Example or the Historical Method at Work
as given in Table 1.1 on page 3 of a Concise Survey of Western Civ.
1. Find a problem.
How did prince-bishops rule their territories using religious authority? More on these issues can be found in Chapter 8 of CSWC, both in feudal rule, the Investiture Struggle, and the rise of democratic government in medieval towns and cities.
2. Form a hypothesis (a reasonable or educated guess to the solution).
Prince-bishops sometimes used excommunication to punish political opponents.
3. Conduct research into sources.
Let us just take one source as an example for answering this question.
A document from 1074:
To his beloved brother and fellow bishop, U[do], archbishop [of Trier], A[nno], archbishop of Cologne, sends his love, etc. . . . You have no doubt heard about the violence and insults which I have suffered from my citizens, although I have said nothing about the matter in my letters to you. And you have also probably heard how I was restored to my place in the city by the help of others. According to the canon law, I should immediately have punished their abominable insolence with excommunication and interdict, but I restrained myself from doing so, because it might have seemed that I did it not out of zeal for the Lord, but for personal reasons. But some of the insolent ones disregarded and despised my gentle treatment of them, and at night secretly collected and threatened me with worse things than they had done before. On this account, with the advice of the bishops whom the pope sent me, I anathematized them a week after Pentecost. I beg you to publish this anathema in your diocese. Do not permit your people to be infected with the leprosy of these excommunicated persons, but keep them out of your territory, lest by their speech they excite your people to do the same things against you. I beg you to inform your bishops of this, in order that my contaminated flock may not infect theirs also.
A. External: Is it genuine?
Is it what it says it is?
By form and structure it is a letter from one prince-archbishop to another.
When and where was it made?
The original was made in the spring of 1074 in or around Cologne, an important city in the Holy Roman Empire. The dateis given by the editor and its origin is obvious from author.
How did it get from its original recording to the present?
The source was printed in a book of translations of medieval documents. That translator took the source from an edited collection of documents published in the Kingdom of Hannover, Germany in 1849. That editor, a professional archivist, used a sixteenth-century manuscript who's author had allegedly copied the original document. So, the original does not exist, which might cast some doubt on its being genuine. Still, the professional archivist, and historians since, have accepted the document as legitimate.
Who is the author?
Archbishop Anno II of Cologne (r. 1056-1075), a prelate who played an important role in the Holy Roman Empire at the time, as can be read in many historical accounts.You can check him out at least on Wikipedia. More can be found by clicking here.
How was the author able to create the source?
As a wealthy ruler, he had the resources to have numerous letters and documents written. He probably used a secretary who took down the basics on a wax tablet, who then wrote the final version with ink on parchment (a writing surface made of sheep-skin).
Are there any interpolations, emendations, or insertions by others?
The translator used an ellipsis to delete some words of affection, and identifiers of sender and recipient have been completed in brackets.
B. Internal: What is its meaning?
How is it significant?
It offers insight into the personal thoughts of the archbishop about the aims of the citizens of Cologne.
What is the source’s ostensible or intended purpose?
To explain the Archbishop of Cologne's excommunication of citizens of Cologne.
How accurate is the author (any competence, bias, or prejudice)?
The author is clearly worried about his reputation with his colleague, and their mutual interest in rulership over their people and territories. He compares his opponents to lepers, ill with dangerously contagious disease.
What is the source’s content?
Anno relates how in the aftermath of a revolt by citizens of Cologne against his rule, he had been restored to authority. Nonetheless, he had not punished the rebels of Cologne, which he had every right to do. Yet since they continued to threaten trouble, and on the advice of other bishops sent by the pope, he did excommunicate them. He also called on the Archbishop of Trier to warn his provincial bishops to deny access to the citizens and their dangerous ideas of revolt.
How does it compare with other reliable sources?
Another contemporary writer Lampert of Hersfeld, writes in detail about the conflict in Cologne between the Archbishop and the citizens, describing the revolt, and also the violence used by both sides. In his letter, Anno avoids stating his responsibility for the conflict breaking out and does not mention his arrest and execution of rebellious citizens.
What do modern scholars say about the source?
Historians see the events in Cologne in 1074 as early evidence of the rise of townspeople against feudal rule.
4. Make the argument and conclusions, usually in written form.
In short: it seems clear from this document that the prelate intended to and actually did use excommunication, a religious punishment, against his political enemies, certain citizens of Cologne. More examples from other sources would be strengthen the argument.
5. Share the knowledge, usually through publication. Similar examples of excommunication and rule have been used in "Excommunication and Territorial Politics in High Medieval Trier," Church History 60 (1991): 20-36 and in "The Curse of Cusanus: Excommunication in Fifteenth Century Germany," in Nicholas of Cusa and His Age: Intellect and Spirituality, edited by Thomas M. Izbicki and Christopher Bellitto (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2002): 199-213.
For the source above, work is in progress.
Methods of Research and Writing for History
How to Evaluate Internet Sources
