Winter 2010
Portland State University
John S. Ott (c)
HST 454/554:
Contesting God’s House : Jerusalem and
the Holy Land
in the Age of the Crusades (c. 1050-1291)
“Jerusalem! Have you no greeting for your captive hearts, your last
remaining flocks, who send you messages of love?”
- medieval Jewish liturgical poem (piyut)
“Pray for us and for the holy city of Jerusalem.”
- Evermarus, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, closing of a letter to
Lambert, bishop of Arras (1104)
“Jerusalem, which God exalted and ennobled and has made sacrosanct . . .
is the dwelling place of the prophets who have been sent, the
settlement of the saints and the righteous,
the place of the heavenly ascent of the chief of the prophets and the
apostle of the ‘Lord of the worlds.’”
- ‘Imad al-Din al-Isfahani (quoting a letter of 1187)
Office: CH 441-M
Office hours: By e-mail appt. only
Office phone: 503.725.3013 / E-mail:
ott@pdx.edu
Course
overview
For three millennia, the city of Jerusalem and its surrounding land has
been revered as holy by believers of the three Mediterranean
monotheisms: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This course
explores by a combination of primary and secondary source material the
meaning of Jerusalem and the power of place through the historical and
practiced traditions of all three religions, from roughly the Fatimid
period of Islamic rule over Jerusalem (ca. 1050 C.E.) until the fall of
Christian Acre and the closure of the crusader period (1291).
Note that this class does not examine holy war per se (crusade and
jihad) or attitudes toward it, though they comprise the background to
the course subject matter proper, which is the city of Jerusalem and
the “holy land” of medieval Palestine and Syria.
Course
materials
The following item is
required
and available for purchase at the PSU Bookstore; 1 copy is also on
reserve at Millar Library:
- Theoderich of Würzburg, Guide
to the Holy Land, trans. Aubrey Stewart, 2d ed. (New York:
Italica Press, 1986)
The following book is highly
recommended
but
not required:
- Dan Bahat, Carta’s Historical
Atlas of Jerusalem (Jerusalem: Carta, 2004)
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated according to the following criteria.
Guidelines for each assignment will be posted below in advance of due
dates.
- Regular attendance and
participation in discussion – 20%. I consider active
participation and attendance a critical component to every class I
teach, and as this is a small seminar-style course, participation is
essential. Please note that excellent attendance without oral
participation will usually be assessed a final grade of “C.” Weak
attendance with little or no participation will be assessed a grade of
“C-” or lower. As part of your participation grade, I reserve the
right to conduct random pop quizzes of the daily assigned readings at
any point during the quarter.
- Site
report – 20%. There will be three scheduled
presentation days (2/16, 2/18, 3/11) during the term; students will
select one on which to present.
- Reading
responses (3) – 30% (3 at 10% ea., around 3 pp. ea.).
May be submitted at any time throughout the quarter, on day assigned to
discuss the reading in question, in response to group of secondary or
primary sources.
Relevant
websites
3DIsrael -
Contains 360-degree, panoramic views of principal sites in modern
Jerusalem
Plagiarism
policy
Plagiarism, intentional or unintentional, is an intolerable infraction
in any setting where ideas are exchanged and discussed. I
routinely uncover plagiarized papers. Detecting plagiarism is
extremely easy. Papers or exams that can be shown to have been
plagiarized will automatically receive an “F” grade. Students
will be required to resubmit their (rewritten) papers, and will be
deducted in their grade an amount appropriate to the late paper policy
given in the assignment guidelines. Repeated or particularly
egregious offenses may be the cause for additional action.
Remember, ignorance is no excuse. Please note that the PSU Code
of Student Conduct considers work submitted for previous classes to
constitute academic dishonesty/plagiarism. If you are unsure what
constitutes plagiarism, you may test yourself at this web site
maintained by Indiana University:
http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/plagiarism_test.html.
Students
with disabilities
Students with disabilities who need additional consideration for the
timely completion of any of the course requirements should speak to the
instructor at the beginning of the term, and must be registered with
PSU’s Disability Resource Center (drc@pdx.edu).
