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WESTERN ,
CIVILIZATION
Sources, Images, and Interpretations
Seventh Edition / Volume I: To 1700

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WESTERN ,
CIVILIZATION
Sources, Images, and Interpretations
Seventh Edition / Volume I: To 1700

DENNIS SHERMAN
John Jay College, City University of New York

Boston Burr Ridge, IL Dubuque, IA Madison, WI New York San Francisco St. Louis
Bangkok Bogot Caracas Kuala Lumpur Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan Montreal New Delhi Santiago Seoul Singapore Sydney Taipei Toronto

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WESTERN CIVILIZATION: SOURCES, IMAGES, AND INTERPRETATIONS:

VOLUME I: TO 1700
Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue
of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020. Copyright 2008, 2004, 2000, 1995, 1991, 1988 by The
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Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Western civilization : sources, images, and interpretations / [compiled by] Dennis Sherman. 7th ed.
v. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-328475-0 (softcover:
ISBN-10:
0-07-328475-0 (softcover:
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-328474-3 (softcover:
ISBN-10:
0-07-328474-2 (softcover:

v.
v.
v.
v.

1:
1:
2:
2:

alk.
alk.
alk.
alk.

paper)
paper)
paper)
paper)

1. Civilization, WesternHistory. 2. Civilization, WesternHistorySources. I.

Sherman, Dennis.
CB245.W4835 2006
909.09821dc22

2006025069

The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a Web site does not indicate an endorsement
by the authors or McGraw-Hill, and McGraw-Hill does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these site.

www.mhhe.com

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About the Author

Dennis Sherman is Professor of History at John Jay
College, the City University of New York. He received
his B.A. (1962) and J.D. (1965) degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. (1970)
from the University of Michigan. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Paris (19781979; 1985).
He received the Ford Foundation Prize Fellowship
(19681969, 19691970), a fellowship from the Council for Research on Economic History (19711972),
and fellowships from the National Endowment for the
Humanities (19731976). His publications include

World Civilizations:
Sources, Images, and Interpretations (co-author); The West
in the World: A Mid-Length Narrative History; a series of
introductions in the Garland Library of War and Peace;
several articles and reviews on nineteenth-century
French economic and social history in American and
European journals; and several short stories in literary
reviews.
Advisory Editor
Raymond Grew, University of Michigan

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CONTENTS

To Pat, Joe, Darryl, Vera, and Raymond

In time choice, change, and obligation merge;
How quietly we listen to ourselves.

vii

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Contents
Preface
xv
Using this Book

xvii

Part One
Civilizations of the Ancient World

Primary Sources

Visual Sources

Using Visual Sources: The Royal Standard

of Ur
10
Sumer: The Royal Standard of Ur (figure)
11
Egyptian Wall Paintings from the Tomb
of Menna (figure)
11
The Environment and the Rise of Civilization
in the Ancient Near East (maps)
13

Civilizations of the Ancient

Near East

Using Primary Sources: The Laws

of Hammurabi
4
The Laws of Hammurabi
5
The Epic of Gilgamesh
7
Hymn to the Nile
8
Hymn to the Pharaoh
9
The Old TestamentGenesis and Exodus
9
The Aton Hymn and Psalm 104: The Egyptians
and the Hebrews
10

Barbara S. Lesko, Women of Egypt and the Ancient

Near East
20
Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews
21

Secondary Sources

Using Secondary Sources: The Agricultural

Revolution
14
Robert J. Braidwood, The Agricultural Revolution
15
William H. McNeill, The Process of Civilization
17
Herbert J. Muller, Freedom in the Ancient World:
Civilization in Sumer
18
Henri Frankfort and H. A. Frankfort, The Intellectual
Adventure of Ancient Man
19
Lionel Casson, Daily Life in Ancient Egypt:
The Afterlife
20

The Emergence of Greek

Civilization

Primary Sources

Homer, The Iliad

24
Hesiod, Works and Days
25
A Colonization Agreement
26
Semonides of Amorgos, Poem on Women
26
Theognis of Megara, Aristocrats and Tyrants
27
Solon, Early Athens
27
Xenophon, Constitution of the
Lacedaemonians
28

Visual Sources

Trade, Culture, and Colonization (figure)

