EARLY MEDIEVAL HISTORY

The History of the Early Middle Ages is among those characterizing in the master's degree courses in ACEL and in History from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age. It is also among those chosen in other master's degree courses.
The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the historical-social and anthropological dimension of the Early Middle Ages (with particular attention to the critique of the sources), which is presented as a period of great transformation that determines the transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Knowledge and understanding:
- knowledge of research practices with early medieval Latin sources (chronicles and documents)
- knowledge of the historiographical debate
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- ability to read and interpret early medieval sources
Communication and relational skills:
- know how to present and discuss a historiographic text orally in a seminar context
- knowing how to interact in a peer group
- know how to express the results of a research in a short written text

It is not necessary to take particular exams before this one. The students who have already taken the exam of Medieval History will have benefited.
See also below, "Altre informazioni".

This course is a short-notice substitution for Prof. Gasparri’s planned course for this unit.
It will therefore cover a different area of Early Medieval history, relying on the lecturer’s expertise and on her work of the last few years. This work consists of a study of Early Medieval Italy between 750 and 1000, specifically on the way in which post-Byzantine Italy as exemplified through the history of the three cities of Rome, Ravenna and Venice, evolved in terms of the society of these cities, their material development and topography, and the ideological and cultural changes as we can understand them from a study of narratives, documents, archaeology and art. The course will include a mix of basic lecturing with a notable study of a variety of source material, and student short presentations of either a part of a source comment or a relevant key article, all of which will be uploaded onto Moodle.

Augenti A., ‘Immaginare una comunità, costruire una tradizione: Aristocrazie e paesaggio sociale a Ravenna tra V e X secolo’, in Archeologia e società tra Tardo Antico e Alto Medioevo, ed. Brogiolo, G. P. and Chavarria Arnau, A., Mantova, 2007, pp. 193-204.
Ortalli, G., 'Il Ducato e la "Civitas Rivoalti": Tra Carolingi, Bizantini e Sassoni', in Storia di Venezia. Dalle origini alla caduta della Serenissima I: Le origini. L’età ducale, ed. by L. Cracco Ruggini, M. Pavan et al., Rome, 1992, pp. 725-90
Wickham, C., Medieval Rome: Stability and Crisis of a City, 900-1150 (Oxford, 2015) It. transl. Roma medievale. Crisi e stabilità di una città, 900-1150 (Roma, 2013), cap. 1-4.

The three main narrative sources which will be used are:
Berto, L. A. ed. and tr., Istoria Veneticorum. Giovanni Diacono, Fonti per la storia dell'Italia medievale (Bologna, 1999).
Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis qui et Andreas dicitur, ed. Mauskopf Deliyannis, D., Corpus Christianorum Corpus Medievalis 199 (Turnhout, 2006) pp. 143-357; Engl. trans. eadem, The book of pontiffs of the church of Ravenna (Washington, D.C, 2004).
Duchesne, L. ed., Le Liber pontificalis, 2. sér., (Rome, 1886-1957) [3rd vol.: ed. Vogel, C.] Engl. trans. R. Davis in Manchester Series Translations for the 8th and 9th centuries.

Extracts of documents and papers of specific relevance will be provided.

The students who don't attend the lessons will only take the oral exam. Attending students can also take a written pre-exam (on topics and sources discussed during the lessons). They will also be able to submit brief reports (written and oral, which will be discussed during the lessons). Written pre-exam and reports are NOT mandatory.

Lectures, papers discussed in class, readings of sources and collective discussions.

Italian

The overall scheme of the course will be:
- An overall view of the background history of Italy from Late Antiquity to the end of the Exarchate (Dott. F. Borri)
- A study of the available sources and the problems of their use.
- A study of the people making up the individual cities, especially of the writing elites.
- An examination of how these people use the framework of the city in terms of topographies of power and representation.
- An analysis of the activities carried out in the city, which show either the demonstration of unity or the in-fighting between different groups for control of the city.
- A comparison between the way each of these three cities function as a result of the above key elements.
- A discussion on the extent to which there are elements of continuity in these post-Byzantine cities with the Roman tradition, and of how these are integrated to a greater or lesser degree into the traditions of Lombard, Carolingian and Ottonian rule, institutions and self-perception of the people in each city.

written and oral