11379 - Medieval History (A-L)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will have a general critical knowledge of the medieval era, grasp its various components and be familiar with the historians’ trends and latest research avenues, tackling at least some of the most important sources upon which the Middle Ages have been defined. They will be able to state issues and interact critically, with texts and data to hand. They will have come to appreciate the importance of setting categories, languages and concepts in a long-term framework. They will be able to talk about the basic bibliography, showing they can read and critically understand it, linking up to issues discussed in class. They will read history texts in at least one language besides Italian and, in speaking, use the appropriate technical terminology.

Course contents

The Middle Ages: a thousand years of history

The course aims to provide a basic knowledge of the medieval period and will be divided into six in-depth subject areas.

At the beginning, themes and problems connected with the historical method and periodization, the very definition of the medieval period and the structure of the sources available for the reconstruction of those centuries will be addressed. This will be followed by blocks of lectures on the long-term phenomena characteristic of the medieval millennium: the transformation of the Roman World; the concept of feudalism; the evolution of ecclesiastical structures and religious phenomena; the structure of the family and kinship; the institutional forms of kingdoms, empires, and republics.

Readings/Bibliography

All students, both those who attend lectures and those who do not, will need to study the textbook:

G. Albertoni, S.M. Collavini, T. Lazzari (eds.), Introduzione alla storia medievale. Nuova edizione, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2020 (also available in digital format on the Pandora platform)

The written exam will be based on this textbook.

For the oral exam:

• Attending students will need to study and be able to present the contents of the PowerPoints given during lectures and uploaded on the platform called Virtuale. It is important to take notes during the lectures. They will also need to study two scientific in-depth essays on a topic of their choice among those that will be proposed on Virtuale.
• Non-attending students will need to choose two books from the following list:"

G. Albertoni, Vassalli, feudi, feudalesimo, Roma, Carocci, 2015.

P. Brown, Il riscatto dell'anima. Aldilà e ricchezza nel primo cristianesimo occidentale, Torino, Einaudi, 2016.

Il Comune medievale. Istituzioni e conflitti politici (secoli XII-XIV), a cura di L. Tanzini, Bologna, CLUEB, 2023.

B. Jussen, I Franchi, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2015.

C. Klapisch-Zuber, Matrimoni rinascimentali, Donne e vita famigliare a Firenze (secc. XIV-XV), Roma, Viella, 2022.

D. Internullo, Senato sapiente. L’alba della cultura laica a Roma nel medioevo (secoli XI-XII), Roma, Viella, 2022.

A. Luongo, La Peste Nera. Contagio, crisi e nuovi equilibri nell’Italia del Trecento, Roma, Carocci, 2022.

L. Provero, Contadini e potere nel Medioevo. Secoli IX-XV, Roma, Carocci, 2020.

G. Todeschini, Come l’acqua e il sangue. Le origini medievali del pensiero economico, Roma, Carocci, 2021.

A. Vauchez, Sulle orme del sacro. I santuari dell'Europa occidentale. IV-XVI secolo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2023.

Teaching methods

Traditional frontal lectures will always make use of the presentation of written, archaeological and iconographic sources in order to illustrate the process of critical construction of the historical narrative.

The active participation of the students in the discussion of the texts and problems presented will be stimulated, both through the usual dialogue in class and through a specific blog Medioevo fra noi, activated on "Virtuale", aimed at promoting communication and discussion among the students themselves and with the lecturer.

Assessment methods

A student who chooses to take the oral examination based on the lecture notes and in-depth readings uploaded onto Virtual is considered an attending student.

All students, whether attending or not, must take a written test.

To be admitted to the oral test, you must have taken the written test and passed it with a score of at least 18/30.

The written test and the oral test may be taken in the same call or in different calls.

Students attending the course will be offered a mid-term written test during the teaching break between the first and second modules. This is an opportunity offered to students, not an obligation: attending students will thus be able to test their preparation on the textbook and directly experience the assessment system used.

The written test is intended to test acquired knowledge of the textbook and comprises 6 open questions, requiring precise answers and good synthesis skills, graded from 0 to 5 points. The maximum possible result is 30/30.

The following will then be assessed

- The mastery of the contents

- The ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts

- The ability to be able to express oneself in writing in an adequate manner and with language appropriate to the subject matter.

The student's achievement of an organic vision of the themes addressed by the textbook, their critical use, a good mastery of expression and the use of specific vocabulary will be assessed with marks of excellence.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject, together with synthesis and analysis skills articulated in a correct but not always appropriate language, will lead to fair marks.

Formative deficiencies and/or inappropriate language - albeit in the context of minimal knowledge of the examination material - will lead to grades that do not exceed sufficiency.

Formative gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the textbook content will be negatively assessed.

The oral test is a free conversation aimed at ascertaining the knowledge acquired

- of the contents of the lectures and in-depth readings on "Virtuale" for attending students;
- of the two chosen books for non-attending students.

The interview will assess the knowledge acquired, the ability to synthesise and the critical skills developed by the student.

In the assessment of the test, particular account will be taken of the student's ability to orientate himself within the examination material in order to extract the useful information that will enable him to illustrate themes and problems and to be able to link them together.

The following will therefore be assessed:

- The mastery of the contents

- The ability to synthesise and analyse themes and concepts

- The ability to be able to express oneself adequately and in language appropriate to the subject matter.

The student's achievement of an organic vision of the themes, together with their critical use, a good mastery of expression and specific language will be assessed with marks of excellence.

A mnemonic knowledge of the subject, together with skills of synthesis and analysis articulated in a correct, but not always appropriate language, will lead to fair marks.

Formative deficiencies and/or inappropriate language - albeit in the context of minimal knowledge of the examination material - will lead to grades that do not exceed sufficiency.

Formative deficiencies, inappropriate language and lack of orientation within the bibliographical material will be negatively assessed.

The maximum mark awarded in the oral examination is 30/30.

The final examination mark will result from the reasoned average between the result of the written test and the result of the oral test. A mark of honours may be added at the teacher's discretion.

Teaching tools

"Virtuale", the University's repository for sharing teaching support tools will be used: power points summarising lecture content, pdf files of sources and proposed readings.

A blog will also be set up on "Virtuale" for discussion of the topics covered in the lessons and any further reading.

Office hours

See the website of Tiziana Lazzari