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This seminar will introduce students to the interrelationships among the medieval cultures of Europe and Asia by focusing on international trade, which in the Early Middle Ages (early seventh to mid-ninth centuries) was oriented towards Central Asia and has come to be known as the 'Silk Road' commerce.
Among the questions we will consider will be, "Was international (transregional and transcontinental) trade the underlying cause of the remarkably parallel political, social, and economic development that occurred in most of Eurasia during the Early Middle Ages? And,
conversely, was a putative lack of participation in that trade an important factor in the development of any area of Eurasia (such as, for example, Western Europe)?"
We will examine the foundations of the dominant economic-based paradigm of modern historiography on the Middle Ages, especially the Early Middle Ages, in the theories of Pirenne and his successors (most notable Braudel), taking a Eurasian perspective encompassing the 'major players' in early medieval world history--the politically dominant states (the Frankish, Byzantine, Arab, Tibetan, Eastern Turkic, and Chinese empires) and other significant states (Spain, the Bulgars, the Khazars, Korea, etc.) and the commercially dominant merchant nations (the Norse, Jews, and Sogdians).
Readings will range from overarching theories to studies of specific international trade items and questions of local development, such as the trans-Eurasian phenomenon of 'feudal'-like estates.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing
Required texts: A reading list will be distributed at the beginning of the semester.
Course requirements:
Days and Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 1:00-2:15.
Goodbody Hall 157 | 1011 East 3rd St. | Bloomington, IN 47405-7005 | Phone: (812) 855-2233 | Fax: (812) 855-7500 | ceus@indiana.edu