HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL INSTITUTIONS

The teaching is among the 'caratterizzanti' teachings of the dregree in the course: ‘Storico – mediterraneo antico e medievale’. As part of the degree, basic knowledge of the medieval institutions is fundamental in order to understand the working of medieval societies.

Acknowledgement with the fundamental medieval political and ecclesiastical institutions. Introduction to the reading and discussing of medieval sources. Introduction to a the specific theme: Rome and the Empire in the West, from the fifth to the eleventh century.

Attending Medieval History classes is recommended before joining this course.

Rome and the Empire, from Romulus Augustus to Otto III of Saxony.
On Christmas night of year 800, Pope Leo III imposed the imperial crown on Charlemagne. There, among the majestic architecture of the ancient basilica of San Pietro, the church commissioned by Constantine, the imperium had been claimed on the western reaches of the Mediterranean after centuries of inaction. In Rome, a state was reborn that minimally traced the empire of the Caesars, extending over a fraction of its territory and pushing beyond the ancient limes of the Rhine. A mostly cold world, in which the settlements were to be scattered and surrounded by vast desolations and impenetrable.
Rome, which guaranteed legitimacy to the conquest of the Franks, would greatly complicate its imperial destiny at the same time. The state that was born would have been in constant tension between the Roman past, the barbaric present, and the Christian vocation, which burdened the reborn empire with salvific and eschatological values.
During the course we will retrace five centuries of history that saw the disappearance and return of the Empire in Rome and Europe: the history of Italian Romània, the Frankish and Saxon polities, as well as the history of empires in a comparative perspective.

Besides the lectures' notes, it is necessary the study of:

M. Ascheri, Medioevo del potere: Le istituzioni laiche ed ecclesiastiche, 2nd edn (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2009)


Students who cannot attend should additionaly read one of the following texts:

A. Barbero, Carlo Magno: un padre dell'Europa (Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2004)

H. Keller, Gli Ottoni: una dinastia imperiale tra Europa e Italia (secc. X e XI) (Roma: Carocci, 2012)

G.M. Canaterella, Il sole e la luna. La rivoluzione di Gregorio VII papa 1073-1085 (Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2005)

M. D'Acunto, La lotta per le investiture. Una rivoluzione medievale (998-1122) (Roma: Carocci, 2020)

P. Grillo, Legnano 1176: una battaglia per la libertà (Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010)

H. Keller, Gli Ottoni: una dinastia imperiale tra Europa e Italia (secc. X e XI) (Roma: Carocci, 2012)

H. Münkler, Imperi. Il dominio del mondo dall'antica Roma agli Stati Uniti (Bologna: il Mulino, 2012)

Discussion in class, oral exam.

Frontal lectures, reading of sources, joint discussion.

Italian

oral