29689 - Civilisations of the Late Middle Ages (1) (LM)

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Docente: Berardo Pio
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: M-STO/01
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in History and Oriental Studies (cod. 8845)

    Also valid for Second cycle degree programme (LM) in History and Oriental Studies (cod. 8845)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student knows the characteristics of the late medieval civilization and is able to identify the cultural, social, economic and political peculiarities of the complex reality of the last centuries of the Middle Ages (12th-15th). It approaches critically texts and data, evaluates their different incidence in historiography.

Course contents

The course aims to analyse the main political, economic and cultural events of the late Middle Ages society, and the evolution of the relationships between Empire and Papacy.

The first part of the course will focuse on the general historical framework: the crisis of universal powers; the rise of national monarchies; the medieval commune; origins and character of Italian despotism; the Italian territorial states (XIV-XV centuries).

The second part will focus on the specific topic (monographic course): Dante's letter to the cardinals (1314).

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students:

G.L. Potestà, Dante in conclave, Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 2021.

It also requires a reading choice between the reports published in Sperimentazioni di governo nell'Italia centrosettentrionale nel processo storico dal primo comune alla signoria, a cura di M.C. De Matteis e B. Pio, Bologna 2011.

 

Non-attending students:

G.L. Potestà, Dante in conclave, Milano, Vita e Pensiero, 2021.

It also requires a reading choice between the reports published in Sperimentazioni di governo nell'Italia centrosettentrionale nel processo storico dal primo comune alla signoria, a cura di M.C. De Matteis e B. Pio, Bologna 2011.

G.G. Merlo, Basso Medioevo, Torino, UTET, 2010 (only for students not attending).

Teaching methods

Lessons (general approach to the subject); reading and comment of the principal sources.

Assessment methods

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

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.

This 6 CFU course can be chosen as a part of the 12 CFU Integrated Course “MEDIEVAL INSTITUTIONS AND CIVILISATIONS (C.I.) (LM)”. If the student has the Integrated Course (12 CFU) in his/her study plan, the final grade will result from the arithmetic average of the marks obtained in the two parts (“CIVILIZATION OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES (1) (LM)” and “MEDIEVAL POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS (1) (LM)”).

Teaching tools

We will use power point slides with images, graphics and geographics maps.

Links to further information

http://unibo.academia.edu/BerardoPio

Office hours

See the website of Berardo Pio

SDGs

Quality education Reduced inequalities Sustainable cities Peace, justice and strong institutions

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.