11379 - Medieval History

Learning outcomes

Aim of this discipline is to bring students to the knowledge and comprehension of those 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, in its essential lines, the principal political-institutional and socio-cultural processes of the Medieval Age; to critically analyse their impact on European civilization 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 (documental and monumental) patrimony; 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 on the basis of the knowledge acquired during the course.

Students will also learn to understand the peculiarity of the area actually described as Emilia-Romagna, in its historical physiognomy and historical-cultural patrimony; and will be able to understand and analyze the different historical sources, and to use their data for the construction of a global history of the area.

Course contents

A) 1st Learning module - General Part (6 credits), taught by Professor R. Savigni:

1) (4 h.) Methodology of historical research. The concepts of source and document. Schools of historiography. The problem of periodization. The main collections of sources.The new History.

2) (12 h.) The end of the ancient world. Christianization of the Empire and Migrations of nomadic populations: acculturation processes and beginning of the roman-Germanic kingdoms. The Early and High Middle Ages.

Lombards and Franks: society, institutions, mentality. Western Europe, Byzantium and Islam.The forming of ethnic and cultural identities in the Middle Ages. Ancient Heritage, Christianization, Germanic culture.

The Carolingian and Ottonian Empire.Feudality and Signoria. Cavalry. Rural society from High to Lower Middle Age.

3) (14 h.) The Low Middle Ages. The demographic and economic rebirth of the eleventh century. Universality and particularism in the Medieval society. .Man and community. Clan, family structures, classes, guilds. Social terminology. The discovery of the individual.

Papacy and Empire.Ecclesiastical institutions and Church reform.

Urban society: social-economical and political-institutional dynamics. Strangers, habitatores and cives. Comune and Signoria.

Christendom and Islam. Pilgrimages, Missions, holy War and Crusades.

The 14th century crisis: demographical, economical, social, and cultural aspects.

Western European kingdoms and the formation of the Modern state. Regional states in Italy.

The new horizons: geographical discoveries and commercial routes.Humanism and Renaissance.

B) Monographic part,2^nd Learning module (30 lessons hours), held by dr. A. Parmeggiani:

The crusades, interpreted through the reading of documentary, literary and iconographic sources.

In particular the following topics will be explained:

The beginning of the idea of a crusade and the conception of the real and symbolic space related to the Holy Land.

Religious ideals and military organization.

Feudalism as a social and economic model of "export".

The story of the crusades in the chronicles of the conquerors and conquered.
The birth of the kingdoms in the conquered territories and the statutory application.

 

Readings/Bibliography

A) General part (1^st Learning module)

1)Textbook: A. Zorzi, Manuale di storia medievale, Torino, Utet, 2016.

2) the sources analyzed during the lessons and made available by the teacher at the site: http://campus.cib.unibo.it/. For further information, students will be able to consult the anthology of sources S. Gasparri, Voci dai secoli oscuri: un percorso sulle fonti dell'alto medioevo, Roma, Carocci, 2017. Students who have not attended the lessons will also have to study this book. Students with gaps in basic training may start reading the medieval section of a history manual of upper secondary schools (p. e. R. Balzani-A. Chiavistelli-R. Savigni, L'argomentazione storica, La Nuova Italia-Rizzoli education 2018) and use the discussion forum to ask questions to teachers.

B) Monographic part (2^nd Learning module):

Students will use the material discussed in class and made available online on the e-learning page reserved for students.

For attending and non-attending students we recommend reading a selection of pages taken from:
S. Runciman, Storia delle Crociate. Torino, Einaudi, 1993, pp. 7-69, 229-280, 779-860.

Non-attending students will have to integrate the study program with the reading of the book:

A. Maalouf, Le crociate viste dagli arabi, Torino, Società editrice internazionale, 1993.

 

Teaching methods

Traditional front lesson will be accompanied by the reading and analysis of various sources, provided by the teacher or available on the web (with Italian translations of the Latin sources), and discussion of the main critical literature as well as the constant e-learning communication (website https://iol.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=23552).

Visits are provided to the Historical Archives of the city - Municipal and Archbishopric - and to the monuments of the city, to illustrate the method of investigation and interpretation of historical sources both written and material/iconographic.

 

Assessment methods

At the beginning of the course there will be an entrance test to verify the initial knowledge and skills of the students attending. An intermediate test, given after half of course A, will allow the learning process to be monitored.

The final test will consist in an oral examination, which will take part after the end of the lessons. It will be divided in 4 principal questions, about both parts (general and monographic). The test will regard exclusively part A (or B, for whom have already sit for an examination about Middle Ages), to the students that wish to sit for the 6-credits examination.
Presence showed by the student during the lessons or during discussion in the forum will be considered for the final mark, as well as partecipation to seminars or conferences and lectures about Middle Ages organized or suggested by the teacher.
In order to pass the examination, the student will have to show to have understood the principal topics of the course, to be able to identify the principal social-economical, cultural and istitutional transformations in Middle Ages and to be able to use in a critical way the sources (at least in italian language) available in the website https://iol.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=23552, as well as the material indicated by the teacher.

In order to obtain a high mark, the student will have to demonstrate to have a good knowledge of the specific vocabulary, also latin, to be able to easly move through the different topics and sources using the appropriate links, and confront critically the different sources concerning the same topic.

If the student appears not to be able to move through the principal subjects studied and not to be able to order in time and space the most important historical events, he won't be able to succeed in the examination. The (at least) generical knowledge of the principal subjects, even without the use of an appropriate vocabulary, will be sufficient, and the student will pass.

Non-attending students will have to decide the topics with the teacher (their program regards also integrative readings) before the conclusion of the course. Non-attending students will be able to get a high evalutation only if they will use in a critical way the sources mentioned in the bibliographic material used, as well as they will use the suitable links between different readings and contexts, and answer to the questions with an appropriate vocabulary.

 

Teaching tools

Frontal lessons will be accompanied by critical reading of sources and by critical web use. The Professor will use different typologies of sources (all translated during classes) partly available on the net (especially at www.retimedievali.it).
A guided visit to a Library or an Archive will provide a more direct approach to the primary sources.

Lessons will be frontal, with interactive sessions, with use of e-learning material. Students are also required to partecipate in the integrative teaching by enrolling on the e-learning page of the course: https://iol.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=23552. Students will be able to intervene in the forum, which will represent a constant tool for dialogue with the teacher.

 

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/docenti/raffaele.savigni

Office hours

See the website of Raffaele Savigni

See the website of Antonella Parmeggiani