E-mail
policy
E-mail is a superb tool by which students may communicate with the
course instructor about questions concerning the course material,
content, and assignments. It is especially useful for providing
feedback to student ideas and for commenting on student theses or paper
topics. But please bear in mind the following:
- E-mail is not ideal for urgent matters. I consider 48-72
hours to be a reasonable period in which to respond to inquiries.
I am usually much faster than this, but not always.
- I will not, in general, respond to student e-mails received after
5:00 p.m. until the following day(s), nor will I generally respond to
student e-mail sent after 5:00 on Friday until Monday morning.
Please plan accordingly.
- Please remember to identify yourself and state your query as
clearly as possible.
- I will not fill in students who miss class on the details of a
particular lecture or discussion. Please seek that information
from your fellow students.
Syllabus
(*Items marked with an asterisk contain helpful background history or
information)
Tues., 1/5 – Introduction to course content and themes
Thurs., 1/7 – Jerusalem and Europe: historical background
Readings:
- (*)R. I. Moore, The First
European Revolution, c. 970-1215 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000),
chap. 1, “The Approach of the Millennium” (pp. 7-29) (E-reserve);
- (*)Robert Chazan, The Jews of
Medieval Western Christendom, 1000-1500 (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2006), chap. 1, “Prior Legacies” (pp. 23-42) (E-reserve);
- (*)Moshe Gil, “The Political History of Jerusalem during the
early Muslim Period,” in The History
of Jerusalem. The Early Muslim Period, 638-1099, ed. Joshua
Prawer and Haggai Ben-Shammai (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1996), pp.
17-37 (E-reserve)
I. Jerusalem before the
crusades: Apocalyptic forebodings, sustained yearning, and ordinary life
Tues., 1/12 – Christian longing for Jerusalem before the crusades
Readings:
- The Apocalypse (Revelation of
John) 19.11-22.21, in The New
English Bible with the Apocrypha, ed. Samuel Sandmel, et al.
(Oxford, 1976), pp. 330-333 (E-reserve);
- “Adso’s Letter on the Antichrist,” in Visions of the End. Apocalyptic Traditions
in the Middle Ages, trans. and commentary Bernard McGinn (New
York: Columbia University Press, 1979), pp. 82-87 (E-reserve);
- Gregory of Tours, Glory of the
Martyrs, trans. Raymond Van Dam (Liverpool University Press,
1986), pp. 18-41 (.pdf available from instructor);
- Annalist of Nieder-Altaich: “The Great German Pilgrimage of
1064-65” (On-line at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1064pilgrim.html)
Thurs., 1/14 – Jewish longing for Jerusalem before the crusades
Readings:
- Sefer Zerubbabel
(selections), in Trajectories in
Near Eastern Apocalyptic: a postrabbinic Jewish Apocalypse Reader,
trans. John C. Reeves (Atlanta, 2005) (E-reserve);
- Avraham Grossman, “Jerusalem in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature,”
in The History of Jerusalem. The
Early Muslim Period, 638-1099, ed. Joshua Prawer and Haggai
Ben-Shammai (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1996), pp. 295-310 (E-reserve);
Tues., 1/19 – Fatimid-era Jerusalem
Readings:
- Muqātil bin Sulaymān, “Praises of Jerusalem,” from Izhak Hasson,
“The Muslim View of Jerusalem: the Qur’ān and Hadīth,” in The History of Jerusalem. The Early Muslim
Period, 638-1099, pp. 383-385 (E-reserve);
- Andreas Kaplony, “Manifestations of Private Piety: Muslims,
Christians and Jews in Fatimid Jerusalem,” in Governing the Holy City. The Interaction
of Social Groups in Jerusalem between the Fatimid and the Ottoman Period,
ed. Johannes Pahlitzsch and Lorenz Korn (Wiesbanden: Reichert, 2004),
pp. 33-45 (E-reserve);
- Josef W. Meri, The Cult of
Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria, chap. 1,
“Sacred Topography” (pp. 12-58) (E-reserve)
II. The First Crusade
(1095-1101)
Thurs., 1/21 – The place of Jerusalem in the call to crusade
Readings:
- Urban II’s Speech at Clermont (five versions plus one letter;
they are mis-numbered on-line) (On-line
