From Imperial Diadem to Papal Tiara: Analyzing the Sources for the History of Europe, 476 to…

Catalog description

How do we know what happened in the past? Sure, you can flip open a book or read a Wikipedia page, but how, in this age of fake news, do you know who to trust? What makes a source of information reliable or unreliable, useless or useful? Looking at the history of western Europe from the aftermath of the fall of Rome, this course tackles these questions head-on though a deep, analytical engagement with a variety of different primary sources. From the spectacular miracles of saints to everyday lists of dry goods and property boundaries, true history resides in the text, if only one is clever enough to see it.