Migration and Colonization (maps)
31

30

Secondary Sources

Frank J. Frost, The End of the Mycenaean World

32
Finley Hooper, Greek Realities: The Homeric Epics
33
Sarah B. Pomeroy, et al., Social Values and Ethics in the
Dark Age of Greece
33

Classical and Hellenistic Greece

Primary Sources

Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War:

The Historical Method
36
Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War:
Athens During the Golden Age
37
Sophocles, Antigone
38
Plato, The Republic
39
Aristotle, Politics
40
Xenophon, Household Management
42
Hippocrates, Medicine and Magic
43
Epicurus, Individual Happiness
44

ix

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CONTENTS

Visual Sources

Education (figure)
45
The Womens Quarters (figure)
45
The Dying Niobide: The Classical Balance (figure)
The Old Market Woman: Hellenistic Individualism
(figure)
46
Geography and Political Configurations in Greece
(map)
46

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45

Secondary Sources

Sarah B. Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:

Women and Work in Athens
47
Anthony Andrews, The Greeks: Slavery
48
M. I. Finley, The Ancient Greeks:
Decline of the Polis
49
Richard Stoneman, Alexander the Great
50
Finley Hooper, Greek Realities
51

The Rise of Rome

Carved Gemstone: Augustus and the Empire Transformed

(figure)
73
Tomb Decoration: Death and Roman Culture (figure)
74

Secondary Sources

Chester G. Starr, The Roman Empire:

The Place of Augustus
75
E. R. Dodds, Pagan and Christian: The Appeal of
Christianity
75
Jo Ann McNamara, Women of the Roman Empire
A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire
77

76

The Middle Ages

59

Secondary Sources

Fustel de Coulanges, The Ancient City:

Religious Practices
61
J. P. V. D. Balsdon, Life and Leisure:
The Roman Aristocrat
62
Gillian Clark, Roman Women
62

Visual Sources

Part Two

Visual Sources

Evidence from Coins (figure)

59
The Geographic and Cultural Environment (map)

72

Primary Sources

Polybius, Histories: The Roman Constitution

54
Cicero, The Education of a Roman Gentleman
55
Quintus Lucretius Vespillo, Eulogy for
a Roman Wife
56
Plautus, Menaechmi: Roman Slavery
57
Sallust, The Conspiracy of Catiline: Decline of the
Republic
58

Pliny the Younger and Trajan, Rome and

the Early Christians
67
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
69
St. Paul, Epistle to the Romans
70
St. Augustine, The City of God
71
Ammianus Marcellinus, The Germanic Tribes
St. Jerome, The Fall of Rome
72

The Roman Empire and the

Rise of Christianity

Primary Sources

Pliny the Younger, Letters: The Daily Life

of a Roman Governor
66
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations: Ideals of an Emperor and
Stoic Philosopher
67

The Early Middle Ages

Primary Sources

Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks

82
The Origins of Feudalism
83
Charlemagne, Instructions to the Subjects of
Charlemagnes Empire
84
Einhard, War and Conversion Under Charlemagne
The Annals of Xanten, Disorder and Destruction
The Wanderer: Life of a Medieval Warrior
86

84
85

Visual Sources

Illustration from a Gospel Book: Christianity and Early

Medieval Culture (figure)
87
Painting from an Illuminated Bible: Secular and Religious
Authority (figure)
88
Contraction in the Early Middle Ages (maps)
89

Secondary Sources

Henri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne:

The Beginnings of Medieval Civilization
90
David Nicholas, The Carolingian West: The Genesis of
Feudal Relationships
91

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CONTENTS
Daniel D. McGarry, An Evaluation of
Feudalism
92
Jo Ann McNamara and Suzanne F. Wemple, Sanctity and
Power: The Dual Pursuit of Medieval Women
93

The Medieval East

Primary Sources

The Quran
96
Hasan al-Basr, Letter to Umar II:
Islamic Asceticism
97
Avicenna, Autobiography of a Muslim Scholar
97
The Institutes of Justinian: Byzantium and the Legacy of
Roman Law
99
Ibn Fadlan, The Rus: Cross-Cultural
Contact
100

Visual Sources

Manuscript Illuminations: Scenes from the Life of

Muhammad (figure)
101
Empress Theodora with Her Retinue
(figure)
102
The Byzantine Empire and the Expansion
of Islam (maps)
103

