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Semester 2

Merchants, Pirates and Crusaders in the late medieval Mediterranean (HIST10415)

Subject

History

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 3 History courses at grade B or above, and please note that we will only consider courses with a specific focus on History (not including History of Art) towards these pre-requisites. We will only consider University/College level courses. **Please see Additional Restrictions below**

Course Summary

This course will provide students with an exciting look into the highly fragmented, violent and often contradictory world of the late medieval Mediterranean. It will concentrate on a number of remarkable merchants, pirates and crusaders were able to carve out their own domains, motivated by profit and adventure, but also by religious zeal and a desire to defend their lands. The course will utilize a range of translated sources, including documents from the archives of the Vatican, Genoa and Venice, merchant handbooks, crusade treatises and travel narratives.

Course Description

At the turn of the fourteenth century the Mediterranean was on the brink of a series of major religious and political transformations which would shape the region for centuries to come. In the central Mediterranean the major powers of Western Europe were embroiled in the War of the Sicilian Vespers, in the East the last Latin Christian crusader outposts had fallen to the Mamluks of Egypt, and in Greece and the Aegean the Byzantine Empire was on the verge of being consumed by Turkish warlords in Anatolia, amongst whom were the Ottomans. Yet in this period of extreme instability, a number of remarkable merchants, pirates and crusaders were able to carve out their own domains in the Mediterranean, motivated by profit and adventure, but also by religious zeal and a desire to defend their lands from those who they perceived to be enemies of the faith. Some of these individuals gained fame and fortune for their maritime daring, as well as favour from popes and kings for their role in fighting the enemies of the faith. However, others were attacked for their ruthless policies and even had crusades proclaimed against them for allying with Muslims and enslaving their fellow Christians. This course will focus on a number of these individuals, including Roger of Lauria, the Italian admiral who was the commander of the Aragonese fleet during the War of the Sicilian Vespers, the Genoese adventurer Benedetto Zaccaria, who established a crusader dynasty on the island of Chios, the mercenary Catalan Company, who ravaged Greece and Anatolia before ruling Athens as a pirate-duchy from 1311-1388, and the Order of the Knights Hospitallers, who governed Rhodes until 1522. The course will utilize a range of translated sources, including documents from the archives of the Vatican, Genoa and Venice, merchant handbooks, crusade treatises, travel narratives and chronicles, especially the account of the Catalan mercenary Ramon Muntaner.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a History or HCA exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in two 3rd year History courses each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. This includes courses in Economic History and Scottish History. Enrolment in a third course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course