41615 - History of Christian Late Antiquity

Learning outcomes

The course provides an updated overview of the major problems of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages (IV-X Centuries) with respect to the impact of Christianity on social, cultural, urban and monumental structure of the cities and provinces of the Romans Empire, and in relation to the processes of settlement and integration of barbarian cultures until the Ottonian time. The student, at the end of the course, posseses some of the major critical and bibliographic tools for the proper use and critical evaluation of the archaeological and artistic cultural heritage of Europe, with special regard to the crucial role of patronage, but also of production and literary-documentary transmission, played by religious institutions from the fourth century onwards.

Course contents

The course be in the form of a seminar (reading and review of literary, legal, documentary, epigraphic, and iconographic sources). The reference texts and critical analysis are suggested by the teacher during the lessons. The bibliography provided in Section B (Readings) has therefore an introductory character and concerns the students not attending the lessons.

Readings/Bibliography

A) Handbooks:
To all students enrolled in the course requires knowledge of a critical synthesis of the following works: R. A. Markus, La fine della cristianità  antica, trad. it. Roma, Borla, 1996; E. Wipszycka, Storia della Chiesa nella tarda Antichità, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2000; P. Maraval, Le Christianisme de Constantin à la conquête arabe, Paris, PUF, 2005³; P. Brown, La formazione dell’Europa cristiana, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006²; G. Filoramo, La croce e il potere. I cristiani da martiri a persecutori, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011.

B) Readings:
F. Cardini, Alle radici della cavalleria medievale, La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1981 (n. ed. Bologna, il Mulino, 2014) R. Krautheimer, Tre capitali cristiane. Topografia e politica, trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 1987; P. Brown, La società  e il sacro nella tarda antichità, trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 1988; P. F. Beatrice (a cura di), L'intolleranza cristiana nei confronti dei pagani, Bologna. EDB, 1990 R. Lane Fox, Pagani e cristiani, trad. it. Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1991 (rist. 2006); E. Kitzinger, Il culto delle immagini. L'arte bizantina dal cristianesimo delle origini all'Iconoclastia, trad. it. Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1992; G. Stroumsa, La formazione del'identità  cristiana, trad. it. Brescia, Morcelliana, 1999; L. Canetti, Frammenti di eternità. Corpi e reliquie tra Antichità  e Medioevo, Roma, Viella, 2002; P. Brown, Povertà  e leadership nel tardo impero romano, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2003; Th. Mathews, Scontro di dei. Una reinterpretazione dell'arte paleocristiana, trad. it. Milano, Jaka Book, 2005; P. Brown, Agostino d'Ippona. Nuova edizione ampliata, Torino, Einaudi, 2005; L. Canetti, Il passero spennato. Riti, agiografia e memoria dal Tardoantico al Medioevo, Spoleto, Fondazione CISAM, 2007; P. Veyne, Quando l'Europa è diventata cristiana (312-394). Costantino, la conversione, l'impero, Milano, Garzanti, 2008; E. dal Covolo - G. Sfameni Gasparro (a cura di), Cristo e Asclepio. Culti terapeutici e taumaturgici nel mondo mediterraneo antico fra pagani e cristiani, Roma, LAS, 2008; S. Ronchey, Ipazia. La vera storia, Milano, Rizzoli, 2010; P. Brown, Il corpo e la società. Uomini, donne e astinenza sessuale nel primo cristianesimo, Nuova edizione, Torino, Einaudi, 2010; A. Chavarria Arnau, Archeologia delle chiese. Dalle origini all'anno Mille. Nuova edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2011; R. Salvarani, Il Santo Sepolcro a Gerusalemme. Riti, testi e racconti tra Costantino e l'età delle Crociate, Città  del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2012; P. Chuvin, Cronaca degli ultimi pagani. La scomparsa del paganesimo nell'impero romano tra Costantino e Giustiniano, trad. it. Brescia, Paideia, 2012; L. Canetti, Impronte di gloria. Effigie e ornamento nell'Europa cristiana, Roma, Carocci, 2012; R. Van Dam, Costantino. Un imperatore latino nell'Oriente greco tra ideologia romana e novità cristiana, Cinisello Balsamo, San Paolo, 2013; G. Stroumsa, Il riso di Cristo. La rivoluzione del cristianesimo antico, Paideia, Brescia, 2014; P. Brown, Per la cruna di un ago. La ricchezza, la caduta di Roma e lo sviluppo del cristianesimo, 350-550 d. C., Torino, Einaudi, 2014; P. Brown, Il riscatto dell'anima. Aldilà e ricchezza nel primo cristianesimo occidentale, Torino, Einaudi, 2016.

Teaching methods

In support of the traditional lecture the teacher will use texts and images, which will be shown and made available online to students in the teaching materials (Alma-DL Campus) of the University website https://campus.unibo.it Students are also required to partecipate in the integrative teaching by enrolling on e-learning page of the course: https://elearning-cds.unibo.it

Assessment methods

The oral examination held at the end of the entire educational cycle, which may also include participation in seminars, conferences and conventions from time to time reported or promoted by the teacher. Of such participation will be considered in the calculation of credits for the purposes of evaluation.

For students attending the examination consists in checking the knowledge acquired during the course namely, first, the sources gradually made available on the website Alma-DLCampus (http://campus.cib.unibo.it/); in addition, they are required to know the general outlines of the history of ancient and medieval Christianity on the basis of one of the texts recommended in Section A of the "Texts".

Students unable to attend, in addition to in-depth knowledge of a manual (point A in the "Texts"), are obliged also to the critical reading of a book (or a collection of essays) which are contained in Section B of the "Texts" or recommended by the teacher during the reception. The reading of a monograph (or, alternatively, of some essays suggested by the teacher during lessons or receipt) is in any case recommended to also attending.

It is also required of all students enrolled in the course (attending or not) the knowledge of L. Canetti, Discourses and practices of the sacred, in the History of Europe and the Mediterranean, dir. A. Barbero, sect. IV, The Middle Ages, edited by S. Carocci, vol. IX (Structures, pre-eminences, common vocabularies), Rome, Salerno Publishing, 2007, pp.. 535-580, repr. with the title The reasons of the invisible, between the sacred and religion, in L. Canetti, The sparrow plucked. Rites, hagiography and memory from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, CISAM Foundation, Spoleto, 2007, pp.. 1-62. The text, available for consultation at the library of the Faculty, is a free download in pdf format from the website of Alma-DL Campus (http://campus.cib.unibo.it/) between the teaching materials online courses hosted by teacher.

Class attendance is essential to achieve a good profit evaluation. All those who work for demonstrable reasons, can not attend the course are required to agree in advance with the teacher during the reception, their syllabus.

Teaching tools

During the course will be indicated, and partly shown, the main tools, directories and bibliographic support and information relevant to the study of the sources for the history of Christianity and the churches to the age old, late antique and early medieval period.

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/docenti/luigi.canetti

Office hours

See the website of Luigi Canetti