Secondary Sources

Cyril Mango, Byzantium: The Empire

of New Rome
105
Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History
105
Ira Lapidus, The Expansion of Islam
106
Albert Hourani, The Islamic World
107
Peter Brown, The Eastern Orientation of
Islam
108

The High Middle Ages: The

Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

115
115

Secondary Sources

Jacques Le Goff, Medieval Values

118
Margaret Wade Labarge, The Mold for Medieval Women:
Social Status
119
Aron Ja. Gurevich, The Merchant
120
R. W. Southern, The Making of the Middle Ages:
Serfdom
120
Marc Bloch, Feudal Society: The Psychic World of
Medieval People
121

The High Middle Ages: The

Crusades and the East

Primary Sources

Pope Urban II, The Opening of the

Crusades
124
Ekkehard of Aurach, Crusaders Motives
125
Pope Eugenius III, Inducements for the
Crusades
125
Princess Anna Comnena, The Alexiad: A Byzantine
View of the Crusades
125
Usamah Ibn-Munqidh, Memoirs: European and
Muslim Interactions
126

Visual Sources

Conflict and Cultural Exchange (figure)

127

Secondary Sources

Christopher Tyerman, The Meaning of

the Crusades
128
Thomas F. Madden, The Significance of
the Crusades
128
Robert Browning, The Byzantine Empire: Defeat,
Decline, and Resilience
129

Primary Sources

Pope Gregory VII, Letters: Secular and

Ecclesiastical Authority
112
Reginald of Durham, The Life of Saint Godric:
A Merchant Adventurer
112
Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love
113
Gratian, The Decretum: Medieval WomenNot in
Gods Image
114

The Bayeux Tapestry (figure)

Medieval Expansion (maps)

Visual Sources

The Gospel Book of Otto III: Church and State

(figure)
114

10

The High Middle Ages: The

Thirteenth Century

Primary Sources

Pope Innocent III, Papal Proclamation

of Supremacy
132
Archbishop Eudes of Rouen, A Church Register:
Clerical Administration
132
St. Francis of Assisi, The Rule of
St. Francis
133

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CONTENTS

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

134
Frederick II, Political Authority: The Emperor,
the Princes, and the Towns
135
Decrees of the Hanseatic League
136
Ordinances of the Guild Merchants of
Southampton
136
Bartholomaeus Anglicus, Chambermaids
137

Visual Sources

Secondary Sources

Maurice Keen, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend:

Social Rank and Injustice
139
Jacques Rossiaud, Life in Cities: Violence and
Fear
140
Georges Duby, Solitude
141
David Herlihy, Ecological Conditions and
Demographic Change
142

11

The Late Middle Ages

Visual Sources

The Church Besieged (figure)

151
The Triumph of Death (figure)
151
Food and Crime (chart)
152
Unrest in the Late Middle Ages (map)

12

152

Secondary Sources

Francis Oakley, The Crisis of the Late Middle

Ages
153
Millard Meiss, The Black Death: A Socioeconomic
Perspective
154
William L. Langer, A Psychological Perspective of the
Black Death
155

The Renaissance

Primary Sources

Francesco Petrarch, A Letter to Boccaccio: Literary

Humanism
160
Peter Paul Vergerio, On the Liberal Arts
161
Christine de Pizan, The City of Ladies
161
Niccol Machiavelli, The Prince
162
Baldesar Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier
163

Visual Sources

Raphael, The School of Athens: Art and Classical Culture

(figure)
164
Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride: Symbolism
and the Northern Renaissance (figure)
165
Hans Holbein, Wealth, Culture, and Diplomacy
(figure)
167

Primary Sources

Attack on the Papacy: The Conciliar

Movement
144
Bernard Gui, Manual of the Inquisitor
145
Sir John Froissart, The Rebellions of 1381
145
Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron: The Plague in
Florence
147
King Edward III, Statute of Laborers
148
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
148
The Goodman of Paris: Instructions on Being a
Good Wife
150

Renaissance, Reformation, and

Expansion

Medieval Life (figure)

138
Secularization and the Medieval Knight
(figure)
138

Part Three

Secondary Sources

Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance

in Italy
167
Peter Burke, The Myth of the Renaissance
169
Federico Chabod, Machiavelli and the
Renaissance
169
Charles G. Nauert, Northern Sources of the
Renaissance
170

