B5105 - Rural Medieval Societies (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will have acquired in-depth and specific knowledge of the history of medieval rural societies. Students will acquire a diachronic knowledge of the major historical-political and institutional dynamics that characterised rural societies in the Middle Ages, according to a critical and problematic scansion and with an awareness of the importance of historical memory in contemporary culture.

Course contents

The course will consist of a journey through sources and historiography dedicated to the theme: “Stratification and Social Mobility in the Countryside between the 9th and 13th Centuries.”

The existence of a social group intermediate between the aristocracy and peasant communities has been the subject of much scholarly reflection since the 1960s, although these reflections have often remained fragmented due to a lack of documentation on the subject. The perspective generally adopted by historians was that peasants of the Early and High Middle Ages were, by definition, passive subjects who could not take control of their own history, lacking any capacity for initiative, whether in economic, institutional, or political matters. However, subsequent developments in historiography have led to new and more focused research on this intermediate group. These developments have shifted the perspective, at times recognizing the crucial role of rural elites in social organization and in the concrete functioning of dominant groups in the countryside. As a result, this issue now lies at the heart of complex problems in social history.

In very recent times, particular attention has been paid to the role of military service in shaping social differentiation and mobility within rural communities, and to the growing militarization of the elites, which led to a sharp divide between those who fought on horseback and the mass of rural folk.

The course will therefore analyze social stratification and indicators of status in the Italian countryside (with some comparative perspectives on other areas of Europe) through a series of significant case studies and the use of the most up-to-date historiography. The lessons, structured in seminar form, will make extensive use of source analysis, in either Italian translation or in the original Latin with Italian translation.

The main topics addressed will include:

• Between aristocracy and peasants: rural elites in the Early Middle Ages

• Indicators of status and criteria for differentiation in rural societies

• Military participation and martial roles

• Dependent peasants: freedom, unfreedom, and serfdom

• The age of local powers: the development of lordship

• The militarization of rural society: boni homines, milites, squires, and masnade

• The age of knights

• Violence and the exercise of power

• Rural lordship and social mobility

• Rural lordship and economic growth

Readings/Bibliography

All students, whether attending or not, will be required to study the following articles/chapters from books (amounting to approximately 240 pages), which will be made available by the teacher on Aulaweb.
NB: It is recommended to read and study them in the order in which they are listed, as this reflects the structure of the course

 

• C. La Rocca, Segni di distinzione. Dai corredi funerari alle donazioni “post obitum” nel regno longobardo, in L’Italia centro-settentrionale in età longobarda, Firenze, All’Insegna del Giglio, 1997, pp. 31-51
• S. Gasparri, Mercanti o possessori? Profilo di un ceto dominante in un’età di transizione, in Carte di famiglia, a cura di S. Gasparri e C. La Rocca, Roma, Viella, 2005, pp. 157-177
• S. Gasparri, Storie di schiavi, servi e contadini, cap. 3 del volume S. Gasparri, Voci dai secoli oscuri. Un percorso nelle fonti dell’alto Medioevo, Roma, Carocci, 2017, pp. 57-80
• F. Bougard, Pierre de Niviano, dit le Spolétin, sculdassius, et le gouvernement du comté de Plaisance à l'époque carolingienne, in «Journal des savants», 1996, pp. 291-337 (solo le pp. 291-306 escluso il dossier documentario)
• L. Feller, Les élites rurales du haut Moyen Âge en Italie (IXe-Xe siècle), in Élites rurales méditerranéennes, Ve -XVe siècles, ed. by Christophe Picard, Laurent Feller and Michel Kaplan, Mélanges de l’École française de Rome-Moyen Âge, 124/2 (2012) https://journals.openedition.org/mefrm//801 [https://journals.openedition.org/mefrm/801]
• S. M.Collavini, Signoria ed élites rurali (Toscana, 1080-1225 c.), in Élites rurales méditerranéennes, Ve -XVe siècles, a cura di C. Picard, L. Feller e M. Kaplan, in «Mélanges de l’École française de Rome-Moyen Âge», CXXIV, 2, 2012, pp. 479-493
• M.E. Cortese, Rural milites in central and northern Italy between local elites and aristocracy (12th and 13th centuries), in Social Mobility in Medieval Italy (1100-1500), edited by S. Carocci and I. Lazzarini, Roma, Viella, 2018, pp. 335-352
• F. Menant, Gli scudieri (scutiferi), vassalli rurali dell’Italia del Nord nel XII secolo, in F. Menant, Lombardia feudale. Studi sull’aristocrazia padana nei secoli X-XIII, Milano, Vita e pensiero, 1992, pp. 277-293
• M. E. Cortese, Le frange inferiori della cavalleria nelle campagne toscane: scutiferi e masnaderii tra inquadramento signorile e mobilità sociale (secc. XII-XIII), in «Archivio storico italiano», 2021/1, pp. 3-41
• A. Poloni, I cacciatori del vescovo. Servizio al signore e mobilità sociale nella montagna bergamasca nel XII e XIII secolo, in corso di stampa in «Reti Medievali Rivista», 2025/2
• F. Del Tredici, Le case dei cavalieri. Milites, edifici e conflitti in area rurale (secoli XI-XIII), in corso di stampa
• S. Carocci, Micro-lordship and pervasiveness, in corso di stampa in Periodizzare il pieno medioevo: una discussione su continuità e cambiamento nei secoli XI e XII, Pisa, 2025
• N. Ryssov, I più ricchi e i più onorevoli del villaggio. Microstoria di due milites polesani (XII-XIII sec.), in corso di stampa in «Reti Medievali Rivista», 2025/2

