07080 - Economic and Social History of the Middle Ages

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have a basic knowledge of the social and economic history of medieval Europe, including its institutional and cultural implications. They will recognise interrelations among historical phenomena and processes, and differences of spatio-temporal scale. They will be able to read and comment critically on texts and data, as well as to speak and write on related topics using proper terminology. Students will acquire a critical methodological approach and apply models of interpretation to social and institutional processes, identifying the relevant sources.

Course contents

The course will examine the fundamental features of social history in early medieval Europe (5th–9th centuries) and during the central Middle Ages (10th–12th centuries), through the analysis and comparison of particularly significant case studies and the interpretation of important historical sources (available either in Italian translation or in Latin with an accompanying Italian translation).

The main topics covered will be:

• The dissolution of the late Roman world-system

• Migrations, ethnogenesis, and the characteristics of the barbarian peoples

• The Lombard Kingdom

• Society in the Lombard Kingdom: aristocracy, rural elites, and urban elites

• The Frankish Kingdom: from the Merovingians to the Pippinids

• Society in the Carolingian period: aristocracy, rural and urban elites, serfs and free people

• The fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire

• Aristocracy and kingship in the tenth century

• The development of local powers (11th–12th centuries)

• Incastellamento (castle-building and the formation of castle-centred lordships) and seigneurial power in the countryside

• The age of knights: the militarization of rural society

• Urban society and the early development of communal institutions

• Knights and townspeople

• Towards the emergence and definition of the nobility in the late Middle Ages.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students

• Materiale delle lezioni (power-points caricati sulla piattaforma virtuale).
• S. Gasparri, Voci dei secoli oscuri. Un percorso nelle fonti dell'alto medioevo, Roma, Carocci editore, solo i capitoli 1-5 (scaricabile qui: https://iris.unive.it/retrieve/e4239ddc-7f3e-7180-e053-3705fe0a3322/Gasparri_Ib.pdf)
• P. Guglielmotti, I franchi e l'Europa carolingia, in Storia medievale, Donzelli, 1998, pp. 175-202.
• S. Carocci, Signori, castelli, feudi, in Storia medievale, Donzelli, 1998, pp. 247-290.
• S. Carocci, Città di torri L'anomalia italiana nell'Europa medievale (XI-XIII secolo), Roma, TorVergata University Press, 2025 (scaricabile qui: https://www.academia.edu/145329714/Citt%C3%A0_di_torri_Lanomalia_italiana_nellEuropa_medievale_XI_XIII_secolo_open_access)

Non attending students

• S. Gasparri, Voci dei secoli oscuri. Un percorso nelle fonti dell'alto medioevo, Roma, Carocci editore, solo i capitoli 1-5 (scaricabile qui: https://iris.unive.it/retrieve/e4239ddc-7f3e-7180-e053-3705fe0a3322/Gasparri_Ib.pdf)
• P. Guglielmotti, I franchi e l'Europa carolingia, in Storia medievale, Donzelli, 1998, pp. 175-202.
• S. Carocci, Signori, castelli, feudi, in Storia medievale, Donzelli, 1998, pp. 247-290.
• S. Carocci, Città di torri L'anomalia italiana nell'Europa medievale (XI-XIII secolo), Roma, TorVergata University Press, 2025 (scaricabile qui: https://www.academia.edu/145329714/Citt%C3%A0_di_torri_Lanomalia_italiana_nellEuropa_medievale_XI_XIII_secolo_open_access)

One book on your choice from the following list:

A. Barbero, Carlo Magno. Un padre dell'Europa, Roma-Bari, Laterza

S. Gasparri, Rituali di potere nell'Europa altomedievale. La Corona Ferrea e altre storie, Salerno editrice

T. Lazzari, Le donne nell'alto Medioevo, Milano-Torino 2010 (scaricabile da https://unibo.academia.edu/TizianaLazzari)

L. Provero, L’Italia dei poteri locali (secoli X-XII), Roma, Carocci, 1998 (solo le pp. 1-150)

J.-C. Maire Vigueur, Cavalieri e cittadini. Guerra, conflitti e società nell'Italia comunale, Bologna, Il Mulino

A.A. Settia, Rapine, assedi, battaglie. La guerra nel Medioevo, Bologna, Il Mulino

 

Teaching methods

Lectures, with exposition of topics and readings of documents (in italian translation or original language – Latin -accompanied by an Italian translation).

Assessment methods

A student is considered an attending student if they participate in at least 75% of the classes.

During the academic year, at least seven examination sessions are scheduled for all students, in the months of January, February, May, June, July, September/October, and December.

Attending Students

Attending students may choose between:

1. Taking an oral examination covering the entire syllabus; or

2. Dividing the syllabus into two parts. In this case, students will take a written examination (on a date to be announced) covering the topics discussed during the first 30 hours of classes, followed by an oral examination on the remaining part of the syllabus.

The written examination will consist of two open-ended questions and will be held in the classroom, under the supervision of the teacher. The use of IA or electronic devices is NOT ALLOWED.

The syllabus for the written examination is as follows:

• Materials relating to the first 30 hours of lectures, uploaded to the Virtuale platform;

• S. Gasparri, Voci dei secoli oscuri (chapters 1–5);

• P. Guglielmotti, I Franchi e l'Europa carolingia.

Taking the written examination is not mandatory, but it is strongly recommended.

Non-Attending Students

Assessment consists of an oral examination covering all the texts included in the syllabus.

The following aspects will be taken into account in the evaluation:

• Appropriate use of academic language;

• Understanding of the topics discussed;

• Ability to establish connections among the various themes addressed in the course.

Grades are expressed on a 30-point scale. At the instructor’s discretion, the distinction of cum laude (lode) may be awarded.

Assessment Criteria

Students who demonstrate a critical understanding of the course content and a mastery of the discipline-specific terminology will receive the highest grades.

A satisfactory grade will be awarded to students who show a solid factual knowledge of the subject together with adequate skills of synthesis and analysis.

Students whose preparation reveals gaps in knowledge and/or an inappropriate use of language will receive a passing grade.

Serious deficiencies in knowledge, inappropriate language, and poor familiarity with the required bibliography will result in a failing grade.

Teaching tools

Reproductions or editions of the sources analysed in class will be made available to the students. At the end of each lesson, the corresponding power point will be uploaded to Virtuale.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Elena Cortese