13

The Reformation

Primary Sources

Johann Tetzel, The Spark for the Reformation:

Indulgences
174
Martin Luther, Justification by Faith
175
Martin Luther, On the Bondage of the Will
175
Martin Luther, Condemnation of Peasant
Revolt
176
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion:
Predestination
177
Constitution of the Society of Jesus
178
Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection
178

Visual Sources

Luther and the New Testament (figure)

179

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CONTENTS
Sebald Beham, Luther and the Catholic Clergy Debate
(figure)
179
Peter Paul Rubens, Loyola and Catholic Reform
(figure)
181

Secondary Sources

Euan Cameron, What Was the Reformation?

182
G. R. Elton, A Political Interpretation of the
Reformation
182
John C. Olin, The Catholic Reformation
183
Steven E. Ozment, The Legacy of the Reformation
184
Marilyn J. Boxer and Jean H. Quataert, Women in the
Reformation
185

14

Overseas Expansion and

New Politics

Gomes Eannes de Azurara, The Chronicle of the Discovery

and Conquest of Guinea
188
Christopher Columbus, Letter to Lord
Sanchez, 1493
189
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Memoirs: The Aztecs
190
Jacob Fugger, Letter to Charles V: Finance and Politics
191

Visual Sources

Frans Fracken II, The Assets and Liabilities of Empire

(text and figure)
192
The Conquest of Mexico as Seen by the Aztecs
(figure)
193
Exploration, Expansion, and Politics (maps)
193

Aristocracy and Absolutism

in the Seventeenth Century

Primary Sources

Philipp W. von Hornick, Austria Over All If She Only Will:

Mercantilism
216
Frederick William, The Great Elector, A Secret Letter:
Monarchical Authority in Prussia
217
Saint-Simon, Mmoires: The Aristocracy Undermined
in France
217
John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government:
Legislative Power
218

Visual Sources

The Early Modern Chteau (figure)

219
Pieter de Hooch, Maternal Care (figure)
220

The Early Modern Period

War and Revolution: 15601660

Primary Sources

Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Civil War in France

Secondary Sources

Hajo Holborn, A Political Interpretation of the Thirty

Years War
210
Carl J. Friedrich, A Religious Interpretation of the Thirty
Years War
210
M. S. Anderson, War and Peace in the Old
Regime
211
Conrad Russell, The Causes of the English Civil
War
212
William Monter, The Devils Handmaid: Women in the Age of
Reformations
213

Part Four

Visual Sources

Diego Valzquez, The Surrender of Breda

(figure)
205
Jan Brueghel and Sebastien Vrancx, War and Violence
(figure)
206
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan: Political Order and Political
Theory (text and figure)
207
Germany and the Thirty Years War (maps)
209

Richard B. Reed, The Expansion of Europe

194
M. L. Bush, The Effects of Expansion on the Non-European
World
196
Gary Nash, Red, White, and Black: The Peoples of
Early America
197

15

16

Secondary Sources

202

xiii

Richelieu, Political Will and Testament

202
James I, The Powers of the Monarch in England
203
The House of Commons, The Powers of Parliament
in England
204
Heinrich Krmer and Jacob Sprenger, The Hammer of
Witches
204

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

G. Durand, Absolutism: Myth and Reality

221
George Macaulay Trevelyan, The English Revolution,
16881689
221

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CONTENTS

Philippe Aris, Centuries of Childhood

222
Peter Laslett, The World We Have Lost: The Early
Modern Family
222

17

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The Scientific Revolution

Primary Sources

Ren Descartes, The Discourse on Method

226
Galileo Galilei, Letter to Christina of Tuscany: Science and
Scripture
226
The Papal Inquisition of 1633: Galileo Condemned
227
Sir Isaac Newton, Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy
228

Visual Sources

A Vision of the New Science (figure)

228
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp
(figure)
228

Secondary Sources

Michael Postan, Why Was Science Backward in the

Middle Ages?
229
Sir George Clark, Early Modern Europe: Motives for the
Scientific Revolution
231
Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser, No Scientific
Revolution for Women
232

