Develop the Catholic intellectual tradition

History class

Central Question: How did Christians in the European West [AD 200-1600] develop the Catholic intellectual tradition? In essence, How did they balance the wisdom from Greco-Roman thought with Christian theology, and what balance was developed between faith and reason? Compare and contrast an author from the early medieval period(any Christian thinkers before 1000 AD) with an author from the high Middle Ages or Renaissance period(after 1000 AD).

Instruction:

Primary Source Papers

Requirements: Each paper should be a 1500-word [text] essay (3+ pages) that has a goal to examinePrimary Sources in light of the specific question for each paper. This is not your answer, but how each author would answer it. State the word length at the end of the paper ("word count= 1500"). Grade based on how well you follow instructions!

Select a minimum of TWO [2] primary-source documents [easier if a contrast] from the list on Blackboard HICC 101 course package as a basis to answer the central questions listed below. In other words, answer the question using evidence from what the authors at the time thought about these issues. Always clearly state your idea first, and then quote from the source. REMEMBER: the term "quote" should be restricted to a verb form. You are quoting the text, but if you refer to the text, don't say "In this quote"; refer to the "statement" or "text."

Thus, each paragraph should have ONE IDEA (explain this in several sentences), followed by EVIDENCE (quote the best statement in the text), followed by interpretation and reflection on the meaning of the statement and how it fits with your idea, followed by a brief conclusion on the idea.

All quotations from the primary sources must use "Chicago Manual of Style" [CMS], which is either Footnotes or Endnotes. The new Microsoft Word automatically generates the Chicago format under "References" on the top menu by clicking "Insert Citation" and selecting Style: "Chicago." One can do this manually by clicking "Insert Footnote" as well.

CMS: After quotation marks (which come after the period at the end of the sentence), in Microsoft Word click on "References" above, then "Insert Footnote." This will automatically insert a "superscript" number and move your cursor to the "foot" of the paper in a footnote. Type your reference there and make sure to end with a period. Then move your cursor back to the text and continue writing. Footnote format= Author's name (First Last-unless no first), (comma) title of book (italicized), or "title of article" (quotation marks), then source (in most cases you would have selected a text from our course Blackboard site, so the source is SHU Blackboard, page number (just the number, no page or p.), then the date you accessed this source (all electronic or oral lectures, interviews, with no "hard copy" always need a date-like in a court of law, one always is asked about the date of some occurrence).

Example for footnote using source for first time: 3. Homer, Iliad, 12, Blackboard, accessed Sept. 12, 2013. Second and following reference use short form: Homer, Iliad, 14.

Example for bibliography (order source alphabetically, by author's last name]: Homer. Iliad, Book 2. Blackboard, accessed Sept. 12, 2013.

You will need to quote the most significant passages in order to support your claims. Keep the length of all quotations to a minimum, and make certain that you interpret and point out the meaning of the text [texts are never obvious]. Quote only what you can explain: quotations are only evidence for the points you already make! In order to reflect on a document you will have to quote it several times. Never quote your professor or class notes; they only teach you the material so you can find evidence in published texts, like your text book, which you can choose to quote in a limited way, but is not necessary. This assignment isyour analysis of the primary sources (thus: never begin or end a paragraph with a quotation), and always interpret and explain the quotation in light of the idea that you have made. A good paragraph (in a nut shell) has one central idea, the idea is explained, then evidence is suggested (quote), then interpretation, then conclusion of the idea.

Try to pick up 2 authors and compare and talk about them:

In important ways, the fourteenth/fifteenth-century Renaissance looked both backwards and forwards.Literally, the word means "rebirth," and it suggests the ways that artists and thinkers attempted to recover and apply the classical learning and standards of Greece and Rome.At the same time, the Renaissance anticipated many of the intellectual, artistic, economic, political, religious, social, and cultural trends that would characterize the modern era.Until the late fifteenth century, the Renaissance was primarily an Italian movement; but it spread throughout most of Europe in the sixteenth century.

The writings chosen for this unit show the breakdown of Christendom and the rise of new and diverse ideas in politics, economics and religion.They also show the development of the individual and knowledge of self, new methods to discern reality, and the recurring theme of the attempt--already shown in Early Christianity--to reconcile ancient wisdom (Greek philosophy) with Christian theology.

The triumph of Christianity, the decay of the Roman Empire, and the establishment of the Germanic kingdoms on once-Roman lands constituted a new phase in Western history: the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the Middle Ages. This 1000-year period witnessed the growth of three related civilizations: Latin Christendom (western and central Europe); Byzantine Christendom (eastern Europe and Asia Minor); and Islam (northern Africa, the Middle East, the Iberian Peninsula, and Persia). The "West" is conventionally traced from the ancient Roman world to Latin Christendom, where later breakthroughs in science, technology, philosophy, economics, and political thought occurred. The Middle Ages were united by Christianity, with Rome as its spiritual capital. Latin was its language, and Germanic customs pervaded social, legal, and political life. While the Latin West was culturally far behind both Byzantium and the Islamic realm until the twelfth century, the last three or four centuries of the Middle Ages witnessed dramatic cultural, intellectual, political, and economic advances.

Thomas Aquinas used the model of education of his time in his Summa Theologica: quaestiones disputatae(i.e. questions debated). Students would take each side of an issue, formulate a question, and provide arguments or objections for each side. The "master" (professor of the time) would evaluate each argument and give a ruling (respond) on how well each was argued, pointing out problems. This follows an inductive method as well. Note the format when you read Aquinas.