 

Non-attending students, in addition to the texts listed above, must choose a book from the following list:

• A. Fiore, Il mutamento signorile. Assetti di potere e comunicazione politica nelle campagne dell’Italia centro-settentrionale (1080-1130 c.), Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2017 (liberamente scaricabile al link: https://books.fupress.com/catalogue/il-mutamento-signorile-assetti-di-potere-e-comunicazione-politica-nelle-campagne-dellitalia-centro-s/3493 )
• S. Carocci, Signorie di Mezzogiorno. Società rurali, poteri aristocratici e monarchia (XII-XIII secolo), Roma, Viella, 2014 (solo le pp. 227-513)
• A. Stella, Ai margini del contado. Terra, signoria ed élites locali a Sabbion e nel territorio di Cologna Veneta (secoli XII-XIII), Firenze, 2022 (liberamente scaricabile al link: https://books.fupress.com/catalogue/ai-margini-del-contado/12884 )
• W. Davies, Small Worlds. The Village Community in Early Medieval Brittany, Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1988
• Ch. Wickham, La montagna e la città. Gli Appennini toscani nell'alto Medioevo, Milano, 1988
• Ch. Wickham, Comunità e clientele nella Toscana del XII secolo. Le origini del comune rurale nella Piana di Lucca, Rome, 1995

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

During the academic year, at least seven exam sessions are scheduled for all students, in the following months: January, February, May, June, July, September, and December.

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

For attending students, the examination consists of an oral interview on:

• the topics and sources analysed in the lectures
• the texts indicated in List 1.

  For non attending students, the examination consists of an oral interview on:

• the texts indicated in List 1
• a book of your choice from the List 2

Are evaluated: the property of language, the understanding of the topics discussed, the ability to propose connections between different themes.

The vote is expressed in 30/30. At discretion of the teacher, a mention of “lode” can be added.

Evaluation criteria and degrees

The achievement by the student of a full critical knowledge of the topics taught in the course and mastery of the specific language will be evaluated with excellence marks. A mnemonic knowledge of the matter and synthesis and analysis skills articulated in a language not always appropriate will lead to discrete evaluations. Inappropriate formative and/or inappropriate language will lead to just sufficient marks. Serious formative errors, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials provided by the course will be negatively evaluated.

This course is a component of the Integrated Course SOCIETÀ RURALE E SOCIETÀ URBANA NEL MEDIOEVO (12 CFU). If the student has the integrated course (12 CFU) in his study plan, the final mark will result from the arithmetic mean of the marks obtained in the two components (B5105 SOCIETÀ RURALI MEDIEVALI +B5106 SOCIETÀ CITTADINE MEDIEVALI)

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