11379 - Medieval History

Learning outcomes

The discipline aims to educate students to know and comprehend the political, institutional, social, and cultural phenomena, which led to the construction of the special identity of Medieval Europe and of its documental and monumental patrimony.

Students will learn to understand the principal political-institutional and socio-cultural processes of the Medieval Age (in their essential lines); to critically analyse the impact on European civilization of these processes, in the long period; to apply these elements to the analysis of written sources and to the problems of the preservation and valorisation of the material patrimony, both documental and monumental; to synthesize the methodological contents of a scientific historical paper, and to present the results of a research; to approach the study of new topics thanks to the knowledge acquired during the course.

Course contents

This course aims to provide the students with an overall but refined, solid and updated knowledge of the European Medieval Millennium. It analyses the main historical processes, the most crucial issues, and the decisive chronological and conceptual breakthroughs in Medieval History.

This course is structured into two modules. The first one explores the Early Middle Ages (fifth to eleventh century), and the second is devoted to the Late Middle Ages (twelfth to fifteenth century). Both modules are divided into two parts. The first part of each module provides an overview of the European Middle Ages, while the second part of each module investigates a specific in-depth case study.

Module 1 (30 hours), Prof. Stefano Manganaro

The first part of Module 1 focuses on the most relevant issues related to the history of the Early and High Middle Ages, which can be listed as follows:

• The idea of the Middle Ages beyond historiographic myths and commonplaces
• The ethnogenesis of Barbarian tribes and the post-Roman world
• Medieval Monasticism: from the East to the West
• Lombard and Byzantine Italy
• Frankish Gaul and the birth of medieval Europe
• The Mediterranean space in the Early Middle Ages, the rise of Islam and the Iconoclastic Controversy
• The Carolingian Empire
• Tenth-century political pluralism and the sacral kingship in the Ottonian-Salian period
• Local seigneurial power and territorial lordships
• Eleventh-century ecclesiastical Reform and the primacy of the Roman Church
• Penitential pilgrimage and penitential warfare: the origins of the crusading movement

The second part of Module 1, which provides a thorough analysis of a specific subject, explores the following topic: Benedictine monasticism (sixth to twelfth century): spirituality, mentality, and culture in early medieval Latin Europe.

Module 2 (30 hours), Prof. Tosi Brandi

The first part of Module 2 focuses on the most relevant issues related to the history of the High and Late Middle Ages, which can be listed as follows:

• Economic development from the eleventh to the thirteenth century
• The rise of the Monarchies of England, France and Spain
• Cities and the Communes
• Apogee of the Papacy
• Mendicant orders and the repression of heresy
• Italian regional states
• New horizons: geographical discoveries and trade routes, Humanism and the Renaissance

The second part of Module 2, which focuses on a recent edited volume (see Readings/Bibliography), analyses a selection of essays, investigating processes of innovation and invention within numerous spheres of medieval society (political, economy, finance, agriculture, urban planning, language).

Readings/Bibliography

In addition to the contents of the lessons and the materials uploaded to Virtuale platform (https://virtuale.unibo.it/), students are required to study the following handbook:

1. L. Provero, M. Vallerani, Storia medievale, Firenze: Le Monnier, 2022².

Concerning the module 1, students are required to study the following book:

2. M. Breitenstein, I Benedettini, trad. it. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2021, pp. 9-98.

Concerning the module 2, students are required to study the following book:

3. Medioevo che crea. Innovare, inventare, sperimentare nell’Italia dei secoli X-XIV, eds. by F. Franceschi, P. Nanni, G. Piccinni, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2025. Of this book, the following essays are to be studied: Ouverture (pp. 5-43); Organizzare, finanziare, amministrare le città (pp. 47-111); six other essays of your choice.

In addition to the aforementioned books, non-attending students have to study two more volumes, according the following guidelines.

For Module 1, one volume to be chosen from this list:

• G. Albertoni, L’elefante di Carlo Magno. Il desiderio di un imperatore, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2020;
• C. Azzara, I Longobardi, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2015;
• C. Azzara, Teoderico, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2013;
• G. M. Cantarella, L’Impero di Cluny. I monaci della corte celeste, Roma: Carocci, 2025;
• S. Cosentino, Storia dell’Italia bizantina (VI-XI secolo). Da Giustiniano ai Normanni, Bologna: Bononia University Press, 2008, pp. 229-334 (capitoli: II.5 La politica; II.6 La religione);
• N. D’Acunto, Sillabario medievale, Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 2023;
• G. Sergi, L’idea di medioevo. Fra storia e senso comune, Roma: Donzelli, 2005.

For Module 2, one volume to be chosen from this list:

• M. G. Muzzarelli, Madri, madri mancate, quasi madri, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2021;
• M. Montesano, Ai margini del Medioevo. Storia culturale dell’alterità, Roma: Carocci, 2021;
• B. Del Bo, L’età del lume. Una storia della luce nel Medioevo, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2023;
• Gli oggetti come merci nel tardo medioevo. Fonti scritte e fonti materiali, a cura di R. Rao, F. Zoni, Milano: Milano University Press, 2025 (;
• Quantum valet. I valori della moda nei secoli XIII-XIV, a cura di E. Tosi Brandi, Roma: Viella, 2025.

Teaching methods

The course includes both frontal lessons and seminars. During the lessons, a selection of sources (written, iconographic, and material) will be presented and discussed to delve deeper into the main issues addressed in the course, and to learn about the cultural heritage produced in the Middle Ages.

Assessment methods

The final assessment consists of an oral examination focusing on the issued addressed during the lessons and analyzed  in the aforementioned recommended books. The assessment concerns a detailed knowledge of the contents of the course, the ability to expose them through an appropriate and scientific vocabulary, and  argumentative and critical skills to understand medieval sources. Participation in seminars and conferences in the field of medieval studies indicated by the lecturer during the course are also assessed positively. 

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the topics;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the topics and the ability to use it effectively.

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 course and is able to summarise them satisfactorily, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

Minimal and correct knowledge of the contents of the module, yet with lack of significant details and deficiencies in the use of the appropriate terminology will lead to barely sufficient marks.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he/she displays significant errors in his/her understanding and fails to present the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

In order to obtain 12 cfu, students must take two exams: one on the module 1 (prof. Manganaro) and the other on the module 2 (prof. Tosi Brandi). The final grade is just one, resulting from the average of the two exam marks. Each exam can be taken separately from the other, but this procedure needs to be approved from the professors, and on the condition that the second exam will be taken in the same or in the immediately following academic year when the first exam has been passed.

 

Teaching tools

The traditional lecture format is integrated by slides with maps, images, and texts. These materials are uploaded on the online platform Virtuale (virtuale.unibo.it).

Please note that initiatives suggested or organised by the professors (educational visits, seminars, book presentations, etc.) are to be considered as a supplementary part of the course and are therefore recognised at the exam.

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Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders (DSA) needing compensatory tools will be able to communicate their needs to the Teacher in order to be addressed to the referents and agree on the adoption of the most appropriate measures.

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti

Office hours

See the website of Elisa Tosi Brandi

See the website of Stefano Manganaro