12544 - History of Medieval Political Thought(1)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with a general vision of the evolution of political thought in the Christian West throughout the middle ages (6th-15th century). They will be able to discuss the latest comments on and interpretations of a series of texts taken from soures that keenly affected the evolution of medieval political thought. They will grasp how and where different cultures interacted in history. They will recognize the relevance of categories, languages and complex concepts to cultural interaction over the long term. They will also learn to listen, understand and debate respectfully with different cultures and viewpoints, spotting the tie-ups among different disciplines.

Course contents

Introduction to the discipline (approximately 2 hours).

Themes and leading figures of medieval political thought (approximately 22 hours):

• The Papacy, the Empire, and the kingdoms: the ideological foundations of universal and national powers (the Gelasian principle; the Donation of Constantine; Gregory VII);
• Medieval jurists between absolutism and constitutionalism: the lex regia de imperio; the Magna Carta Libertatum; Bracton and English constitutionalism; the political thought of Bartolus of Saxoferrato;
• The rediscovery of Aristotle: Thomas Aquinas;
• The crisis of papal theocracy and the De potestate papae treatises: Giles of Rome; Jean of Paris; Dante;
• The great political thinkers of the early fourteenth century: William of Ockham; Marsilius of Padua;
• Conciliarism: the first phase (Pierre d'Ailly, Jean Gerson); the second phase (Juan de Segovia, Juan de Torquemada, Nicholas of Cusa);
• The political thought of the humanists: republican thought (the Florentine and Venetian traditions); monarchical thought (the Milanese, Roman, and Neapolitan traditions).

Special topic (approximately 6 hours): The Origins of Constitutionalism. Required reading: the volume by Claudio Marinelli listed in the Bibliography section

Readings/Bibliography

ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

• R. Lambertini and M. Conetti, Il potere al plurale. Un profilo di storia del pensiero politico medievale, Rome, Jouvence, 2019.
• C. Martinelli, Le radici del costituzionalismo, Turin, Giappichelli, 2016 (pp. 1–85 and 263–272 only).
•  

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

• R. Lambertini and M. Conetti, Il potere al plurale. Un profilo di storia del pensiero politico medievale, Rome, Jouvence, 2019.
• C. Martinelli, Le radici del costituzionalismo, Turin, Giappichelli, 2016 (pp. 1–85 and 263–272 only).

In addition to the required readings for attending students, non-attending students must prepare one of the following works:

• Un dialogo su Marsilio da Padova, edited by S. Simonetta, L. Campi, T. Casadei, and G. Zanetti, Pisa, ETS, 2025 (excluding the final essay in English).
• F. Delle Donne and G. Cappelli, Nel Regno delle Lettere. Umanesimo e politica nel Mezzogiorno aragonese, Rome, Carocci, 2021.
• G. Briguglia, Il pensiero politico medievale, Turin, Einaudi, 2018.

Teaching methods

During the lectures, alongside a general historical overview, the principal texts and primary sources relevant to the topics covered in the course will be read and discussed.

Assessment methods

The final exam will be an oral one, with questions aimed to verify the student's knowledge of the themes discussed during frontal lessons (only for students that participated in classwork) as well as those treated in the program's texts. Among the elements that concur in the final evaluation there are: detailed knowledge of the book's content, property of language, and especially the capacity of organizing the information into complex answers showing expositive and critical skills.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.
Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary.
A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Eleven examination sessions are scheduled throughout the academic year, with one session each month except August.

Teaching tools

During the lectures, texts and primary sources will be analysed and discussed with the aid of PowerPoint presentations, charts, images, and maps. Course materials will be made available to students on thevirtuale.unibo.it platform.

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.

Links to further information

http://unibo.academia.edu/BerardoPio

Office hours

See the website of Berardo Pio