Learning objectives
It is expected that students will be capable to apply the basic knowledge of medieval history, already obtained through the general course of medieval history, to the understanding of the sources that allow historical reconstruction. At the end of the course it is expected that the student will be able to read archival documents and critically evaluate the information provided by the sources.
Knowledge and understanding:
The students will develop knowledge and understanding in the field of medieval studies by reading original documents and scientific essays on the sources. The skills previously will be strengthened and expanded, with the consequent development of critical analysis skills.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
the students will be able to face the reading of original documents, an indispensable competence for any scientifically based research, and preparatory to the drafting of a thesis in history.
Making judgments:
students will develop data collection and interpretation skills
useful to make independent judgments in the field of medieval studies.
They will be able to integrate knowledge, manage complexity and
making judgments based on limited or incomplete information.
Communication skills:
students will be able to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors. They will be able to formulate clear conclusions supported by knowledge. They will also be able to explain the rationale behind their conclusions.
Learning skills:
students will develop the ability to recognize the most common scribal abbreviations and to decode documents written in unfamiliar languages, such as Italian fifteenth-century vernacular and Latin, both indispensable to start carry out an autonomous research in the historical field.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of medieval history.
An elementary knowledge of Latin is welcome.
Course unit content
The course will provide the students with information and methods for studying the sources of medieval history. A specific source – the letters written by the Sforza officials in the 15th century – will then be further investigated. The approach will be empirical, with reading and analysis of original unpublished documents.
Full programme
It is required the study of the texts read and explained during the classes, which will be uploaded on the e-learning platform Elly
It is also required the study of the following essays:
- G. Corazzol, «Tradurre» dal veneto antico all’italiano moderno. Lettera al direttore di un contribuente perplesso, Feltre 2008, disponibile online all’url https://storiamestre.it/2005-2009/cittainvisibile/pdf/gc2.pdf
- G. Castelnuovo, Uffici e ufficiali, in Lo Stato del Rinascimento in Italia, a cura di A. Gamberini e I. Lazzarini, Viella, Roma 2014, pp. 333-346
- G. Chittolini, L’onore dell’officiale, in «Quaderni Milanesi», 17-18 (1989), pp. 5-55
- F. Leverotti, Gli officiali del ducato sforzesco, in «Annali della Classe di Lettere e Filosofia della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa», serie IV, Quaderni I (1997), pp. 17-77
Bibliography
- G. Corazzol, «Tradurre» dal veneto antico all’italiano moderno. Lettera al direttore di un contribuente perplesso, Feltre 2008, disponibile online all’url https://storiamestre.it/2005-2009/cittainvisibile/pdf/gc2.pdf
- G. Castelnuovo, Uffici e ufficiali, in Lo Stato del Rinascimento in Italia, a cura di A. Gamberini e I. Lazzarini, Viella, Roma 2014, pp. 333-346
- G. Chittolini, L’onore dell’officiale, in «Quaderni Milanesi», 17-18 (1989), pp. 5-55
-F. Leverotti, Gli officiali del ducato sforzesco, in «Annali della Classe di Lettere e Filosofia della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa», serie IV, Quaderni I (1997), pp. 17-77
Teaching methods
Lectures and reading comprehension practice. The documents analysed during the classes and their transcriptions will be made available on the e-learning website Elly.
Assessment methods and criteria
The assessment of the student’s learning involves a final exam, which will be held during an oral exam, with a scale of 0 to 30, in which the student will have to prove that he/she has acquired the tools of analysis and understanding of a historical phenomenon. Students should also demonstrate that they know how to use the terms of the specialized language of the discipline.
A fail is determined by the lack of an understanding of the minimum
content of the course, the inability to express oneself adequately, by a
lack of autonomous preparation, the inability to solve problems related to
information retrieval and the decoding of complex texts, as well as an
inability to make independent judgments. A pass (18-23/30) is
determined by the student’s possession of the minimum, fundamental
contents of the course, an adequate level of autonomous preparation
and ability to solve problems related to information retrieval and the
decoding of complex texts, as well as an acceptable level of ability in
making independent judgments. Middle-range scores (24-27/30) are
assigned to the student who produces evidence of a more than sufficient
level (24-25/30) or good level (26-27/30) in the evaluation indicators
listed above. Higher scores (from 28/30 to 30/30 cum laude) are awarded
on the basis of the student’s demonstration of a very good or excellent
level in the evaluation indicators listed above.
Other information
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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