at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-5vers.html);
- H.E.J. Cowdrey, “Pope Urban II’s Preaching of the First Crusade,”
History 55 (1970): 177-188
(E-reserve);
- (*)Christopher Tyerman, God’s
War: A New History of the Crusades (Harvard: Belknap Press,
2006), chap. 2, “The Summons to Jerusalem” (pp. 58-91) (E-reserve)
Tues., 1/26 – The crusaders’ attacks on the Rhineland Jewry: sources
Readings:
- The Chronicle of Soloman bar
Simson (or, bar Samson), in The
Jews and the Crusaders, ed. and trans. Shlomo Eidelberg
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), pp. 20-72 (E-reserve);
- Anna Sapir Abulafia, “Invectives against Christianity in the
Hebrew Chronicles of the First Crusade,” in Crusade and Settlement, ed. Peter
W. Edbury (Cardiff, 1985), pp. 66-72 (E-reserve)
Thurs., 1/28 – The crusaders’ attacks on the Rhineland Jewry:
interpretations
Readings:
- Jeremy Cohen, Sanctifying the
Name of God. Jewish Martyrs and Jewish Memories of the First Crusade
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), chap. 3, “Points of
Departure” (pp. 55-69) (E-reserve);
- Shmuel Shepkaru, Jewish
Martyrs in the Pagan and Christian Worlds (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2006), chap. 7, “Ve Ashkenaz: Manifestations of a
Milieu” (pp. 185-210) (E-reserve)
Tues., 2/2 – Day of infamy: the crusader conquest of Jerusalem (15 July
1099) through Latin sources
Readings:
- Gesta Francorum et aliorum
Hierosolimitanorum (The Deeds of the Franks and the other pilgrims to
Jerusalem), ed. and trans. Rosalind Hill (London: Thomas Nelson,
1962), pp. 87-93, 98-103 (E-reserve);
- Robert the Monk’s History of
the First Crusade, trans. Carol Sweetenham (Aldershot: Ashgate,
2006), book 9.1-11 (pp. 196-203) (E-reserve);
- The Gesta Tancredi [Deeds of
Tancred] of Ralph of Caen. A History of the Normans on the First Crusade,
trans. Bernard S. Bachrach and David S. Bachrach (Aldershot: Ashgate,
2005), chaps. 122-134 (pp. 138-148) (E-reserve);
- Yuval Noah Harari, “Eyewitnessing in Accounts of the First
Crusade: the Gesta Francorum and Other Contemporary Narratives,” Crusades 3 (2004): 77-99 [you are
required to read only pp. 77-79, 85-91, and 98-99—but you may read the
rest, of course!] (E-reserve)
Thurs., 2/4 – Muslim reactions to the taking of Jerusalem
Readings:
Note: All three
selections below concern or were composed a generation or more removed
from the events of 1099.
- Francesco Gabrieli, trans., Arab
Historians of the Crusades, pp. 10-12 (“The Franks conquer
Jerusalem”) (E-reserve);
- Ibn al-Qalānisī, The Damascus
Chronicle of the Crusades, trans. H.A.R. Gibb (London: Luzac,
1932), pp. 41-49 (E-reserve);
- (*)Carole Hillenbrand, The
Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (New York: Routledge, 1999), pp.
116-165 (E-reserve)
III. The Kingdom of
Jerusalem and the crusader states
Tues., 2/9 – Crusader Jerusalem: the transformation of a city
Readings:
- Dan Bahat, Carta’s Historical
Atlas of Jerusalem (Jerusalem: Carta, 2004), pp. 50-57 (E-reserve);
- Sylvia Schein, Gateway to the
Heavenly City: Crusader Jerusalem and the Catholic West (1099-1187)
(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005), chap. 5, “From the ‘City of the Holy
Sepulchre’ to the ‘City of the Humanity of Christ’” (pp. 63-90) (E-reserve);
- Bernard Hamilton, “Rebuilding Zion: The Holy Places of Jerusalem
in the Twelfth Century,” in Renaissance
and Renewal in Christian History, ed. Derek Baker (Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1977), pp. 105-116 (E-reserve)
Thurs., 2/11 – Jerusalem: eschatological epicenter of the three
monotheisms
Readings:
- Sylvia Schein, “The Temple between Mount Moriah and the Holy
Sepulchre: The Changing Tradition of the Temple in the Middle Ages,” Traditio 50 (1984): 175-195 (E-reserve);
- Ora Limor, “The Place of the End of Days: Eschatological
Geography in Jerusalem,” in The Real
and Ideal Jerusalem in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Art. Studies in
Honor of Bezalel Narkiss on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday,
ed. Bianca Kühnel (Jerusalem: Hebrew University Press, 1998), pp.
