Thomas Madden is a professor of medieval history at Saint Louis University.As late as 1518, plans were laid by Pope Leo X and the monarchs of Europe to set aside their internal quarrels and once more embark on a holy crusade to wrest the Middle East from the Ottoman Turks. Finding accord and even enthusiasm for the enterprise, all was on course for a multiyear military campaign to push east from North Africa through Egypt and south through the Balkans to squeeze the Turks in a pincer movement and finally oust the Muslims from the Holy Land. The great plan, however, died when Europe was once again plunged into internal strife with the death of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, who had been a leader for the crusade.Even this event in conjunction with the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, the rise of ever-stronger Ottoman leaders, and the political conflicts throughout Europe did not completely erase the idea of crusading. Today, the military orders of the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Hospitallers continue to care for the poor and the sick, albeit without raising armies to fight.For over 400 years, crusaders (“those signed by the cross”), out of Christian zeal, a declared love for their fellow man, and, in many cases, a simple desire for fortune, glory, and heavenly reward, marched to the Holy Land to battle both a real and perceived threat to their way of life and their religious beliefs. The story of the many crusades are filled with an unremitting passion to keep or return the home of Christianity to Christians. It is also filled with death, destruction, disorder, greed, avarice, and self-interest on all sides. Much of what occurred during the Crusades has come down to us today in the form of continued suspicion among religious ideologies—not only between Christians and Muslims, but also internally among Christian sects and, to some degree, among Muslim sects. There is certainly much to learn about our own history from a better understanding of the Crusades and what led so many to crusade. Course SyllabusLecture 1 The Medieval Background of the CrusadesLecture 2 Islam: Faith, Culture, EmpireLecture 3 Pope Urban II and the Calling of the First CrusadeLecture 4 The First CrusadeLecture 5 What Were the Crusades? Who Were the Crusaders?Lecture 6 The Latin Kingdom of JerusalemLecture 7 The Second CrusadeLecture 8 The Third CrusadeLecture 9 The Fourth CrusadeLecture 10 Crusades in EuropeLecture 11 The Fifth CrusadeLecture 12 The Crusades of St. LouisLecture 13 The Fall of the Crusader StatesLecture 14 Later Crusades and the Legacy of the Crusades

    Course Lecture TitlesWhat is Judaism?The Stages of HistoryThe Jewish LibraryThe Emergence of Rabbinic JudaismJewish WorshipPrayer and the SynagogueThe CalendarA Communal Life-CycleIndividual Life-CyclesGod and Man; God and CommunityPhilosophers and MysticsThe Legal Frameworks of JudaismHalakhaCommon Judaismor a Plurality of Judaisms?Judaism and Others

    Despite the papacy's enormous influence, how much do you really know about this ancient and powerful institution? Catholics and non-Catholics alike will enjoy these 24 illuminating lectures about this remarkable institution. Professor Noble gives you priceless insights into the dramatic history of the papal office and the lives of the men who represented it. You'll follow four critical strands of papal history over 2,000 years: the history of the "Petrine" idea; the history of an institution; the history of popes and antipopes; the history of Western civilization; and you'll look inside the Vatican's doors and discover fresh views on the institution's people, ideas, traditions, and routines, as well as the important roles played by organizations like the Curia and the Secretariat of State. You'll investigate the mechanisms by which the church not only ministers to its worldwide flock but also deals with the practical realities of its administration. Filled with interesting stories and remarkable insights, this course promises to educate, enlighten, and entertain you.Course Lecture Titles:1. What Is Papal History? When Did It Begin?2. The Rise of the Petrine Idea3. Popes, Byzantines, and Barbarians4. The Popes in the Age of Charlemagne5. Rome, the Popes, and the Papal Government6. The "Age of Iron"7. The Investiture Controversy8. The Papal Monarchy-Institutions9. The Papal Monarchy-Politics10. The Popes at Avignon11. The Great Schism12. The Renaissance Papacy-Politics13. The Renaissance Papacy-Culture14. The Challenge of Reform-Protestantism15. Catholic Reform and Counter Reform16. Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution17. Pius IX-Prisoner of the Vatican18. The Challenge of Modernism19. The Troubled Pontificate of Pius XII20. The Age of Vatican II21. The Transitional Pontificate of Paul VI22. The Vatican and What It Does23. John Paul II-"The Great"?24. Benedict XVI, the Future, and the Past

