Middle Ages Essay
Due in History Seminar on Wednesday 12/4/2013
Directions:
1. Choose two of the documents we have read or will read from the Middle Ages. Both should
reflect an important medieval value or norm (examples are listed below).
2. Analyze the writer’s interpretation of that value (or attitude toward that value).
3. Write an approximately three-page essay that compares and contrasts the two documents’
interpretations of that value. (Longer essays are welcome.)
Values:
Please check with me if you would like to use a value that is not listed here.
 It is only in a community or a group that the individual life has meaning.
 The well-being of the community or group should take precedence over the well-being of the
individual.
 Mutual dependence is preferable to individual freedom.
 Personal bonds of loyalty should be honored as the glue that holds a community together.
 Wealth interferes with and detracts from personal bonds of loyalty.
 Wealth interferes with and detracts from faith.
 The first concern of both temporal (secular) rulers and the religious rulers should be the spiritual
well-being of their subjects.
 Education and the questioning of religious doctrine is acceptable only if it leads to greater faith.
 Extreme devotion, poverty, etc. are admirable but can be detrimental if carried too far.
Documents/Authors:
Some of these authors are responsible for several works that we have read; you may focus on just one of
the works but are welcome to include more than one.
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Letters of Charlemagne
Rule of Saint Benedict
Guild Documents
Rule of Saint Francis or
excerpts from The Life of St. Francis
Peter Abelard (questioning church &
scripture)
Maimonides (Aristotle/piety/faith and
golden mean)
Ibn Rushd (Aristotle and faith)
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Aquinas (Aristotle and faith; wealth;
women)
Magna Carta (loyalty owed a greedy
king; status of church)
Dante (church-state conflicts;
questioning church)
de Pisan (women; virtue; education/
questioning)
Critical Instructions: Your grade will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade if you do not follow these
instructions:
1. Your essay should be typed and double-spaced and use standard margins and 12 point font.
2. Include a cover page with an original title (not “Humanities Essay,” and please do not underline or put
in quotes!!), your name, your seminar number, and the date.
3. Staple my checkbox rubric to the back.
Citations and Works Cited Page: Do quote or paraphrase passages from the required works and do provide
citations using correct MLA form. In addition, include a Works Cited page at the end of your essay. Please
follow the examples provided.
Example of in-text citation:
In Athens, “when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of
privilege, but as the reward of merit” (Thucydides 60).
Sample Citations and “Works Cited” Entries for The Western Tradition:
For in-text citations of historical documents, cite the name of the author of the actual work—not the name of
the editor (A). If you use some of the introductory information actually written by the editor, do use his name
(B). If no author is given, use the title of the document (C).
(A). . . making a profit was considered lawful but sinful (Aquinas 323 - 327).
(B). . . “. . . he [Charlemagne] was a man of a his time, yet he was isolated in it” (Weber 220).
(C). . . the vassals gained in the process (“Capitulary Concerning Freemen and Vassals” 237).
“Works Cited” Entries:
(A) (for citation of an author whose name is known)
Aquinas, Thomas. “Summa Theologica.” The Western Tradition, Volume 1: From the Ancient
World to Louis XIV. Ed. Eugen Weber. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995.
323-327. Print.
(B) (for citation of the editorial comments of the editor)
Weber, Eugen, editor. The Western Tradition, Volume 1: From the Ancient
World to Louis XIV. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995. 323-327. Print.
(C) (for citation of work with no known author)
“Capitulary Concerning Freemen and Vassals.” The Western Tradition, Volume 1: From the Ancient
World to Louis XIV. Ed. Eugen Weber. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995.
237. Print.
Cross-referencing:
If you use multiple works from The Western Tradition, MLA allows you to make one complete entry in your
Works Cited page for The Western Tradition. Then, for each separate work contained within The Western
Tradition, you would create a short entry without all of the bibliographic information. Arrange them in
alphabetical order by author and editor’s last name. Works without a known author should be arranged by first
letter of the title. See below:
Aquinas, Thomas. “Summa Theologica.” Weber 323-327.
“Capitulary Concerning Freemen and Vassals.” Weber 237.
Weber, Eugen, ed. The Western Tradition, Volume 1: From the Ancient
World to Louis XIV. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995. Print.