13-22 (E-reserve)
Tues., 2/16 – A Christian pilgrim to the holy land before Hattin (part
I)
Reading:
- Theoderich of Würzburg, Guide
to the Holy Land, pp. 1-32 (note there are maps and plans on pp.
74, 95-96)
SITE REPORT PRESENTATIONS I
Thurs., 2/18 – A Christian pilgrim to the holy land before Hattin (part
II)
Reading:
- Theoderich of Würzburg, Guide
to the Holy Land, pp. 33-73
SITE REPORT PRESENTATIONS II
Tues., 2/23 – Minority existence in the crusader states
Readings:
- The Itinerary of Benjamin of
Tudela. Travels in the Middle Ages (Joseph Simon, 1983), pp.
75-87 (E-reserve);
- The Travels of Ibn Jubayr,
trans. R.J.C. Broadhurst, in The
Crusades. A Reader (Ontario: Broadview, 2003), pp. 108-111 (E-reserve);
Choose
either
- Benjamin Z. Kedar, “The Subjected Muslims of the Frankish
Levant,” in The Crusades, ed.
T. F. Madden, pp. 235-264 (E-reserve)
[on Muslims]
or
- Christopher MacEvitt, The
Crusades and the Christian World of the East. Rough Tolerance
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008), chap. 4, “Rough
Tolerance and Ecclesiastical Ignorance” (pp. 100-135) (E-reserve) [on eastern Christian
sects]
IV. The long decline of
crusader Jerusalem and the rise of the medieval Muslim city
Thurs., 2/25 – The 1187 Reconquest of Jerusalem by Salah al-Din
Readings:
- Francesco Gabrieli, trans., Arab
Historians of the Crusades, pp. 139-175 (on the Muslim
reconquest of Jerusalem; note that there are two different histories
here) (E-reserve);
- (*)Dan Bahat, Carta’s Historical Atlas of Jerusalem, pp. 58-63 (E-reserve);
- (*)Carole Hillenbrand, The
Crusades: Islamic Perspectives, pp. 188-204 (E-reserve)
Tues., 3/2 – Jerusalem and the Holy Land on film
Film – Kingdom of Heaven (Ridley Scott,
2005)
Thurs., 3/4 –
NO CLASS, INSTRUCTOR AT
CONFERENCE
Tues., 3/9 – Ayyubid Jerusalem (1187-1250) and the decline of the
crusader states in the Levant
Readings:
- Mahmoud K. Hawari, Ayyubid
Jerusalem (1187-1250). An architectural and archaeological study
(Oxford: BAR, 2007), chap. 4, “Architectural Changes in Jerusalem under
the Ayyubids” (pp. 19-33) (E-reserve);
- Francesco Gabrieli, trans., Arab
Historians of the Crusades, pp. 267-275 (E-reserve);
- Ibn al-Furāt, Tārīl al-Duwal
wa’l Mulūk, selections (.pdf to
be provided)
Thurs., 3/11 – Jerusalem in the twilight of the crusader era
Readings:
- Benjamin Z. Kedar, “Convergences of Oriental Christian, Muslim,
and Frankish Worshippers: The Case of Saydnaya,” in De Sion exibit lex et verbum domini de
Hierusalem. Essays on Medieval Law, Liturgy, and Literature in Honour
of Amnon Linder, ed. Yitzhak Hen (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), pp.
59-69 (E-reserve);
- “Burchard of Mt Sion on the People of Palestine,” in The Crusades. A Reader (Ontario:
Broadview, 2003), pp. 121-124 (E-reserve)
- SITE
REPORT PRESENTATIONS III
- COURSE EVALUATIONS
- ESSAY EXAMS DUE IN MY OFFICE ON OR
BEFORE TUESDAY, MARCH 16, AT 5:00