TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAMINATION

NAME:

"I pledge my honor that I have neither given nor received assistance and that I have seen no dishonest work."

SIGNED: __________________________________________

• Take-home Final Examination will be due Thursday, May 19, at 2:30.
• Exams that arrive later than 2:30 will be penalized as per the policies set out in your syllabus. One full grade per day.
• PRINT OUT THIS PAGE and sign it and attach it to your exam.
• An envelope will be hanging on the door to 601 HH for your midterms, clearly marked. They can also be put in my mailbox.
• All exams must be typed.
• Conform to the word limits with each question. Going significantly over required word-length will lower your grade. Being significantly under the required word length will probably mean that you did not answer the question completely.
• You may not discuss your exam answers with other classmates or anyone else. This is independent, take-home, work.
• You may use any books or notes that you wish to use. Cite in the simplest form, by using parentheticals - for example, (Madden, 22) or (Stephen of Blois, 73) when using quotations or as necessary. Do feel free to use SHORT quotations to provide evidence for your points. Do not rely on them to answer your questions for you.

I. Essays -- (35 points each)

Respond to TWO of the three 'controversial' arguments below in well-formed essays of about 750 words each.

You will need to write a structured essay debating BOTH the pros and cons of a controversial historical interpretation. Begin with a brief introduction (5 points) explaining in your own words the broad question with which your essay will be dealing and the stand on the controversial historical interpretation you will be taking. For the body of the essay, devote about half of it to ideas and evidence that show the possible strengths of the statement you have chosen to write about (10 points) and half on the weaknesses of the statements (10 points). A strong essay is one that supports all the points you make by referring to specific examples and evidence from the primary source material and historical recordt. You will need at least three 'pros' and three 'cons.' Conclude your essays by stating where you stand on the historical issue you have written about (10 points). Be sure to explain the reasoning that led you from the evidence to your particular stand.

• 1. The fall of the crusader states in the Holy Land was due primarily to the diversion of crusaders and crusading resources to other theaters of crusading activity in the thirteenth century, such as the Italian Peninsula, the Baltic Lands, Latin Greece, and the Iberian Peninsula.
• 2. Crusading expressed the unity of Latin Christian society in the Middle Ages.
• 3. "Seen in the perspective of history, the whole Crusading movement was a vast fiasco." (Steven Runciman).

II. Reaction to Kingdom of Heaven (30 points)

In an essay of about 750 words, assess this new movie set in and around Jerusalem of the 1180s. There will be many, many, details that are anachronistic or simply wrong. Which are the ones that matter? Which are the ones that could lead the uninitiated (unlike you!) to come to entirely wrong conclusions regarding the crusades as a whole as well as the historical figures personified in the film? What did the filmmakers manage to portray accurately? Be sure to include specific references to sources and events you have read and studied so as to strengthen your point of view.