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Medieval History: the Final Cut

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Medieval History: the Final Cut CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS THESIS SIGNATURE PAGE THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY THESIS TITLE: Medieval History: The Final Cut AUTHOR: Edwarda Adamo DATE OF SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE: December 6, 2019 THE THESIS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE THESIS COMMITTEE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DE EE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY Dr. Antonio Zaldivar THESIS COMMITTEE CHAIR Dr. Jill Watts THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER Dr. Alyssa Sepinwall THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER SIGNATURE DATE Medieval Crusades: The Final Cut By: Edwarda (Edie) Adamo 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Teaching with Film ................................................................................................................................... 8 Film Analysis and Theory ....................................................................................................................... 16 Teaching The Final Cut .......................................................................................................................... 18 Assignments: Goals and Procedures ................................................................................................... 23 Film Analysis Paper ............................................................................................................................ 26 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 28 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................. 29 1: Medieval Crusades: The Final Cut Syllabus .............................................................................. 29 2: Guidelines for Final Film Analysis Paper .................................................................................. 38 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 40 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of my family. My mother Cindy who watched my (rambunctious) toddler while I was taking classes full time, and my husband Robbie who has never stopped supporting me in all aspects of life. To my friends who answer my frantic calls on my commute home from a full day of classes. To my son Oliver who is my guiding light and keeps me going when I feel like it’s too hard. I want him to know that anything is possible if you keep working towards your goals and never give up! I love you all! 4 Introduction In 1095 Pope Urban II gave his well-known speech at Claremont that launched the first crusade. Although the crusades were not the first instance of justified warfare, the speech is considered to be the start of the campaigns that arguably lasted for centuries and spanned several world regions. Using the subject of the crusades as a case study, this thesis is a pedagogical project that considers an alternative use of dramatic films when teaching history. The crusades are used because there are several popular films about the topic and because the medieval campaigns have significantly influenced relations between western Europe and the rest of the world. Implications for colonization and religious relations that live on in contemporary conflicts have their roots in the crusades. This makes a solid comprehension by the American public of the subject crucial. Through an alternative approach to film within the history classroom, this thesis demonstrates how films can help students understand nuance within the history of the crusades. In postsecondary education, history classes teach students how to think critically, to analyze primary and secondary source documents, and to write professionally. All those skills are developed through a pedagogical process that promotes thoughtful analysis of history as presented through monographs and primary source documents. Currently, digital media plays a significant role in everyday life but has yet to be fully utilized within the history classroom. The digital components that are being included with the more traditional methods of teaching history include interactive maps and visual presentations. There is also a growing number of instructors who include film when teaching. Even with the growing usage of film in the classroom, they still present historians with a variety of issues, specifically the historical drama. This project outlines how historical dramas on the crusades have been utilized in the history classroom and offers an alternative method. By utilizing multiple fiction films and film clips as a more pronounced 5 secondary source material, students will gain a more comprehensive understanding of the crusades. The quantity and method of analysis of films allows for significant visual representation and reinforcement of themes while conveying empathy that helps to close the temporal gap. For this project, I have developed a class titled Medieval Crusades: The Final Cut which is an upper division class that focuses on the expeditions known as the crusades from 1095 through the end of the thirteenth century. I begin the class in1095, the year Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade at the Council of Clairmont. I end the class chronologically in 1300 for two reasons: first, no major crusades took place after the end of the thirteenth century; and second, the films that portray the crusades focus on crusading in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The class strives to cultivate in students a comprehensive understanding of the crusades by supplementing traditional documentary sources with film when analyzing and discussing various crusading ideals and themes. The Final Cut teaches analytic skills and content knowledge that is valuable to the students as the crusades continue to permeate contemporary debates over political, social, and religious issues. There is a general lack of understanding regarding the origins, nature, and evolution of the crusading movement in the popular imagination. By adjusting the pedagogical practices to include an extensive use of historical dramatic films, film clips, and an analysis paper that uses film as a secondary source, The Final Cut aims to highlight important themes relating to the crusading movement that improves student comprehension of the subject. Popular films provide instructors with a resource that is familiar and engaging to the students. Even with the film creators focusing more on entertainment than historical accuracy, films remain a valuable pedagogical resource. Medieval Crusades: The Final Cut utilizes the popularity of films like 6 Arn: The Knight Templar, and Kingdom of Heaven to engage students by integrating the films alongside more traditional pedagogical practices of teacher led lecture, group discussions, and primary source analyses. It will allow the students to utilize the films to identify and reinforce the more abstract themes that can be difficult to distinguish in written sources from the Middle Ages. Film has a unique ability to visually portray the medieval world and attach emotion to events that have been lost to time. Bridging the temporal gap for history students can be difficult when the written sources are from the twelfth century, hard to read, and even harder to comprehend. Adding thematic analysis of films to traditional analysis of written text allows students to make more personal connections with the daily lives of those who lived over 900 years ago. While the approach of The Final Cut is a thematic analysis of films, the comparative analysis for accuracy is used most often within the history classroom because of the problematic features that are inherent within films. For instance, the compression of events to fit the time restrictions of film has concerned historians because there are usually about 120 minutes to convey years, sometimes decades, of history. That is inherently very little time to feature the complexities of historical events. There is also the issue of “invention”, whereby a fiction film might make up a person whose actions or circumstances represent those of a portion of society. 1 This causes concern in that the story itself is inherently untrue. This type of historical representation directly contradicts the way that professional historians have interpreted written historical documents. The primary sources that are used in historical analysis are coming from real people who are writing their truth about their experiences. By changing the analysis of films 1 Robert Rosenstone, Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to our Idea of History, (Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1996), 67. Rosenstone discusses the issue of invention and notes that it is “central to understanding history as drama”. 7 to thematic with less focus on plot, people, or storyline, the films can be used more effectively with the written source materials. The concerns about the use of film to teach history are all valid and continue to be discussed within the discipline. However, I believe that the benefits outweigh the pitfalls,
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