SOURCES AND METHODS FOR MEDIEVAL HISTORY

The course is part of the core educational activities of the Master's degree programmes in History from the Middle Ages to Present, Italian Philology and Literature, and History of Arts and Conservation of Artistic Heritage. It provides the fundamental methodological tools for the analysis of the historical sources. The objectives of the module are: to provide an in-depth knowledge of different types of sources used in medieval research; to build the necessary awareness of the methodological and practical problems related to the use of documentary sources; to develop, through essays, the ability to draw specific researches in Medieval history through primary sources. Furthermore, the course aims at providing knowledge and understanding of the most advanced topics in the field of the medieval primary sources.

By the end of the module, the students
1. - will have acquired a thorough knowledge of the actors and forms of medieval documentary production, of the fundamental types of documentaries, of the
links between political and social developments and the written sources (Knowledge and understanding);
- will have acquired an in-depth knowledge of the institutional developments of the main Italian communes and their relationship with coeval documentary production and will be able to critically analyze the various related historiographic themes (Knowledge and understanding);
2. - will be able to identify and critically use written sources relating to the period and theme studied for the purpose of carrying out autonomous researches (Ability to apply knowledge and understanding);
- will be able to create links between the different areas of medieval historiographic production with reference to the theme studied (Ability to apply knowledge and understanding);
3. - will be able to properly evaluate and judge the sources analysed during classes;
4. - will have acquired the ability to present critically and with an appropriate lexicon the results of their research (Communication skills);
5. - will be able to fully understand the complexity of historical developments (Learning skills).

Basic knowledge of the Latin could be useful.

The first part of the course, broader and more general, will be dedicated to the reconstruction of the "documentary landscape" of the sources of the Latin Middle Ages, in particular of the written sources (narrative, documentary, legislative, judicial, administrative, fiscal) between the Early and the Late Middle Ages. The second part will discuss the Italian commune, its institutional aspects, organisational problems and documentary production linked to the communal civilisation, supported by examples of narrative and documentary sources, possibly with in-class reading of some of them.

Attending students:
1) teaching materials provided in classroom and available online (Moodle platform);
2) P. Cammarosano, Italia medievale. Struttura e geografia delle fonti scritte, Roma, La Nuova Italia Scientifica (NIS) 1991, or Carocci, 1998;
3) G. Milani, I comuni italiani: XII-XIV secolo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007 (or later editions; digital edition 2015);
4) Le scritture del comune. Amministrazione e memoria nelle città dei secoli XII e XIII, a cura di G. Albini, Scriptorium-Paravia 1998, only chapters 3, 4 e 6.
Further information will be offered during the course.
Students who has not yet attended a class in Medieval History should read P. Cammarosano, Guida allo studio della storia medievale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2004.

Non attending students:
1) P. Cammarosano, Italia medievale. Struttura e geografia delle fonti scritte, Roma, La Nuova Italia Scientifica (NIS) 1991, or Carocci, 1998;
2) ) F. Menant, L'Italia dei comuni (1100-1350), Roma, Viella, 2011, or, as an alternative, C. Wickham, Sonnambuli verso un nuovo mondo. L'affermazione dei comuni italiani nel XII secolo, Roma, Viella, 2017;
3) P. Cammarosano, Guida allo studio della storia medievale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2004;
4) one or two readings to be selected with the teacher.
Non-attending students who wish to take the Sources and Methods for Medieval History exam are required to contact the teacher.

Oral exam. Students who wish can also prepare a short original research to be presented in class, which will be evaluated during the exam.

Although not mandatory, students are warmly invited to attend the classes. Lessons will be held as seminars. Frontal lectures, reading and analysis of primary sources, discussion of texts, will characterize classroom activities. One-two visits to city archives are planned. Students are expected to attend regularly classes, where they should actively participate to the general discussion. Sources and other materials presented in the classroom are available on the Moodle platform of the University.

Italian

Student consultation hours are once a week. Students can also write at arapetti@unive.it.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development