University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 60

ECTS credits : 30

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: Full Year

Availability restrictions: Available only to students in the Second Year of the Honours Programme.

Planned timetable: See http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/infoug/ugtimetable

This module will consider the range of interactions between the Latin West and the powers and cultures of the Near East and beyond, in the period will roughly between the first two Councils of Lyons, 1245-74, both of which dealt with crusading to the Levant and with matters relating to the Mongols: initially their threat and latterly the opportunities for alliance. The module will examine the crusades of the Louis IX, in their wider context; the arrival of the Mongols in the West and the creation of Mongol states there; and the beginnings of the Mongol-Mamluk conflict and of attempts to create an Ilkhanid-Latin alliance. We will look in some depth at a variety of sources, especially focusing on the account of Louis IX's crusade by John of Joinville, and the accounts of two Franciscan travelers in the Mongol Empire, John of Plano Carpini and William of Rubruck.

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: 1 x 3-hour seminar, plus 1 office hour.

Scheduled learning hours: 66

Guided independent study hours: 534

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: 2 x 3-hour Written Examinations = 60%, Coursework = 40%

As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 60%
Practical examinations : 6%
Coursework: 34%

Re-assessment: New Coursework: 1 x source exercise (2,000 - 2,500 words) and 1 x 4,000- to 5,000-word essay = 100%

Personnel

Module teaching staff: Dr A D Stewart