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History HSTAM 276, Spring 2005
Celtic Civilizations of the Middle Ages Assignment One
The Roman general Julius Caesar campaigned in Gaul against various Celtic (and probably Germanic also) speaking peoples during the first century B.C.E.. Fortunately for us, he wrote up an account of his military experiences that included some ethnographic observations about the peoples with whom he came in contact. Your assignment is to analyze the relevant portions of Caesar’s work (printed in The Celtic Heroic Age, pp. 20-23, paragraphs 11-20) to determine what the historian can learn from this text about pagan Celtic religion.
Your paper should be 3-4 pages in length, and it should draw only on the excerpt printed in The Celtic Heroic Age. This is not an exercise in historical research: the assignment seeks rather to test and enhance your ability to engage in a close reading of an historical document, and to present your views in clear and concise prose. There are two things you will want particularly to remember. First, you will need to be as sensitive to questions of perspective and bias as you are to the content of the passage. Caesar was a Roman, not a Celt, and a man whose experience of the Celts was based primarily on his having encountered them in war. He was also a Roman general with his eye on his chances for promotion. How might his perspective have colored the manner in which he depicts Celtic religious practice? Secondly, you must remember that all history papers are, by definition, arguments. Not everyone will come to the same conclusions from this document. You are presenting your interpretation of it, and you will need to make your argument as convincing as possible by citing specific evidence from the text in favor of your position.
Papers are due in section on Friday, April 8th. Mandatory rewrites are due in section on Friday, April 29th
Paper Assignment Two
HSTAM 276 Celtic Civilizations of the Middle Ages One of the most important goals of this class is that students learn to write a concise, persuasive historical essay grounded in their own research into primary sources. (Primary sources are those written at or near the time of the period in question; secondary sources are articles and monographs written by modern scholars about medieval subjects). The paper itself will be 5-7 pages long, and is due IN SECTION on Friday, May 20th. You may consult secondary authors if you wish; however, doing so is not a requirement for this assignment. It is important to remember that history papers are not reports. Rather, they advance a specific argument or interpretation and support that argument with evidence obtained through research. It is sometimes difficult for authors to discern whether their argument will be clear to others, and difficult also to distinguish between a narrative description of an event from an interpretation of it. If you are uncertain as to whether you have articulated your argument clearly, ask a friend to read through your paper to see if s/he can identify what your argument is. Another trick is for you yourself to outline your rough draft to see whether argument and evidence are clearly and persuasively formulated. In addition, your section leader will be glad to consult with you on outlines or drafts at any point in the process. Good papers do not happen overnight. There are a number of stages in writing an historical essay through which even the most experienced of historical authors must pass. Unlike the first paper assignment, there is no mandatory rewrite for this paper. However, you should not take this to mean that rewriting is undesirable or unhelpful. To the contrary, the strongest papers will be those that have gone through a variety of drafts. Attached you will find suggested paper topics. These are suggestions only: you are welcome to work on a topic that you come up with on your own. Should you decide to do that, however, please run that topic by your section leader to make sure that it is feasible. Please remember in any case that all papers must be centered on a primary source or sources. Suggested Paper Topics for Assignment Two
You may select a topic from the following, or choose a topic of your own. If you opt for the latter alternative, please clear your topic with your section leader before proceeding. I especially encourage you to write on sources we have read for the class; however, please note that it will be necessary in such instances to read all of the source in question, and not merely the selections assigned for class.
1. It has been suggested that the “Story of Mac Da Thó’s Pig” and “Briciu’s Feast” are both parodies of heroic tradition. Do you agree?
2. What are the principal themes of Columba’s life and mission, according to Adomnán’s Life of the saint? In what does his authority lie?
3. How does the character of Arthur change between the early Welsh writings and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account?
4. How ought we to understand the character and narrative purpose of Medb in the Táin?
5. From your reading of the Táin, the Gododdin, and (for contrast) the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf do you think we are justified in speaking of a genuinely “Celtic” heroic tradition?
6. In what ways do the genealogies and origins legends of the Uí Néill and Airgialla further the political aims of these rulers?
7. What is the relationship between the foretale to Adomnán’s “Law of the Innocents” and the Law itself? Why would such a tale have been grafted onto a law of this sort?
8. Why was poetry so important in early Welsh (or Irish) society? What gave poets their authority? You may tackle this subject from a variety of stances, basing your answer on readings from The Celtic Poets (ed. Ford) and the Celtic Heroic Age.
9. Is Cú Chulainn an ideal “hero”? Why or why not?
10. What do the classical sources tell us about the political role of women among the early Celtic peoples? You may draw for this topic on Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul, Agricola, and on the readings contained in The Celtic Heroic Age.
11. Why does satire “work”? Use the sources in Ford’s Celtic Poets for this topic.
12. Discuss the concept of “Truth” in early Irish literature (“The Adventure of Cormac” and “The Testament of Morann” (Audacht Morainn) are very useful sources for this topic).
13. What can the historian learn from the Gododdin (or from the poems about Urien, or about Cynddylan) about power and rule in early British society?
14. Discuss the role of the severed head (especially the talking kind!) in early Irish and Welsh literature.
15. Is there any real unity to the four “Branches” of the Mabinogi? In what does it reside?
16. Is the First Branch of the Mabinogi (Pwyll) a sovereignty tale?
17. What does Gerald of Wales think of the Irish? How has he constructed them in his work and why? You may use his The History and Topography of Ireland and/or his Conquest of Ireland for this topic.
18. How does his picture of the Welsh differ from his picture of the Irish? Does he treat all “Celtic” peoples in the same way?
19. What did the Welsh mean by “law”? What is the purpose of the Welsh lawbooks, and how do their notions of law differ from ours? (One of the major Welsh lawbooks has been translated by Dafydd Jenkins in Hywel Dda. The Law. Law Texts from Medieval Wales; you can also use selections from Owen, Ancient Laws of Wales, or read Welsh Medieval Law, by A. Wade-Evans.)
20. What can the historian learn about the early Irish church from the “Confessions” of St. Patrick?
21. What is the purpose of Armes Prydein? Is there a distinctively “Welsh” identity by this point?
22. Is the “Otherworld” a Christian or a pagan concept, to judge from the Irish tales you have read?
23. Is the concept of the “sovereignty goddess” visible in medieval Welsh literature?
24. What do the pre-Geoffrey sources on Arthur suggest about his origins and nature in Welsh tradition?
25. What does the Life of Columba suggest about the relationship between royal and religious power?
26. What is the purpose of Tírechán’s Life of Patrick? (Translated in The Patrician Texts in the Book of Armagh, ed. by Ludwig Bieler).
27. Compare the monastic Rule of St. Columba (translated by G.S.M.Walker in Sancti Columbani Opera) with its more famous contemporary, the Rule of St. Benedict.
28. How does the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede depict the various Celtic peoples and why? (Bede’s History of the English Church and People has been translated by Leo Sherley-Price).
29. Was the Norman “conquest” of Ireland truly a conquest, according to the account written by Gerald of Wales? Why or why not? (I have a copy of this source that I can allow students to xerox if they wish to write on this subject.)
30. What do the law tracts Críth Gablach and Uraicecht Becc tell you about status in early Ireland? (I have a xerox of these two sources that I can lend to students for xeroxing.)
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Last modified: 4/01/2005 7:16 AM |