HIST 4485

Annamese and Merovingians: Two Imperial Frontiers - Rome and Han-Tang China, 5th-8th Centuries

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2021-2022.

This course will be a Eurasian comparative study of the collapse of Rome and Han-Dynasty China and what happened from the 5th to 8th centuries on selected frontiers of these empires: northwestern Europe and ancient Vietnam. The Merovingian kings in what became northern France and western Germany presided over the beginnings of European feudalism. In China, after the collapse of the Han empire and its successor dynasties in southern China, the empire was eventually revived by the Tang Dynasty; local and regional rulers appeared on the southern imperial frontier during this time of change but did not initiate a new historical trajectory—rather, the Annamese cultivated a strong sense of membership in the imperial world. Why was the fate of the Roman and the Chinese imperial traditions different? And why were the experiences of the Merovingians and the Annamese different?

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (GHB)
Distribution Category (HA-AS, HST-AS)

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