Ateneo - UPO

The course will discuss the main issues of the Early Medieval period

See the texts published on the DIR

Basic level - Knowledge and understanding: acquiring a basic knowledge of the history of the Middle Ages.
Advanced level - Being able to discuss in a critical way the historiography and the sources on this period.
Expression of judgments: knowing how to analyze the problems of the history of medieval Europe.
Communication skills: ability to communicate clearly the acquired knowledge.
Study skills: ability to approach in a personal way the literature, the sources and the main problems of medieval history.

Basic historical knowledge as owned by every student who has completed a high school curriculum

Frontal lessons. During the lessons the active involvement of the students will be stimulated through the reading and comment of written sources.

The final exam includes an oral examination lasting about 30 minutes. The aim is to verify the full command of the notions presented among the objectives and the expected cultural outcome through an examination including questions on the main problems treated in the course, in order to verify: 1. the learning of the basics, 2. the acquisition of a critical capacity in the analysis of problems, 3. the acquisition of a critical capacity in the use of sources, 4. the use of appropriate scientific terminology, 5. the ability to establish links between the topics. Points will be awarded in percentages: 1. 30%; 2. 30%; 3. 20%; 4 10%; 5. 10%. Honors will be awarded on the basis of an assessment of accuracy, depth of analysis and ability to process knowledge.

Teaching Unit 1. The concept of the Middle Ages; its historical formation. Sources and methodology.
Text 1 A. Barbero, Età di mezzo e secoli bui, in Lo spazio letterario del Medioevo, 2. Il Medioevo volgare, III: La ricezione del testo, Roma 2003, pp. 505-526

Teaching Unit 2. Christianity and its evolution from Constantine to Theodosius; theological controversies; the formation of the episcopate and monasticism
Text 2 A. Barbero, La cristianizzazione
Text 3 A. Barbero, Vescovi e monaci

Teaching Unit 3. Barbarian invasions and ethnogenesis; the mechanisms of conversion of the gentes; organization of the Roman-barbarian kingdoms, leges, ethnic fusion
Text 4 A. Barbero, I regni romano-barbarici, in Storia d’Europa e del Mediterraneo, diretta da A. Barbero, IV. Il Medioevo (secoli V-XV), a cura di S. Carocci, VIII: Popoli, poteri, dinamiche, Roma 2006, pp. 167-212
text 5 A.A. Settia, Longobardi in Italia: necropoli altomedievali e ricerca storica, in Id., Barbari e infedeli nell'Alto Medioevo italiano. Storia e miti storiografici, Spoleto 2011 (first ed. 1993)

Teaching Unit 4. The economic transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Text 6 G. Petralia, A proposito dell'immortalità di "Maometto e Carlomagno" (o di Costantino), in "Storica", 1 (1995), pp. 37-87
Text 7 C. Wickham, Sul mutamento sociale ed economico di lungo periodo in Occidente (400-800), in “Storica”, 23 (2002), pp. 7-27

Teaching Unit 5. Social stratification, rural economy and the manorial system
Text 8 A. Barbero, Il mondo rurale e il sistema curtense

Teaching Unit 6. Byzantium
Text 9 A. Barbero, L'impero bizantino

Teaching Unit 7. Islam
Text 10 A. Barbero, La nascita dell'Islam e le conquiste arabe

Teaching Unit 8. The Empire of Charlemagne
Text 11 A. Barbero, La rinascita dell’impero, from Carlo Magno. Un padre dell’Europa, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2000, pp. 82-112

Teaching Unit 9. Feudalism and the dissolution of the Carolingian empire
Text 12 A. Barbero, Vassallaggio e beneficio

Basic level: students should acquire a solid knowledge about the main issues of the medieval period
Advanced level: students should be able to show a professional approach to the analysis of historiography and sources