92917 - History of Medieval Culture and Thought (1)

Learning outcomes

The course deepens the knowledge of medieval culture and thought considered in some of its significant aspects. The course also aims to train the reading and critical analysis of the texts, also through the study of the manuscript tradition. The study of the topics discussed allows students to acquire the ability to assess the impact of the acquisitions of medieval culture in European thought, symbolism and life forms. The historiographical interpretations of topics and texts under consideration will be illustrated.

Course contents

Apocaypsis. The revelation of the future in Latin culture from Joachim of Fiore to Peter of John Olivi.

The course is divided into two modules. The first is institutional in nature and the second monographic. Each of the two modules is divided into two sections.

Module 1

1.1 Reference authors in the medieval philosophical tradition

1.2 Medieval philosophy as a contaminated intellectual form and intersections: Philosophy and literature. Philosophy and theology. Philosophy and the natural sciences. European philosophy and non-European philosophies. Authors and authors.


Module 2

2.1. Presentation of the main currents of late medieval apocaliptic.

2.2. Reading and commentary on Lectura super Apocalypsim by Peter of John Olivi.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Authors and history of medieval philosophy

A single text chosen from the following

(A) Michela Pereira, La filosofia nel Medioevo sec. 6-15, Roma 2016 [cinque capitoli a scelta dell’allievo]; (B) Claudio Leonardi Medioevo latino. La cultura dell'Europa cristiana cur. Francesco Santi, praef. I Deug-Su - Oronzo Limone - Enrico Menestò, Firenze, SISMEL. Edizioni del Galluzzo 2004 [only pp. 191-396 or pp. 399-567] (in ALMARE: dbase>Mirabile, Home>Miscelanee> Medioevo latino)) (C) Francesco Santi L'età metaforica. Figure di Dio e letteratura latina medievale da Gregorio Magno a Dante Spoleto (Perugia), Centro italiano di studi sull'Alto Medioevo (CISAM) 2011 pp. XVIII-404 tav. 1 (Uomini e mondi medievali. Collana del Centro Italiano di Studi sul Basso Medioevo - Accademia Tudertina 25) [only pp. 3-150].

2. The Apocalyptic Tradition and Peter John Olivi

One of the following titles

Bernard McGinn The Calabrian Abbot Joachim of Fiore in the History of Western Thought New York 1985)

Henri de Lubac, La postérité spirituelle de Joachim de Flore I De Joachim à Schelling Paris 1979)

Marjorie E. Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages. A Study in Joachimism Notre Dame, IN, University of Notre Dame Press 1993 pp. 588

Gian Luca Potestà, Il tempo dell'Apocalisse. Vita di Gioacchino da Fiore Bari, Laterza 2004 pp. X-502

Pietro di Giovanni Olivi Scritti scelti trad. comm. Paolo Vian, Roma, Città Nuova 1989 pp. 248 (Fonti cristiane per il terzo millennio 3)

Syvain Piron, Pietro di Giovanni Olivi e i francescani Spirituali introduzione G. L. Potestà, Milano Edizione Biblioteca Francescana 2021

3. Reading and commenting on a text (the text will also be read and commented on in class)

Petrus Iohannis Olivi Lectura super Apocalypsim ed. Warren Lewis, Saint Bonaventure, NY, Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University 2015 pp. LXXII-899 con l'aiuto della traduzione fornita dal docente e di quella che si legge in Pietro di Giovanni Olivi Scritti scelti trad. comm. Paolo Vian, Roma, Città Nuova 1989 pp. 248 (Fonti cristiane per il terzo millennio 3). Recommended but not required: Alberto Forni - Paolo Vian A proposito dell'edizione di Warren Lewis della «Lectura super Apocalipsim» di Pietro di Giovanni Olivi. Alcune osservazioni in «Archivum Franciscanum Historicum » 109 (2016) pp. 99-161 

Non attending students

Another philosophical text of the medieval Latin tradition chosen among the works of the following authors (in critical edition and translation): Boezio, Cassiodoro, Gregorio Magno, Alcuino, Gerberto di Aurillac, Anselmo di Canterbury, Pietro Abelardo, Eloisa del Paracleto, Bernardo di Clairvaux, Ildegarde di Bingen, Riccardo di San Vittore, Alano di Lilla, Tommaso d’Aquino, Bonaventura di Bagnoregio, Angela da Foligno, Raimondo Lullo, Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Duns Scoto, Eckhart, Guglielmo d’Ockham, Niccolò Cusano. (The teacher is available to advise on accessible and reliable editions. Other authors may be proposed to the teacher).

Teaching methods

Classes are organized in form of lectures, about

1. general issues
2. the latin work of Peter John Olivi
3. the handwritten transmission of medieval philosophical works.

After checking the class situation, the teacher will try to encourage seminar activities, in accordance with the teaching tradition.

Assessment methods

The exams consist in an interview (30').

Students should be able to demonstrate their skills in reading and interpreting the texts, in placing authors and texts in their historical context, and in assessing their contribution within the history of European culture.

Teaching tools

During the course, the main internet sites that allow access to some of the medieval Latin manuscripts will be presented, with particular attention to philosophical culture.

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Santi