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Preface
I

compiled Western Civilization: Sources, Images, and Interpretations with three main goals in mind. First, I
wanted to show readers the variety of sources historians use to write about history. Therefore, I have included
not only primary documents, but also visual and secondary sources. Second, this collection is intended to be relatively concise, so I wanted the sources to get to the
point. To do that, I have carefully edited each selection
to highlight its historical meanings as efficiently as possible. Third, I sought to structure the book in a way that
makes sense to the reader and does not dominate the
organization of a course that may be following a textbook
or using other books. To this end, I arranged the sources
along chronological lines, beginning with the origins of
Western civilization in the ancient Near East and gradually
moving up to the present. From time to time, this chronological approach is modified, such as with the treatment of
the Renaissance in one chapter, to account for the nature
of the era and the organization of most courses.
This book thus provides a broad introduction to the
sources historians use, the ways in which they interpret historical evidence, and the challenges they face in studying
the evolution of Western civilization over the past 6,000
years. Each selectionwhether a document, photograph,
or mapis presented with an introduction, commentary,
and questions designed to provide meaningful context and
to facilitate readers understanding of the selections historical significance. I have also selected sources that provide a
general balance among political, economic, social, intellectual, religious, and cultural history. However, different
chapters highlight particular themes that are important for
understanding certain eras. For example, some chapters
offer more sources on social and womens history, while
others might emphasize political and religious history.
A book of this size can contain only a small portion of
the historical material that is available. Thus, Western
Civilization is truly an introduction. Indeed, it is my hope
that the materials presented here will serve primarily as a
jumping-off point for further exploration into history and
the historians discipline.

New in This Edition

This new edition includes several changes:

One of the most unusual and popular features of this

book is the Visual Sources section in each chapter. I

have enlarged several of these sections with new images,

larger reproductions, greater use of color, and longer
guides to the new images. Because the images are
presented in ways that encourage students to read
and analyze what they are seeing as historical documents, the new images, color, and guides make this
section more useful and interesting.

In response to reviewers requests, I added several new

primary and secondary sources.

To reflect changing developments, the material in the

final chapter has been revised with new emphasis on
the significance of recent historical developments.

Otherwise, the structure, approach, and approximate

length of this edition remain as in previous editions.

Structure of the Book

As the table of contents indicates, each of the books
volumes contains chapters of manageable length. All the
chapters are structured in the same way.
Each chapter opens with a chapter introduction that
previews the period of history and the topics covered. A
time line follows, outlining the relevant dates, individuals, events, and developments focused on in the chapter.
In addition, a time line at the beginning of each of the six
parts in the book puts the developments covered in each
chapter into a broader perspective.
Then come the three categories of historical sources.
First are primary sources, usually written documents
that give voice to the individuals who lived through the
events described. These are followed by the visual
sourcespaintings, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, photographs, buildings, monuments, coins, and so forth
which provide valuable historical insights that are difficult to gain solely through written documents. Included
within this category are maps. Finally, secondary
sources, most written by scholars looking back on the
time in question, offer interpretations of primary sources.
Each source is preceded by a headnote, which identifies the nature of the source, places it in historical context, and indicates its particular focus. Headnotes for
visual sourcesincluding mapsare extensive, to help
readers see their unique value as historical evidence.
The headnotes end with points to consider. These
are not simply facts that readers must search for in the
xv

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PREFACE

selection. Rather, they are designed to stimulate thought

about the selections and to indicate the uses of each source.
Each chapter then ends with chapter questions that
challenge readers to draw major themes together.
The first chapter of each volume contains three special
sections: Using Primary Sources, Using Visual Sources,
and Using Secondary Sources. They offer suggestions for
interpreting and using these different kinds of sources.
Finally, what immediately follows the acknowledgments is a section on Using This Book, aimed at
helping readers to use all the features in this book to their
best advantage.

Acknowledgments
McGraw-Hill and the author would like to thank the
following reviewers for their many helpful comments
and suggestions: David Bernatowicz, Cuyahoga Community College; Cynthia Carter, Florida Community
CollegeNorth Campus; William E. Kinsella, Jr.,
Northern Virginia Community College; Suzanne Cloud
Tapper, Rowan University; David Valone, Quinnipiac
College.
Dennis Sherman

