Term: Winter/Spring 2018
Semester Dates: January 8, 2018 – May 4, 2018
Course Number: HISTORY 108 (PSU) | HST 495, SEC 2 (MSU)
Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:05 – 4:20 PM
Professor: Jonathan Brockopp | jeb38@psu.edu
*This course was offered for the first time in Winter/Spring 2016, the same course will be offered again in Winter/Spring 2018.
This course serves as an introductory survey of the so-called holy wars of the High Middle Ages. These wars were fought in theatres from the Baltic to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, from the Hispanic peninsula to southern France. While the primary emphasis will be given to the expeditions to the Holy Land, two other crusading movements will be studied: the crusades in the Baltic, led by the Teutonic Knights, and the crusades in southern France, against the heretics known as the Albigensians. These conflicts cannot be studied in isolation, and a major topic is the response of Islamic society and non-conformists elements within medieval Europe. How the various elements in the crusading period co-existed, changed or disappeared provides still more material for the student to contemplate.
About the Instructor: Jonathan Brockopp, associate professor of history and religion at Penn State University, specializes in the literary remains of early Islamic cultures, including the Qur’an, hadith, legal and theological texts. In his most upcoming book, Muhammad’s Heirs: the Rise of Muslim Scholarly Communities, he focuses on the question of how early Islamic scholars construct their notion of religious authority. Professor Brockopp is the convener for the Penn State Society for the Study of Religion and the director of the Rock Ethics Institute Initiative in Religion and Ethics.
Hosting University: Penn State University
Participating University: Michigan State University
Academic Calendar: Unless specified by the course instructor, the course will follow the host campus’ academic calendar.