ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN

"Environmental History of the Medieval Mediterranean" is an interdisciplinary module amongst those offered in the Environmental History Track of the MA degree in Environmental Humanities. It offers an overview of the most recent research on the environmental history of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages.

Upon completing the course, students will be able to

-describe ideas concerning nature and humans from a historical perspective,
-exemplify how perceptions of humans and nature affected society, cultural expression and community development in the Middle Ages,
-describe the management of natural resources, emergency events and disasters in the Middle Ages.

This course is a required/elective course offered to students enrolled in the Master Degree in the Environmental Humanities. No prior background in the subject is required.

This course is designed to offer an overview of the most recent research on the environmental history of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages. Starting from a general introduction on the human history of the Mediterranean, as it has been defined, developed and changed since the middle of the 20th century, this module will present the latest developments in a new research area, the environmental history of the Mediterranean, exploring interactions between environment and society and how historians are analysing and presenting them. We will start by considering how environmental historians define their sub-discipline, the sources and methodologies they use, and issues in the field. Over the course we will consider a series of case studies that will cover different time periods, different parts of the Mediterranean world and different approaches.


1) Introduction: Why study past environments? History of scholarship on Mediterranean landscapes
2) Approaching the landscape: What is characteristic about the Mediterranean environment?
--Geographical divisions, vegetation and climatic zones, internal variability, coastline, morphology, etc.
--Scientific approaches: introduction to pollen data (incl. various ways of analysing and interpreting it for the study of human history); archaeological surveys; landscape archaeology; historical geography.
3) Climate and society in the Mediterranean: Migrations from an ecological perspective
4) Climate and society in the Mediterranean: Famine, plague, diseases and other natural disasters
5) Climate and society in the Mediterranean: Humankind and God’s creation in Medieval Mediterranean Cultures

The bibliography that follows is not final, and the actual readings might differ slightly from those listed here (not all students will necessarily read all of the texts).

• F. BRAUDEL, La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II, Paris, 1949
• D. ABULAFIA, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean, Oxford, 2011
• C. ISENBERG, ‘Introduction: A New Environmental History’, in A. Isenberg (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental History, Oxford, 2014, pp. 1-20
• D. WORSTER. “Doing Environmental History.” In The Ends of the Earth: Perspectives on Modern Environmental History, edited by Donald Worster. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988, pp. 289–307.
• ROBERTS, N. Holocene: An Environmental History. Third edition. Chichester, England, 2014.
• HORDEN, P., and N. PURCELL. The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
• J. PREISER-KAPELLER – L. REINFANDT – Y. STOURAITIS, Migration Histories of the Medieval Afroeurasian Transition Zone: Aspects of mobility between Africa, Asia and Europe, 300-1500 C.E.. Leiden 2020.
• ELLENBLUM, R. The Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean: Climate Change and the Decline of the East, 950–1072. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
• J. PREISER-KAPELLER, ‘A Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean? New results and theories on the interplay between climate and societies in Byzantium and the Near East, ca. 1000–1200 AD’, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik, 65 (2015), pp. 195-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004425613
• D. C. STATHAKOPOULOS, Famine and Pestilence in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine Empire: A Systematic Survey of Subsistence Crises and Epidemics. Aldershot 2004.
• Eisenberg, Merle, e Lee Mordechai. «The Justinianic Plague and Global Pandemics: The Making of the Plague Concept». The American Historical Review 125, n. 5 (29 dicembre 2020): 1632–67. https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhaa510 .
• Mordechai, Lee, e Merle Eisenberg. «Rejecting Catastrophe: The Case of the Justinianic Plague*». Past & Present 244, n. 1 (1 agosto 2019): 3–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtz009 .
• Mordechai, Lee, Merle Eisenberg, Timothy P. Newfield, Adam Izdebski, Janet E. Kay, e Hendrik Poinar. «The Justinianic Plague: An Inconsequential Pandemic?» Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116, n. 51 (17 dicembre 2019): 25546–54. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1903797116 .
• Eisenberg, Merle, e Lee Mordechai. «The Justinianic Plague: An Interdisciplinary Review». Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 43, n. 2 (ottobre 2019): 156–80. https://doi.org/10.1017/byz.2019.10 .
• R. C. HOFFMANN, An environmental history of medieval Europe, Cambridge, 2014
• V. DELLA DORA, Landscape, Nature, and the Sacred in Byzantium. Cambridge, 2016.
• H. MAGUIRE, Nectar and Illusion: Nature in Byzantine Art and Literature. Oxford – New York, 2012.
• K. R. Appuhn. A Forest on the Sea: Environmental Expertise in Renaissance Venice. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.
• Squatriti, Paolo. Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400-1000. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

**15 days before the exam** every student must submit a review of 3.000 words (font 11, line spacing 1) including footnotes, excluding bibliography of an article or a chapter suggested/approved by the teacher. Students who do not follow the lectures must fix an appointment with the teacher in order to agree upon bibliography and title of the essay.
Oral examination 70% + Essay 30%. These are the "Marking Criteria":

30 cum laude
Overall
Outstanding answer: exceptionally well structured and informed, showing striking personal insight and originality.
Understanding
Authoritative; full understanding of relevant material; highly original analysis; highly independent and critical judgment; high degree of precision.
Selection & Coverage
Unusually extensive range of sources, applied with outstanding insight; exceptionally effective use of evidence to support argument.
Structure of the essay
Excellent structure, focus, presentation and writing style, contributing to a highly compelling argument.

29-30/30
Overall
Highly thoughtful answer informed by wider reading, showing clarity of thought, personal insight and originality.
Understanding
Thorough understanding of relevant material; insightful discussion; evidence of independent and critical judgment.
Selection & Coverage
Extensive range of sources applied insightfully; very effective use of evidence to support argument.
Structure of the essay
Very good structure and focus; clear and fluent writing style; compelling argument.

28-29/30
Overall
Thoughtful answer informed by wider reading, showing clarity of thought and personal insight.
Understanding
Thorough understanding of relevant material; insightful discussion and analysis.
Selection & Coverage
Extensive range of sources applied insightfully. Effective use of evidence to support argument
Structure
Well structured and focused; clear and fluent writing style; persuasive argument.

27-28
Overall
Good understanding of relevant material; coherent and logical argument.
Understanding
Good understanding of important facts and concepts; substantive analysis of key issues.
Selection & Coverage
Good use of relevant sources/literature; employment of a range of evidence to support argument.
Structure
Coherent and logical presentation.

26-27
Overall
Sound understanding; limited analysis.
Understanding
Generally sound understanding of relevant material but limited range or depth; more descriptive that analytical.
Selection & Coverage
Appropriate but limited use of sources/literature; attempts to support argument, but these are awkward and/or unconvincing.
Structure
Generally clear presentation but awkward structure and/or limited development of argument.

23-25
Overall
Basic understanding and analysis.
Understanding
Some general knowledge but little detail; minimal demonstration of analytical thought.
Selection & Coverage
Sparse coverage of basic material; generally unsuccessful in using evidence to support argument.
Structure
Adequate structure and presentation, but unclear or disorganized in places.

18-23
Overall
Unsystematic, incomplete and/or inaccurate.
Understanding
Some knowledge but poor understanding; numerous inaccuracies; meaning often unclear; poor analysis.
Selection & Coverage
Inappropriate and/or very minimal use of sources/literature; poor use of evidence to support argument.
Structure
Disorganised and unclear presentation; consistently poor spelling and grammar; incoherent argument; unacceptably brief.

Lectures and class discussions: students are expected to attend regularly and to complete assigned readings before each class.

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