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Using this Book

I

n using this book, you face a task similar to that

confronting all historians: discover what people in
the past thought and did, and why, and to organize
this information into a chronological record. To do this,
historians must search for evidence from the past, and
this evidence comes in many different forms. Most
sources consist of written materials, ranging from government records to gravestone inscriptions, memoirs, and
poetry. Other sources include paintings, photographs,
sculpture, buildings, maps, pottery, and oral traditions.
Historians also use secondary sourcesaccounts of a
particular topic or period written by other scholars. But
in searching for sources, historians usually have something in mindsome particular interest or tentative
conclusions that shape their search. Thus, in working
with sources, historians make numerous decisions about
which ones to include and emphasize, and how to interpret them. What historians write is ultimately a synthesis
of the questions they posed, the sources they used, and
their own ideas.
This book provides examples of all these materials
and lets you try your hand at thinking as a historian
does. However, working with sources takes practice.
Each piece of historical evidence is usually mute. Its up
to the historian (or you) to unlock the message in the
evidenceto give voice, in a sense, to the people who
created that document or those paintings so long ago.
The historian (or you) therefore must be a skilled
detective. Here are some guidelines to help you hone
your detecting skills.
1. What Is the Context? Get a sense of the context of
the source you are about to read or analyze. This book
gives you three ways to do this. First, read the brief
introduction to the chapter in which the source appears. This preview sketches some of the most important developments in the period covered by the
chapter. It introduces the topics, issues, and questions
that the sources in the chapter focus on, and places
these sources in the larger historical context of the
civilizations being examined.
Second, look at the time line, which shows the period covered by the chapter and indicates the approximate dates and life spans of the developments
and people depicted in the sources. Third, read the
headnotethe one or two paragraphs in italics that

precede each source. These provide the immediate

context to the source, introduce the sources author
or creator, and indicate what the source is about.
2. What Kind of Source Is It? Each chapter is divided
into three kinds of sources: primary, visual, and secondary. Primary sources are first-hand or eyewitness
accounts of historical events or issues. Historians consider these documents their main building blocks for
learning about and interpreting the past. These pieces
of evidence are the most direct links possible to what
people thought, how and why they acted as they did,
and what they accomplished.
The visual sources in the booksuch as paintings,
sculpture, photographs, and buildingsare far more
than just ornamentation or examples of renowned
pieces of art and architecture. These sources reveal
just as much of the past as written materials doif
you know how to interpret them. The extensive headnotes accompanying the visual sources will help you
with this challenge.
Finally, secondary sources are accounts or analyses of
events by someone (usually a scholar looking back on
the past) who did not witness the event or live through
the particular era described in the source. Secondarysource writers usually base their interpretations of what
occurred on their examination of numerous primary
documents and other sources. The analyses in these
sources reflect the authors choices and their own understanding of what happened. Often scholars differ on
how to interpret significant historical developments.
At times the distinction between primary and secondary sources blurs, as when the author of a source
lived during the events he or she is interpreting but
did not witness it directly. If a historian views such a
document as an interpretation of what occurred, the
document is considered a secondary source. However,
if the historian treats the document as evidence of the
assumptions and attitudes of the authors times, the
document is considered a primary source.
3. What Does the Source Seem to Be Saying? All
sources reveal some information (whether directly or
indirectly) about people and societies of the past. As
you consider each source, ask yourself: What does this
document or image tell me about this topic, society,
individual, or era? The Consider questions that
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follow the headnote to each source will help you identify the important information contained in the sources.
4. Who Created the Source, and Why? To critically examine a source, ask yourself four questions. First, who
created the source? Knowing the author or creatora
religious figure? scholar? worker?may give you clues to
the point expressed in the view reflected in the source.
Second, what might be the authors biases and assumptions, such as political sympathies, group allegiances, or
religious beliefs? Discerning these can give you valuable
information that the author did not intend to convey.
Third, why was the document written or created? Perhaps the author was trying to advocate a particular point
of view or satisfy the wishes of a powerful group. Identifying the motivation behind the source sheds further
light on its meaning. Fourth, who were the sources intended readers or viewers? Were they scholars? nobles?
women? Knowing this can help you interpret a documents message or decipher the meaning of a painting.
Each kind of sourceprimary, visual, and
secondaryposes its own challenge to historians who
are trying to analyze them critically. Some primary
documents, for example, may be forgeries or contain errors. There may also be inconsistencies within the document. These problems call into question the credibility of a document. The kind of primary source may limit
its usefulness as well. For example, a law may not tell
you anything about whether people followed it or
whether it was enforced. And just because a book was
published doesnt necessarily mean that it was widely
read at the time. A formal written statement may reveal
less about an individuals feelings and actual behavior
than a diary entry can. Moreover, language constantly
evolves, so the meanings of words and phrases may have
changed over time. To fully understand a primary
source, try to imagine yourself living during the time and
in the society in which the source was first created.
Visual sources require especially careful interpretation. For example, a painters intentions can be difficult to discern. Furthermore, a particular painting
might mean something completely different to a
sixteenth-century viewer than it does to a twentyfirst-century viewer. Similarly, it makes a great difference whether a photograph was posed or spontaneous.
Scholars differ greatly over how to interpret sources
such as paintings, ceramics, and coins. Therefore, the
descriptions that accompany the visual sources in this
book are open to debate. They are designed primarily
to show you how historians use visual materialsas
unwritten evidence of what people in the past valued,
thought, did, and found interesting.
Maps are a special kind of visual source. In this
book, they are intended to shed light on relationships,

