Learning objectives
The course intends to provide the student, within the framework of the European Descriptors for three-year degrees (Dublin descriptors), with the tools to develop knowledge and the ability to understand the founding processes of history, their meanings, their cultural role and of their social impact, through the study of history (1st Descriptor - Knowledge and understanding).
At the end of the course the student must be able to:
• apply this knowledge and understanding in addressing, with a professional approach and through the creation of arguments, various issues of the history of the early modern age from different aspects (political, religious, cultural, social) (2nd Descriptor - Knowledge and applied understanding skills);
• collect and autonomously interpret historical sources relating to the early modern age (3rd Descriptor - Autonomy of judgement);
• communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions on the history of the early modern age also in connection with the social contexts of reference to specialist and non-specialist interlocutors (4th Descriptor - Communication skills);
• develop further learning skills necessary to undertake subsequent studies with a high degree of autonomy in the historical sector (5th Descriptor - Ability to learn).
The minimum learning threshold means the student's ability to orient themselves in the field of history and its exegetical and methodological approaches, through knowledge of the founding processes of the early modern age, in relation to the previous and subsequent and connected periods to the various historical contexts of reference.
Course unit content
The course will be divided into two modules (Module a + Module b) of 6 credits each.
Module a.
In module A the course will address the key issues of early modern history from a political, economic, religious, cultural and social point of view through the analysis of historical processes, their historiographical interpretations and through a direct comparison with the sources, which will be read and discussed during the lessons. In this way, students will acquire the foundations of critical knowledge and the interpretative keys of historical research.
Module b.
Module b entitled Agents of diplomatic mediation in the modern age: ecclesiastics, men of letters, artists, travellers. It will consider the role of agents and mediators of politics, diplomacy and cultural exchange, central figures for growth and consolidation of social, political and cultural structures in the early modern age.
Full programme
Program for ATTENDING Students.
6 credit course: Module a.
12 credit course: Module a+Module b.
Module a: 1+2+3
1. C. Capra, Storia moderna (1492-1848), Le Monnier (up to and including the chapter on the Congress of Vienna, chapter 26 or 27 depending on the edition).
2. P. Corrao, P. Viola, Introduzione agli studi di Storia, Rome, Donzelli, 2005.
3. Nel laboratorio della Storia. Una guida alle fonti dell’età moderna, Carocci, Rome, 2013 or subsequent editions: Chapters of S. Calonaci; A. Savelli, A. M. Cavarzere or from p. 169 on p. 235 and from 265 on p. 289.
Module b:4+5+6
4. Paola Volpini, Ambasciatori nella prima età moderna tra corti italiane ed europee, Rome, Sapienza University Press SUE, 2022.
5. A group of essays to be chosen between I and II:
I. Marika Keblusek, Premessa, in “Quaderni Storici” 41, 122 (2) (2006), pp. 343–51; Marika, Keblusek, Arens Luuk and Sabrina Corbellini, The intermediaries of the world of books in the early modern age, in “Quaderni Storici” 41, 122 (2) (2006), pp. 433–47;
II. Marika Keblusek, Premessa, in Quaderni Storici 41, 122 (2) (2006), pp. 343–51; E. Andretta-M.A. Visceglia, Medici di corte, diplomazia e reti dell’informazione politica nella prima età moderna: alcune riflessioni, in Tramiti. Figure e strumenti della mediazione culturale nella prima età moderna, edited by E. Andretta, E. Valeri, M.A. Visceglia, P. Volpini, Viella, Rome, 2105, pp. 15-38.
6. A book chosen between A and B:
A. G. Alonge, Ambasciatori. Diplomazia e politica nella Venezia del Rinascimento,, Rome, Donzelli, 2019.
B. F. Ieva, Illusioni di potenza. La diplomazia sabauda e la Francia nel cuore del Seicento (1630-1648), Rome, Carocci, 2023.
NOT ATTENDING Students for the 6 credit course (Module a) must also bring the three chapters of Lavenia Bellabarba's book:
Module to: V. Lavenia - M. Bellabarba, Introduzione alla storia moderna, Bologna, Il Mulino: chapters I, II, XII: I. Il pensiero del passato e l’idea di moderno; II. Misurare il tempo, and XII. Le stratificazioni sociali: norme e individui.
NOT ATTENDING Students the 12 credit course (Module a+b) also: Peter Burke, Testimoni oculari. Il significato storico delle immagini, Carocci, various editions.
NB. The exam program must be prepared in its entirety. Students who have prepared only part of the exam will not be admitted to the exam.
The exam bibliography may undergo changes which will be communicated at the beginning of the course. Sources and teaching material illustrated in class will be uploaded to the webpage la
Bibliography
See the extended bibliography
Teaching methods
Lessons will take place in person. Where possible, students will be invited to actively participate during the analysis of the sources.
Assessment methods and criteria
Oral exam. On the basis of the number of participants, the possibility for students to carry out oral presentations will be evaluated during the course.
