Learning objectives
Knowledge and understanding
The student will deepen the functioning mechanisms of the structures of power and of the forms of organization of the associated life of the early Middle Ages.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
The students will develop the practice of considering the political, institutional, social and economic relations and the ideologies not as a natural given, but as the result of changes that have taken place in specific contexts, and to apply the notion of context to the analysis of a text, and, more generally, to any social and political phenomenon and to any artistic and cultural form of expression.
Making judgments:
The students will improve their ability to make autonomous judgments through the analysis of complex phenomena, which involve multiple sets of causes and can be understood and explained by the historians through different and sometimes conflicting approaches and interpretations.
Communication skills:
The students will be able to report and discuss the notions learned during the classes and from the texts, with particular attention to the accurate use of language, concepts and categories, and will be able to make an appropriate use of the specific vocabulary of the discipline.
Learning skills:
The students will improve their autonomous learning ability getting used to place in a hierarchy the information gathered during the classes and studying the texts in the syllabus, developing a critical attitude towards the sources.
Prerequisites
Students are expected to possess a basic knowledge of the main thematic and chronological nodes of the Italian and European medieval history acquired during the first cycle degree.
Course unit content
From the Roman Empire to the Papal Monarchy (4th-11th century)
The course aims to provide students with critical information and tools for an in-depth understanding of economic dynamics, social structures, cultural and religious life between the third and twelfth centuries in Europe, with particular attention to the structures of power.
The main themes examined are, in order: 1) The classical legacy and the Roman-barbaric symbiosis 2) The hegemonic effort of the Greek-Eastern empire 3) The formation of a West gravitating on Gaul 4) The Byzantine Empires and Carolingian in the confrontation with Islam 5) The diffusion of the personal bonds and the expansion of the aristocratic land base 6) The pluralism of the powers in the post-Carolingian age 7) The bishops and the seigneurial power over the cities 8) The demographic and economic expansion of the West 9) Changes in religious sensitivity and culture of the elites 10) The European outskirts and the Normans 11) The reform of the Church 12) The reorganization of the seigneurial public powers
Full programme
The students are required to study
- G. Tabacco, Alto medioevo, a cura di G. Sergi, UTET, Torino 2010
- G. Tabacco, La sintesi istituzionale di vescovo e città in Italia e il suo superamento nella res publica comunale, in Id., Egemonie sociali e strutture del potere nel medioevo italiano, Torino, Einaudi 2000 (3ed), pp. 397-427
And two of the following texts:
- G. Tabacco, L’ambiguità delle istituzioni nell’Europa costruita dai Franchi, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 45-94
- G. Tabacco, Regno, impero e aristocrazie nell’Italia postcarolingia, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 95-118
- G. Tabacco, Il volto ecclesiastico del potere in età carolingia, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 165-208
- G. Tabacco, Autorità pontificia e impero, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 209-242
Bibliography
- G. Tabacco, Alto medioevo, a cura di G. Sergi, UTET, Torino 2010
- G. Tabacco, L’ambiguità delle istituzioni nell’Europa costruita dai Franchi, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 45-94
- G. Tabacco, Regno, impero e aristocrazie nell’Italia postcarolingia, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 95-118
- G. Tabacco, Il volto ecclesiastico del potere in età carolingia, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 165-208
- G. Tabacco, Autorità pontificia e impero, in Id., Sperimentazioni del potere nell’alto medioevo, Torino, Einaudi 1993, pp. 209-242
- G. Tabacco, La sintesi istituzionale di vescovo e città in Italia e il suo superamento nella res publica comunale, in Id., Egemonie sociali e strutture del potere nel medioevo italiano, Torino, Einaudi 2000 (3ed), pp. 397-427
Teaching methods
Lectures
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral examination in Italian.
The examination aims to assess, in particular:
a) The lexical precision in describing specific phenomena of the High Middle Ages and, more generally, the use of the specific language of the historical disciplines.
b) The adequate ability to study independently, critically revise and conceptualize the contents learned during the course and through the study of the texts
c) The aptitude to link structures and dynamics, and to identify complex causal relationships.
Failure is determined by the inability to understand the basic elements of the course: in particular, by the inability to describe and explain the way the institutions and the political, economic, cultural and ecclesiastical structures worked in the High Middle-Ages context with adequate lexical and conceptual accuracy.
Sufficient performance (18 to 23/30) is determined by the student’s ability to explain and contextualize the concepts and phenomena typical of the High Middle Ages with adequate lexical precision, and by the ability to reprocess the information by making independent judgments.
Medium marks (24 to 27/30) are given to the student who shows a level more than sufficient (24 to 25/30) or good (26 to 27/30) according to the indicators listed above.
Higher scores (28 to 30/30 or 30/30 cum laude) are awarded to students who demonstrate a very good or outstanding level according to the indicators listed above; as well as the ability to articulate complex discourses on specific topics, and the aptitude to formulate personal and original judgments on the phenomena considered.
Other information
- - -
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
- - -
