28955 - History of Medieval Europe (1) (LM)

Course contents

Family and kinship structures in the early centuries of the European Middle Ages

The course provides an initial series of six lectures on the historical framework of the European IV-IX centuries. Nine lectures will follow on the theme of family and kinship in the Middle Ages in Europe.

1. Introduction to the course and the manual
2. Christianization
3. The reigns
4. The eighth century
5. The Carolingian - power structures and church
6. The Carolingian - economy and society

Family and kinship structures in the early centuries of the European Middle Ages

1. The concept of family and filiation
2. The naming system between antiquity and the Middle Ages.
3. Marriage: a journey in stages
4. The mononuclear model 
5. The marriage of the clergy.
6. Other families: aristocratic polygyny.
7. Other families: peasant polyandry.
8. A new model: Jonah of Orleans, Hincmar of Reims and the divorce of Lothair
9. The system of representation of families and kinship

Readings/Bibliography

All students, attending and not attending, will study:

S. Gasparri, M.C. La Rocca, Tempi barbarici. L'Europa occidentale tra antichità e Medioevo (300-900), Roma, Carocci, 2012

The written test will be based on this book.

For the oral test:

Students attending will discuss lecture notes, texts and documents uploaded on AlmaDL.

Students not attending will study a book, chosen in this list:

• Agire da donna. Modelli e pratiche di rappresentazione nell'alto medioevo europeo (secoli VI-X) , a cura di M. C. La Rocca, Turnhout 2007.
• P. Geary, Il mito delle nazioni. Le origini medievali dell'Europa, Carocci 2010.
• J. Goody, Famiglia e matrimonio in Europa. Origini e sviluppi dei modelli familiari dell'Occidente, Laterza 2000.
• W. Pohl, Le origini etniche dell'Europa. Barbari e Romani tra antichità e medioevo, Viella 2008.
• Tesori. Forme di accumulazione della ricchezza nell'alto medioevo (secoli V-XI) , a cura di Sauro Gelichi e Cristina La Rocca, Viella 2004.

Teaching methods

AMS Campus, the repository of learning materials of the University of Bologna will be used for the distribution of didactic materials: power points, pdf file of sources and readings.

Assessment methods

A written test followed by an oral test: the two tests can be taken in the same scheduled exam date but it's also possible to take the oral test in a succeeding scheduled exam date .

To access the oral exam you need to have taken the written test and to have passed it with a score of 18/30 at least.

The written test will verify the knowledge gained in the manual and consists of five open-ended questions: the first will be of broader content (score from 0 to 10); the other four will be shorter and concise (each with a score from 0 to 5). The best possible result is 30/30.

The oral exam will be a free conversation on the topics of the course. You have to demonstrate the full knowledge and understanding of the notes, readings and documents submitted in class.

For those who will not attend the lectures, the oral exam will verify the knowledge of the book chosen.

The maximum score assigned for the oral test is 30/30.

For the evaluation, it will be taken into account: property of language; understanding of the issues discussed; ability to propose connections between the various topics.

The final score will be the average between the result of the written test and the oral test. The words of praise can be added at the discretion of the teacher.

Teaching tools

Lectures

Office hours

See the website of Tiziana Lazzari