14220

WiSe 20/21: Rethinking a Medieval Polity – The Mamluk Empire

Konrad Hirschler

Information for students

Basic knowledge of Middle Eastern medieval history is a prerequisite. Students who need to catch up on the necessary background should at least read one of the textbooks such as J. Berkey: The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800, Cambridge 2003; G. Krämer: Geschichte des Islam, 2008; Lapidus, I.M.: A History of Islamic Societies, Cambridge 2002; Hourani, A.: A History of the Arab Peoples, London 2002. Hodgson, M.G.S. (1974). The Venture of Islam, Chicago/London, is weaker in the narrative, but still offers useful analytical insights. close

Additional information / Pre-requisites

You are expected to attend all sessions and you should notify me in advance if you are unable to attend a session for good reason. If absences persist you will not be able to take the final oral examination (10 mins). You are expected to read the Required Reading (primary and secondary sources). As we will discuss the Required Reading in detail please bring paper copies to class or have the texts onscreen. It is expected that you participate actively in the seminar discussion, which is a crucial element of the course. You should make your contribution through the critical assessment of the reading assignments, consideration of peer comments and the discussion of ideas and arguments presented in class. close

Comments

This seminar deals with the main polity in the Eastern Mediterranean in the late medieval period, the Mamluk Empire. Scholarship has traditionally seen this polity primarily in terms of the slave origin of its political and military elites. However, over the last decades we have seen a considerable change in scholarship where the issue of slave origin has lost in importance. Rather, we see questions of political structures, social agency and trade relations coming to the foreground. This seminar introduces students to the main debates on Mamluk history, the main new fields of research and, for those taking the Lektürekurs, principal source genres. close