HST 454/554 : Holy War in the Middle Ages
Fall 2016

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES:

RESPONSE PAPER #1

Due Tuesday, 18 October, in class -- 200 points

---

Guidelines for all papers -- please read carefully!

(1) All papers must be typed, double-spaced, and about 5 pages in length.  Papers may be slightly shorter or longer if needed, but I encourage you to be as concise as possible.  I will not accept papers longer than 6 pages.
(2) Please number your pages, and make sure that your first page includes a title (other than "Essay") and your name.  You do not need to attach a list of works cited.
(3) For purposes of citation, parenthetical, in-text references to primary sources are all that is needed and wanted.  For example: (Erdmann, 55, or Saewulf, 86).  Make sure to cite the sources of your assertions and conclusions.
(4) Your paper should present an argument and defend it using evidence from the texts, and it must be possible to raise a counter-argument to the argument you are putting forward.  No argument, no thesis.  To further assist students in writing their papers, I have put together a style guide, which you are invited to consult, particularly if you have questions about conventions surrounding dating, personal names, capitalizations, etc.
(5) Please proofread your work before submitting it.

---

Late paper policy

Late papers will be accepted until the second-to-last class of the term (November 29) but will be marked down according to the timetable below (NB: This includes weekends!).  Exemptions from the late paper policy and/or paper extensions will be given only in cases of genuine and demonstrated need, and only in advance of the paper due date.  Students are directly responsible for ensuring that their papers get safely into my hands.  If you rely on putting your paper in my mailbox, the department drop box, or sliding it under my door, check to see that I've received it.  Also, it is neither my desire nor my responsibility to print off papers sent to me as e-mail attachments.  I will accept only hard copies of all student papers, although I will allow students to e-mail their papers to me as an attachment in order to verify the date on which they completed it (in the case of papers submitted after the due date), with the expectation that they will furnish me the hard copy as soon as possible.

1 days late: 1/3 grade step (-6 points, e.g., from A to A-)
2-5 days late: 1 grade step (-20 points, e.g., from A to B)
6-10 days late: 1-1/3 grade steps (-26 points, from A to B-)
11+ days late: 2 grade steps (-40 points, from A to C)

The following conditions also apply:

---

 
Assignment

Using any combination of at least five (5) readings from the class thus far (up to and including those from October 13), at least two of which must be secondary sources (so: Buc, Erdmann, Bull, Cowdrey, Rubenstein, Turner and Turner, Throop), craft an essay in response to the following prompt:

What do you consider to be the principal historical factor(s), or causes, that either led to, or created the conditions for, (1) the intellectual-juridical formulation and (2) the popular success of Pope Urban II’s call for “crusade” in November 1095? [Note that "success" I do not mean the military success of the First Crusade, but rather the reasons so many men and women responded to the papal call and traveled east.]

A couple of things to bear in mind as you write:

(1) The word “crusade” and its cognates did not yet exist in either Latin or the vernacular languages of Europe in 1095.  The terms employed were "pilgrimage," "path" (iter), and so forth. Be careful about your terminology.
(2) You may use the sources in any combination, but the most successful arguments will be those that build their evidence from the primary sources, first and foremost.
(3) You can take this essay in any direction the sources allow, but please limit your response to those sources that we have read and discussed in class.