    to the 20th century, and in locale from Mesopotamia and China to Europe and America. He focuses on intellectual history and ethics, taking underlying ideas of each great work and revealing how these ideas can be put to use in a moral and ethical life.Course Lecture Titles36 Lectures 30 minutes / lectureBonhoeffer, Letters and Papers From Prison Homer, Iliad Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Bhagavad Gita Book of Exodus Gospel of Mark Koran Gilgamesh Beowulf Book of Job Aeschylus, Oresteia Euripides, Bacchae Plato, Phaedo Dante, The Divine Comedy Shakespeare, Othello, the Moor of Venice Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag ArchipelagoShakespeare, Julius Caesar George Orwell, 1984 Vergil, Aeneid Pericles, Oration; Lincoln, Gettysburg Address Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front Confucius, The Analects Machiavelli, The Prince Plato, Republic John Stuart Mill, On Liberty Sir Thomas Malory, Morte d'Arthur Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust, Part 1Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust, Part 2 Henry David Thoreau, WaldenGibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Lord Acton, The History of Freedom Cicero, On Moral Duties (De Officiis) Gandhi, An Autobiography Churchill, My Early Life; Painting as a Pastime; WWII Lessons from the Great Books

    Lewis reworks the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche into an enduring piece of contemporary fiction. This is the story of Orual, Psyche's embittered and ugly older sister, who posessively and harmfully loves Psyche. Much to Orual's frustration, Psyche is loved by Cupid, the god of love himself, setting the troubled Orual on a path of moral development.Set against the backdrop of Glome, a barbaric, pre-Christian world, the struggles between sacred and profane love are illuminated as Orual learns that we cannot understand the intent of the gods "till we have faces" and sincerity in our souls and selves.

    Fry transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder.This stunning book features classical artwork inspired by the myths, as well as learned notes from the author. Each adventure is infused with Fry's distinctive wit, voice, and writing style. Connoisseurs of the Greek myths will appreciate this fresh-yet-reverential interpretation, while newcomers will feel welcome. Retellings brim with humor and emotion and offer rich cultural contextCelebrating the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, Mythos breathes life into ancient tales—from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire.This gorgeous volume invites you to explore a captivating world with the brilliant storyteller Stephen Fry as your guide.

    Not only did his decades-long rule completely transform the old Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, but it also profoundly shaped the culture and history of our world today. The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome traces this breathtaking history from the empire's foundation by Augustus to its Golden Age in the 2nd century CE through a series of ever-worsening crises until its ultimate disintegration.Taught by acclaimed Professor Gregory S. Aldrete of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, these 24 captivating lectures offer you the chance to experience this story like never before, incorporating the latest historical insights that challenge our previous notions of Rome's decline. You'll examine the major events and familiar figures of the Roman Empire, including: The political innovations of Augustus The mental instability and cruel acts of Caligula and Nero Writers such as Ovid, Horace, and Virgil The stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Constantine's startling conversion to ChristianityYou'll also look beyond the famous figures and delve deeply into the lives of ordinary Roman citizens. You'll hear the messages they left on tombstones or scribbled on walls as graffiti; examine what life was really like for average city-dwellers and the hazards they faced every day; spend a day at Rome's spectacular public entertainments, such as gladiator games and chariot races; and explore some of the city's marvelous architectural and engineering works, including the Pantheon and the aqueducts.We cannot truly understand ourselves unless we comprehend the vital influences of Rome on the modern world - and the lessons the empire can still teach us. The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome is an excellent guide to one of the most important periods in world history.

