HSTEU305
FIRST SHORT PAPER
Topic: Analysis of documents concerning early
medieval witch beliefs.
Further discussion of the
issues will occur in Section for Week II and in lectures.
Due
Date: Wednesday April 12 (3rd week) Late penalty: -.1 per day
late
Length: 3-4
pages, typed, double spaced; reasonable font and margins
Purpose: Exercise in close reading of primary documents and texts from early Middle Ages.
Historical analysis is based on reading and interpretation of original historical texts from a
specific time period. These are called “primary documents.” Here is what you need to discuss
1) Historical context: where, when & why was this written? This question overlaps with the next:
2) Whose point of view does it represent? What genre (type of document) best describes the text?
3) What does the text of the document actually say about witch beliefs?
The first paper will focus on this kind of basic explanation and analysis of early witchcraft texts.
Primary Sources: The central primary documents will be in Kors & Peters anthology:
Canon Episcopi, pp. 60-63 and/or
Burchard's Corrector of Rustics (espec. pp. 65-67)
Related documents will be included on Handout in Week Two, and will be discussed in class.
Most of these very short documents are included in Norman Cohn, Chapter 9
on early medieval witch documents.
Be sure to read this before starting your paper.
Question: Choose one of the following ( note that these
topics are variations on the same issues).
1) Analyze the text of the Canon
Episcopi, explaining what position this document takes on the beliefs
it describes. What do the authors
believe about witchcraft and what do they reject in the popular
beliefs held by ordinary
people of their time?
2) Burchard's Corrector of
Rustics (paragraphs #90 and #170) presents the Church's approach to dealing
with popular belief in the
striga. (see K&P, pp 65-.67) How does Burchard's s attitude
compare
with those expressed in the
earlier barbarian legal codes? What kind of people believe in the
striga
and how do
the legal approaches of the church and of secular rulers (Salic Law,
Lombard Code etc.) agree
or differ?
3) Compare the images of the witch
reflected in these sources:
the documents
discussed by Cohn (Chapter 9)
those included on
the Handout on Early Witchcraft Legislation (Week 2)
the Canon
Episcopi (in Kors & Peters, pp. 60-63)
What are the differences in the kinds of witch image
in these documents?
Points to consider for the Canon Episcopi and/or Burchard’s Corrector:
What kind of documents are these? a "canon"? versus a "penitential" (Genres to be discussed in lecture.)Whose point of view does the document represent, and to whom is it addressed?
What
exactly is the popular belief being discussed? Who believes these things?
What is the
official interpretation of this belief, and what action is recommended?
What
attitude does the document take towards the people whose beliefs it describes?
HISTEU305 INSTRUCTIONS ON PAPERS: FORMAT FOR CITATIONS
GENERAL FORMAT: Papers should be typed, double spaced; no plastic or cardboard covers,
just a title page with your name, paper title, date, course.
The basic purpose of scholarly citations is that any reader should be able to track down your sources
for direct quotes and for ideas or information taken from a specific source. Professors & TAs know what
books you are using, but complete citations are required for each source. The general rule about
citations is to follow a consistent format, including all relevant publication information. Historians use
Turabian's University of Chicago Manual of Style, but other systems are also fine.
Endnotes and footnotes differ only in where they are located; footnotes are at the foot of the page, while
endnotes are at the end of the paper. Either is fine, though endnotes are generally easier, unless your computer
program makes footnotes just as easy. Also, note that endnotes do not need to be on a separate page, so
long as there is still room on your last page. For this course, we are suggesting the following simplified format:
a complete citation is given in first note, and later citations are indicated by page numbers in parentheses.
For the first citation of a work, give the complete reference, either in a footnote (bottom of page)
or an endnote (at end of paper), using a numbered note1, as follows:
1 Canon Episcopi in Alan Kors and Edward Peters (eds.), Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700:
A Documentary History (2cd ed, 2001) p. 61-63
If your essay draws on only one source, you can simply indicate page numbers in
parentheses after quotes or other citations, as follows: (p. 70)
If your essay draws on two or more sources, you must give a full citation (like the one given above)
the first time you cite a given source, as follows:
2 Norman Cohn, Europe's Inner Demons (rev. ed. 2001), p. xx
3 Burchard of Worms, Corrector Rusticorum in Kors & Peters, p. 67
When there is more than one source, you can insert brief references in parentheses in the text.
Use author or editor's last name, or a short version of the author or title (for instance, Burchard, Cohn
or Canon Episcopi) ) to indicate which of two or more sources you are citing, as follows:
Second and subsequent references to note #1 above, if using more than one source:
(Canon Episcopi, p. 62) or (Kors and Peters, p. 62).
Second and subsequent references to note #3 above, if using more than one source:
(Burchard, p. 67) or (Kors and Peters, p. 67).
Second and subsequent references to note #2, above: (Cohn, p. xx);
DO's and DON'Ts
DO Italicize or underline book titles, including abbreviated titles.
Put quotes that are four lines or longer in block quote format
(single space quote and indent both sides)
Cite your sources, using footnotes/endnotes &/or parenthetical citations SEE ABOVE
DON'T Use contractions (don't, won't, would've, it's, he's, etc.)
Use second person (you) or first person singular (I)
Better not to split infinitives:. "to quickly go" should be "to go quickly"
AVOID THIS COMMON ERROR:
No apostrophe on "its" when used as a possessive (its' doesn't exist)
it's = it is its = possessive (example:"it's time to go" versus "its meaning is clear")
LEARN TO SPELL THESE WORDS: medieval separate
(I'll add more as I think of them.)