RESPONSE PROMPT: What qualities are associated with kingship during this period and how do kings maintain power? Do we see innovations in kingship and how do outside powers shape the development of kingdoms?

You could use one quote from each source, but you have to analylze deeply which means you should have clear argument and its evidence.

Class 9, March 27^th: Creation of an Islamic Empire

 Guest Speaker: Robert Hoyland

This class will also cover the reading from Week 7 on the Carolingians so you might want to look back at this if you have time.

RESPONSE PROMPT: Compare how identity and empire are connected in the cases of the Abbasid dynasty and the Carolingian dynasty.

– Also include at least one question on the sources for this week at the end of your response 🙂 

Primary sources:

– Gregory of Tours, ‘The Ten Books of History’ in Readings in Medieval History, Vol. I, ed. Patrick Geary, 5^th edition (Toronto, 2016), pp.  114­–30 [accessible online via a library search]

– Einhard, ‘Life of Charlemagne’ in Readings in Medieval History, Vol. I, ed. Patrick Geary, 5^th edition (Toronto, 2016),  233–47 [accessible online via a library search]

Secondary sources:

 – Robert G. Hoyland, In God’s Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire (Oxford, 2015), chapter 7 ‘The Making of Islamic Civilization’, pp. 207–230 [access online as an ebook via the library]

– Hugh Kennedy, When Baghdad Ruled the World: The Rise and Fall of Islam’s Greatest Dynasty (Cambridge, MA, 2004), chapter 3 ‘Harun al-Rashid: The Golden Prime’ and chapter 9 ‘Abbasid Court Culture’, pp. 51–84, 243–60 [PDF]