    Allitt in exploring the story of religious life in America from the first European contacts to the late 20th century. Along the way, you learn the answers to two important questions:Why does America, unlike virtually any other industrial nation, continue to show so much religious vitality?Why are the varieties of religion found here so numerous and diverse?The best way to look for explanations of this truly remarkable vitality and diversity, argues Professor Allitt, is to study the nation's religious history.On the one hand, that study includes examining religion from the directions you might expect, including its formal beliefs, ideas, communal or institutional loyalties, and its styles of worship.But Professor Allitt also examines religion's influence on life "beyond the pews"—investigating the subtle but important links that have long brought religion into close contact with the intellectual, social, economic, and political concerns of Americans.To give a notable and recent example: Professor Allitt explains how Martin Luther King, Jr., used a mixture of biblical references and appeals to patriotism to press the case for civil rights.He also reflects on American religion as a sensory experience—a phenomenon whose deep spiritual and social meanings can in part be:Seen in the design of churches, synagogues, mosques, and templesHeard in the sacred sounds of hymns, prayers, and chantsSmelled in Catholic or Buddhist incenseTasted, as you discover in learning why the casserole may be the most "Protestant" of all dishes!The Living VoiceA wonderful feature of these lectures is Professor Allitt's practice of reading aloud from primary sources, including first-person documents, as if to give history back its voice. Some readings are quite famous; others are rescued from obscurity.You will find them by turns sublime, deeply moving, informative, and at times even charming. They include:Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural AddressMartin Luther King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speechA Civil War veteran's memory of how Catholic sisters cared for the wounded after the Battle of ShilohThe heartfelt letter to Virginia's governor in which John Rolfe explains his spiritual motives for wishing to marry PocahontasAn account of the religious diversity of New York City—in 1683An Anglican cleric's impressions of revivalism in the Carolinas during the First Great Awakening of the 1740s.Richly Detailed Personal GlimpsesYou'll also enjoy biographical sketches and anecdotes about dozens of brilliant, charismatic, or otherwise remarkable American religious figures, among them:Puritan divine Cotton MatherMormon prophet Joseph SmithChristian Science founder Mary Baker EddyThe patriotic revivalist Billy Sunday, who during World War I said, "If you turn hell over, you'll find 'Made in Germany' stamped on the bottom!"After scene-setting lectures that explain the religious situation of Europe in the early modern period and the spirituality of native Americans, Professor Allitt moves on to discussions of religion during the colonial and founding eras, including:The PuritansThe Great AwakeningsThe RevolutionThe flowering of uniquely American religious tendencies such as MormonismThe story of African American religionThe sectional crisis and Civil War.Religion in a Changing SocietyBy the mid-19th century, the American religious landscape was growing more variegated. Large numbers of Catholics, first from Ireland and later from Germany, Poland, and Italy, were coming to what had been an overwhelmingly Protestant land. And growing numbers of Jewish immigrants further diversified the urban religious landscape later in the century.You learn how both groups sometimes became targets of suspicion and intolerance.Professor Allitt also discusses another rising reality of the times—the rapid growth of industrial cities and an economically vulnerable working class.Challenges for Religious LeadersFaced with these new conditions, religious leaders had to rethink the relationships among virtue, prosperity, and God's favor.And still another challenge came from 19th-century discoveries in geology, biology, physics, archaeology, and comparative religion.All of these raised questions about the authority and origins of the Bible. Evolution in particular presented a world of constant predation and strife, promising anything but divinely sponsored harmony.The 20th century inherited these dilemmas, and they continue to resonate up to the present, with strains between liberal and more traditional Protestants being only one example.Professor Allitt leads you through these storylines very closely during the second half of the course, paying special attention to the possible implications they carry for church-state relations.You learn how cherished First Amendment principles of church-state separation and religious freedom had to be applied, mid-century, to difficult cases involving minority religions.And Professor Allitt explains how, in a string of controversial decisions, the Supreme Court has struggled to balance these two principles.20th-Century ChallengesAs America became a great power in the 20th century and played a leading role in the world wars and the Cold War, religious Americans agonized over how they should respond.You learn how debates over the ethics of force and memories of cataclysms such as the Holocaust continue to haunt American religious life to this day.And you see how the century's sweeping social changes were partly shaped by religion and how they in turn powerfully affected religious life:Fundamentalism proved highly adaptableImmigrants and their descendants assimilated to American society, but religious ties proved far more durable than old languages and ethnic customsCatholicism and Judaism each took on a markedly "American" flavor that could discomfit coreligionists abroad.At the Center of the StormYou also learn how religion stood at the center of the upheavals of the 1960s. Many African American civil rights leaders were ministers, inspired by the message of the gospel as well as the promise of the American founding. Religious convictions likewise intensified debates over the Vietnam War and helped energize the feminist movement.As the times have changed, so, too, has religion in America. Some Americans who felt dissatisfied with the Judeo-Christian tradition turned to variants of Islam or Asian spiritualities such as Zen Buddhism. And new waves of immigrants brought their own versions of these traditions, sometimes bumping up against unfamiliar American versions of Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism.As this course shows, the story of American religious vitality and diversity continues to evolve.

    Capturing its brilliantly compact poetry and finely wrought, purposeful prose, Alter renews the Old Testament as a source of literary power and spiritual inspiration. From the family frictions of Genesis and King David’s flawed humanity to the serene wisdom of Psalms and Job’s incendiary questioning of God’s ways, these magnificent works of world literature resonate with a startling immediacy. Featuring Alter’s generous commentary, which quietly alerts readers to the literary and historical dimensions of the text, this is the definitive edition of the Hebrew Bible.

