11779 - Medieval History (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: acquires the methodological and knowledge bases necessary for the study of the long medieval period; masters key themes of medieval history (the transition from the late ancient to the early Middle Ages, the barbarians, the fracture constituted by the Longobards in Italy, the Franks and Carolingian Europe, the affirmation of the Islam, the transformation from the city of the late antique to the Episcopal city, continuity and changes between the 10th and 11th centuries, land lordship and territorial lordship, the Reform of the Church, the crusade period, the Municipalities, the new religious Orders); is able to engage critically with primary visual and written sources and the historiographic debate.

Course contents

The module is articulated in two parts, one general and the other thematic.

In the first part, some of the following topics will be discussed:

- the transition to the late antiquity: Rome and its successors

- Goths, Longobards and Byzantines in Italy

- the rise and affirmation of Islam

- the Franks and Carolingian Europe

- the Vikings

- the reform of the Church

- the 'crusades'

- the dynamism of cities and affirmation of the Comuni

- 'heresies' and the mendicant Orders

- the Black Death  

In the second part, the topic discussed will be: Holy (or almost holy) women in the Middle Ages, by analysing a series of historical figures through different types of sources (legends, hagiographic texts, letters, sermons, plays, frescoes) and with reference to the historiography about the formation and transformation of female models of holiness, and by discussing the cultural and social context that produced these models as well as the women's agency in these processes.

Readings/Bibliography

All students are required to know well the handbook M. Montanari (ed.), Storia medievale, Rome-Bari, Laterza, 2002 (alternatively, it is possible to use: C. Wickham, Medieval Europe, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2016 - available also in Italian).

In addition:

For attending students: the materials discussed during the lectures (sources and short essays) and one book chosen among the list here provided or among those indicated by the lecturer during the lectures. Those marked with a star (*) are linked with the thematic topic.

For non-attending students: two books chosen from the list here provided.

- A. Barbero, Terre d'acqua: I vercellesi all'epoca delle crociate, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2021 (1a ed. 2007) + F. Delle Donne, Federico II e la crociata della pace, Roma, Carocci, 2022

- M. Benedetti, Io non sono Dio. Guglielma da Milano e i Figli dello Spirito Santo, Milano, EDF, 1998 *

- E. Bozoky, Attila e gli Unni: Verità e leggende, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016

- S. Boesch Gajano, Un’agiografia per la storia, Roma, Viella, 2020. (*)

- P. Brown, Il culto dei santi: L'origine e la diffusione di una nuova religiosità, Torino, Einaudi, 2016 (1 ed. 1983) (*) (+)

- J. Dalarun, Santa e ribelle: vita di Chiara da Rimini, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2000. (*)

- F.-X. Fauvelle, Il rinoceronte d’oro, Torino, Einaudi, 2017. (+)

- G. Klaniczay, Santità, miracoli, osservanze nel medioevo: l’Ungheria nel contesto europeo, Spoleto: CISAM, 2019 - premessa e capitoli: 1, 4-14, 16, 20-21 (*)

- G.P. Maggioni, La santità in Occidente. Introduzione all'agiografia medievale, Roma, Carocci, 2021. (*)

- M.G. Muzzarelli, Un’italiana alla corte di Francia: Christine de Pizan, intellettuale e donna, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2007.

- G.G. Merlo, Eretici ed eresie medievali, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011.

- G. Milani, I comuni italiani, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2005.

- G. Ravegnani, Bisanzio e l’Occidente medievale, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019.

- F. Senatore, Medioevo: Istruzioni per l' uso, Milano-Torino, Pearson, 2022 (1a ed. 2008).

- R. Simek, I vichinghi, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020 + Sassone Grammatico, Gesta dei re e degli eroi danesi. Torino, Einaudi, 1993 (pp. XLV-LIX (editor introduction), pp. 1-18 (prologue), pp. 459-464 (Lathgertha), pp. 483-488 (Thira)

- A. Vauchez, La santità nel medioevo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016 (1° edizione 1989), pp. 87-417 (*) (+)

The titles marked with a cross (+) are available also in English

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures + PowerPoint slides

During the lectures some source will be read and commented and key trends in the scholarship will be discussed, providing students with bibliographical references useful for further investigations.

Assessment methods

For attending students: Oral exam, on the topics presented in the lectures (corresponding to the selection of essays and sources available online) with the discussion of the relevant sources. By asking in advance, the exam can be done also in English.

For non-attending students, the oral exam will focus on the themes discussed in the essays and sources indicated in the syllabus online, with a more in-depth discussion of the topics of the module, in connection with the book selected from the proposed bibliography. By asking in advance, the exam can be done also in English.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the sources and the secondary literature in the exam bibliography and his/her ability to find and use information and examples to explain and connect the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

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.

Teaching tools

Usually lectures will be supported by a PowerPoint.

For what is possible, the materials (sources, essays, and PowerPoint) will be accessible on virtuale.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Pietro Delcorno