such as the connections between geographical factors

and political developments. As with other visual
sources, the descriptions in the headnotes indicate
some of the ways historians use maps.
With secondary sources, the authors (usually historians) often try to present a narrative of an event or
era, or explain some social or political development.
By its very nature, writing secondary sources means
making decisions about what information to include.
The author must make numerous judgment calls from
among a huge amount of historical data. Therefore,
read secondary sources with these questions in mind:
What is the authors point or argument? What sort of
evidence does he or she use to support the argument?
Does the authors argument make sense to you? What
political or ideological biases are revealed in the authors interpretation? How might somebody argue
against the interpretation presented by the author?
All historical sourceswhether primary, visual, or
secondarycan only be so objective. In fact, most
evidence from the past omits important information
about ordinary peoples lives, childrens lives, or particular ethnic groups. But good sources do reveal valuable information when you know what to look for and
analyze them critically. In the hands of careful historians, they can offer a provocative glimpse into the
hopes, dreams, and the thoughts and actions of people
from the past.
5. What Connections and Comparisons Can Be
Made? In considering a source, ask yourself: Does this
source relate in any way to another source in the
chapter, to a broader topic covered in the chapter, or
to any themes or developments covered in a textbook
or classroom? Looking for connections and comparisons helps you stand back from the source and identify larger historical trendsperhaps even about yourself and your own societybeyond just the immediate
message in the source.
To spot these links, read the chapter introductions.
These list some of the broad questions and themes
around which the sources are organized. Sometimes
the headnotes or consider points also suggest comparisons. In addition, the questions at the end of each
chapter can help you make connections and comparisons. To answer these questions, youll need to engage
in analytical thought, look at several selections in the
chapter together, and sometimes consider sources
from several chapters.
6. Employ the Models Presented in the Using Primary
Sources, Using Visual Sources, and Using Secondary Sources Sections. These provide examples of
how a primary, a visual, and a secondary source might
be read and studied.

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Six-Point Checklist for

Using This Book

Context

Kind of source (primary, visual, secondary)

Message (what does the source seem to be saying?)

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Critical analysis (who created the source, and why?)

Connections and comparisons

Models (in the first chapters Using Primary

Sources, Using Visual Sources, and Using Secondary Sources sections)

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Schematic of Evolution of Western Civilization

Prehistoric Cultures

Barbarian Europe

Mesopotamia and Egypt

Minoans and Mycenaeans

Hebrews and Phoenicians

Classical Greece
Hellenistic Civilization

Roman Republic
Roman Empire

Germanic Societies

Byzantium

The Rus

Medieval Europe

Renaissance Expansion Reformation

Scientific Revolution
Early Modern Europe
Enlightenment

Industrialization
French and Democratic Revolutions

Modern Western Civilization

Islam

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The Evolution of Western

Civilization
This chart is a schematic illustration of the development of Western civilization up to
modern times. Caution should be exercised when reading such a chart. The connections
made are a matter more of judgment than of fact. Moreover, what is missingthe how
and why of the connectionsis of great importance. Nevertheless, the chart can make
it easier to see some of the broadest connections between societies and civilizations, connections that are often lost when a single period or society is examined in detail.

CONSIDER: Possible reasons for the various connections within the chart; what might
be added to this chart to make it more useful.

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