    It lasted 3,000 years, longer than any other on the planet. Its Great Pyramid of Cheops was the tallest building in the world until well into the 19th century and remains the only Ancient Wonder still standing. And it was the most technologically advanced of the ancient civilizations, with the medical knowledge that made Egyptian physicians the most famous in the world.Yet even after deciphering its hieroglyphs, and marveling at its scarabs, mummies, obelisks, and sphinxes, Egyptian civilization remains one of history's most mysterious, as "other" as it is extraordinary. This chronological survey presents the complete history of ancient Egypt's three great Kingdoms: the Old Kingdom, when the pyramids were built and Egypt became a nation under the supreme rule of the pharaoh and the rules of Egyptian art were established; the Middle Kingdom, when Egypt was a nation fighting to restore its greatness; and the New Kingdom, when all the names we know today-Hatshepsut, Tutankhamen, Ramses the Great, Cleopatra, and others-first appeared.Listening Length: 24 hours and 25 minutes

    R. R. Tolkien and C. S. LewisThe First World War laid waste to a continent and permanently altered the political and religious landscape of the West. For a generation of men and women, it brought the end of innocence—and the end of faith. Yet for J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to ignite their Christian imagination. Had there been no Great War, there would have been no Hobbit, no Lord of the Rings, no Narnia, and perhaps no conversion to Christianity by C. S. Lewis.Unlike a generation of young writers who lost faith in the God of the Bible, Tolkien and Lewis produced epic stories infused with the themes of guilt and grace, sorrow and consolation. Giving an unabashedly Christian vision of hope in a world tortured by doubt and disillusionment, the two writers created works that changed the course of literature and shaped the faith of millions. This is the first book to explore their work in light of the spiritual crisis sparked by the conflict.

    And while many of us look to make sense of Russia through its political history, in many ways a real grasp of this awe-inspiring country comes from looking closely at its cultural achievements. The 24 lectures of Understanding Russia: A Cultural History survey hundreds of years of Russian culture, from the world of Ivan the Terrible to the dawn of the Soviet Union to the post-war tensions of Putin's Russia. Blending history with cultural studies, they are designed to bring you closer than ever before to the Russian people - not just the authoritarian rulers like Peter the Great, the Romanovs, and Stalin but the everyday men and women who sought their own meaning in the poetry of Pushkin, the comfort of early folk tales, the faith of medieval iconography, the avant-garde films of Eisenstein, and more. You'll discover surprising insights into centuries of cultural history, including peasant superstitions, such as avoiding whistling indoors, and the culture of queuing for goods and services that defined everyday life for ordinary Soviets. You'll also spend time in the company of novelists, painters, poets, filmmakers, impresarios, composers, revolutionaries, and intellectuals who shaped Russia in myriad ways, including The Five, a group of composers who created a distinctly national sound based in part on Russian folk music; and Sergei Eisenstein, the filmmaker whose Battleship Potemkin revolutionized the language of cinema. In a time when the eyes of the Western world are constantly drawn to Russia, it's amazing how little we really know about its culture. These lectures will help you finally understand that complex, thrilling, and undeniably fascinating spirit.

    In this fascinating series of 36 lectures, an award-winning teacher leads you on a vivid journey through Mesopotamian history-from Neolithic times to the age of Alexander the Great-and into the lives of mighty emperors, struggling farmers, ambitious merchants, and palace servants to reveal why this ancient culture occupies such a foundational position in our history.The lectures look back to the time when the first cities arose in Mesopotamia and kings created complex bureaucracies to rule their expanding territories, thus fostering the invention of writing and other technologies. You peer into the lives and fortunes of Mesopotamia's people and learn about the birth of the urban lifestyle.Professor Castor creates a detailed image not only of larger Mesopotamian society but of life on the level of the individual Mesopotamian as well. Among the many fascinating insights into daily Mesopotamian life you examine are how they ate, worked, learned, worshiped, married, and reared children; used scientific ideas to help them order and understand the natural world; engaged with their powerful neighbors in Egypt, Syria, and Anatolia (modern-day Turkey); waged war and experienced peace; and endured the collapse of their cities.

    In this course brought to you in partnership with HISTORY, you will be visiting some of history’s deepest rabbit-holes, across centuries and continents, in search of secret societies in all their varieties. You will journey to some very dark places, and frankly some odd and sometimes silly ones as well. During 24 eye-opening lectures, Dr. Richard B. “Rick” Spence, Professor of History at the University of Idaho, guides you through the fascinating, often mystifying - sometimes disturbing - world of brotherhoods, sisterhoods, orders, cults, and cabals that have influenced human culture from ancient times to the present.You’ll understand how and why secret societies have attracted some of history’s most brilliant, and some of its most evil, minds. Often demonized by their enemies, many secret societies have become the stuff of myths and conspiracy theories. Why do they exist? And when they are invented or imagined, why would someone pretend they exist? What do secret societies believe? Who do they recruit? Most important, what influence do they have? Buckle up and get ready to find out.

    In this course, you will explore the political, social, cultural, and economic revolutions that transformed Europe between the arrival of the Black Death in the 14th century and the onset of the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.