Learning objectives
Goal of the course is, first and foremost, to provide fundamental knowledge regarding medieval history, freeing the field of numerous preconceptions about this historical period. It will also be aimed at providing students with the critical skills to interpret an histographical topic.
Prerequisites
None
Course unit content
The course is an introduction to medieval history (5th-15th centuries).
Full programme
Course’s topics:
Why study history. Why study Middle Ages. How study Middle Ages.
The idea of Middle Ages.
Early, High and Late Middle Ages.
Primary and secondary sources.
The Barbarians.
Christianities.
Franks and feudalism.
The three orders of medieval society: oratores, bellatores, laboratores.
The 11th century: cities and countryside.
The 11th century: the pope and the emperor.
The 11 th century: the crusades.
Communitarian movements: communes, guilds, confraternities.
Signories, principalities, kingdoms, republics.
The Crisis of the Early Renaissance.
Rich and poor in the Middle Ages.
Communes and signories in Italian medieval studies between the 19th and the 20th centuries.
Bibliography
One manual of medieval history, R. Bordone, G. Sergi, Dieci secoli di medioevo, Torino, Einaudi, 2009, one historiographical text: Testo di approfondimento monografico: F. Franceschi, I. Taddei, Le città italiane nel Medioevo. XII-XIV secolo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012; and a selection of sources from:
P. Cammarosano, Le campagne nell’età comunale (metà sec. XI – metà sec. XIV), Loescher (Documenti della Storia), Torino 1974, in open access on www.retimedievali.it
R. Bordone, La società urbana nell’Italia comunale (secoli XI-XIV), Loescher (Documenti della Storia), Torino 1984,in open access on www.retimedievali.it
Teaching methods
40 hours of classroom lectures; home study of lecture notes and recommended texts; oral exam.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam.
Other information
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