and the overall expansion of different populations through war and cultural diffusion in the period 1000-1200 CE. While the culture of Europe was evolving dramatically during this period, Dr. Ellen Caldwell focused the class in on military strategy and the mechanics of war.
Dr. Caldwell is an Associate Professor of the Humanities in the HSS department with a special interest in what she called "the classics". Greek and Roman texts absorbed her interest during her previous studies. She also worked to gain knowledge of ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance culture in her work and classes. As she explained on her Clarkson webpage regarding her scholarly interests, "My work traces the ways in which the popular culture of the Renaissance both reflects and is embedded in the larger political, economic, and social contexts" (link to Clarkson page below). Dr. Caldwell began the class "War in the Middle Ages" after students expressed a desire for an outlet for their passion of Medieval history and sources. She designed the class first to educate students about the warfare at the time, but more importantly to analyze primary sources. Primary sources are the bread and butter of all historians. Since most of what they study happened in the past, written and illustrated resources are how they form concepts of the past. And as historians in her class, they were expected to exercise this skill.
These sources that Dr. Caldwell has gathered weren't all intended for future cultural and military analysis. The prose of Latin and Old English sources doesn't match that of modern English While experts have experience in translating and interpreting sources, students new to the field such as myself had a difficult time adapting to the language. The accounts featuring the leaders we are studying typically show them in a heroic light; that much is clear. The sources we examined are written by a cleric or member of the ruler's court with an obvious bias. We do have secondary sources such as our textbook, Medieval Warfare: A History by Maurice Keen. However, Dr. Caldwell is treating us as historians. We are expected to grow our skills in primary source analysis.
Take for example Nithard's History documenting the inheritance dispute between Charlemagne's grandchildren that ultimately led to the end of the Carolingian line. Nithard was in fact Charlemagne's grandson and the cousin of Charles the Bald, Louis the German, Lothar I, and Pepin II. He was part of Charles' court during the Battle of Fontenoy (June 841 CE) and later recorded the events that led up to the battle as requested by Charles. The account began as Louis the Pious, the brothers' father, attempted to rein in his sons as they tried to dominate Frankish lands through battle. After Louis the Pious passed, Charles and Lothar began two-year campaigns in Frankish lands that eventually led to the Battle of Fontenoy in the now-Burgundy region near Auxerre. Dr. Caldwell gave us a list of questions to conduct a military analysis with Nithard's account as our source. The questions covered topics like who the author was, where and when the source was written, reasons for battle, size and composition of the armies, strategy in the campaigning and subsequent battle, and the consequences of the battle both immediately and ultimately for these Carolingian populations. I had a more difficult time that I initially thought I would answering these questions. I suppose I'm just used to historical sources with language very similar to my own.
Sophomore John Hanley in the Arete (Liberal Arts and Business double major) program displaying his Viking shield he crafted over the summer. The shield is made of plywood with rawhide around the edges and a stylized dragon on the front as painted by John.
There are students at Clarkson with the skills to analyze and reflect on history. One student that I have found with a passion for Medieval history and history in general is John Hanley, the student pictured above with his hand-crafted recreation of a Viking shield. He is one of those admirable history buffs who spends his summer making a Viking shield for fun. After sitting next to each other in Dr. Caldwell's class and discovering his hobby in Viking war accessories, we ended up teaming up for the final project. Dr. Caldwell wants the final project to be a reproduction of a mechanical device or solution to a problem using the same tools and methods of the Medieval era. Hanley was already a step ahead with his shield and plans to design the typical wardrobe of a Viking raid (minus the chainmail). And as his partner in this recreation, there may be an outfit of Viking women designed for me in the near future.
This past week of class was somewhat of a transition between historical periods explaining the movement of people and boundaries in relation to Norman, Italian, Viking, Frankish, Moore, etc. conquests and losses. This set the stage for upcoming battles such as the Battle of Hastings (1066) and the Crusades happening during and beyond the period of expansion as discussed before. I was perhaps fourteen in my ninth grade World History class the last time I actively discussed this time period. I got a B in the class with a laughable amount of effort put into that grade. Now, as a history major and as a history nerd, I feel the push towards in-depth analysis. I have one thing to end this post with that will make my fellow Medieval history nerds envious. Next semester, I will be living in the town of Troyes, France while studying abroad. Troyes is in the Champagne region about 150 kilometers southeast of Paris. I will also be 70 kilometers from Auxerre, the region in which the Battle of Fontenoy occurred. Be jealous.
The Social Scientific Method will be updated once a week with posts involving the happenings on campus, in the HSS department, and my experience as a student. Please comment, share, and enjoy for many weeks to come!
This past week of class was somewhat of a transition between historical periods explaining the movement of people and boundaries in relation to Norman, Italian, Viking, Frankish, Moore, etc. conquests and losses. This set the stage for upcoming battles such as the Battle of Hastings (1066) and the Crusades happening during and beyond the period of expansion as discussed before. I was perhaps fourteen in my ninth grade World History class the last time I actively discussed this time period. I got a B in the class with a laughable amount of effort put into that grade. Now, as a history major and as a history nerd, I feel the push towards in-depth analysis. I have one thing to end this post with that will make my fellow Medieval history nerds envious. Next semester, I will be living in the town of Troyes, France while studying abroad. Troyes is in the Champagne region about 150 kilometers southeast of Paris. I will also be 70 kilometers from Auxerre, the region in which the Battle of Fontenoy occurred. Be jealous.
The Social Scientific Method will be updated once a week with posts involving the happenings on campus, in the HSS department, and my experience as a student. Please comment, share, and enjoy for many weeks to come!
Dr. Ellen Caldwell's Clarkson Page: http://www.clarkson.edu/humanities-ss/faculty_pages/caldwell.html
Note that any writing or opinions on this blog do not reflect the views of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences or Clarkson University.
Note that any writing or opinions on this blog do not reflect the views of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences or Clarkson University.