27280 - Seminars (1) (G.D)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the seminar students will be able to interpret issues related to specific historical phenomena in a diachronic and transversal perspective, thought the elaboration and synthesis of the data coming from the analysis of written records and material sources and from the collective debate originated from the contact with other people. They will be able to formulate autonomously and in an organized way a research path or an intellectual work, using the specific acquired tools with methodological rigour, precision and accuracy.

Course contents

The course will focus on the history and archaeology of European rural landscapes during the Middle Ages. To achieve this, methodological aspects related to the study of this topic will be explored, encompassing both historical and archaeological perspectives. Other key topics will then be addressed, including the development of fortified structures and castles, villages, new towns and secondary settlements; the evolution of rural churches and monasteries; the history of uncultivated and agrarian landscapes; and the social aspects connected to settlement patterns. Particular attention will be given to the history of the relationship between rural aristocracies and the peasant population during the Middle Ages, the emergence of rural communities, and the relationship between urban and rural areas, always adopting a comparative approach across different European regions.

Readings/Bibliography

In addition to personal lecture notes, students are required to study the following texts:

• Rao, Riccardo. 2015. I Paesaggi dell’Italia Medievale. Rome. pp. 11–47; 57–171; 199–239.
• Augenti, Andrea. 2016. Archeologia delle campagne medievali. In Archeologia dell’Italia Medievale. Bari: Editori Laterza, pp. 82–184.

During the course, individual articles will be presented and discussed with students to explore specific topics. A detailed bibliography will be made available on virtuale.unibo.it.

In addition to the readings listed above, non-attending students must also study the following texts:

• Graham-Campbell, James, and Magdalena Valor. 2008. The Archaeology of Medieval Europe. Vol. 1. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, pp. 46–110; 154–180; 316–365; 408–419.
• Carver, Martin, and Jan Klápště, eds. 2011. The Archaeology of Medieval Europe. Vol. 2. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, pp. 58–188; 230–276; 442–493.

Additionally, non-attending students must select and prepare one article from the following:

• Cavalazzi, Marco. 2023. ‘Le Forme Del Popolamento Rurale Nelle Pianure Di Area Esarcale Dopo La Fine Dell’età Romana’. In Gli Spazi Del Vissuto Nel Medioevo. Scritti per Paola Galetti, edited by Nicola Mancassola, 159–72. Sesto Fiorentino (FI): All’Insegna del Giglio.
• Quirós Castillo, Juan Antonio, and Carlos Tejerizo-García. 2021. ‘Filling the Gap: Peasant Studies and the Archaeology of Medieval Peasantry in Light of the Northern Iberian Evidence’. Journal of Agrarian Change 21 (2): 377–95.https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12393 .
• Arthur, Paul. “Villages, Communities, Landscapes in the Byzantine and Medieval Salento.” In Paesaggi, Comunità, Villaggi Medievali, 547–564, 2012.
• Bal, Marie-Claude, Alessandra Benatti, Giovanna Bosi, Assunta Florenzano, Salvia Garcia-Álvarez, Anna Maria Mercuri, and Juan Manuel Rubiales. 2023. ‘Pedoanthracology Sheds Light the Ancientness of the Pastoral Highlands of Three Mediterranean Mountain: Sierra de Gredos (Spain), Southeast Massif Central (France), and Northern Apennines (Italy)’. CATENA 223 (April):106941.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.106941
• Brugnoli, Andrea, Fabio Saggioro, and Gian Maria Varanini. 2012. ‘“Villaggi” e Strutture Dell’insediamento in Territorio Veronese Tra IX e XII Secolo’. In Paesaggi, Comunità, Villaggi Medievali, 361–94.
• Buko, Andrzej. 2012. ‘Medieval Rural Settlements in the Central Europe (6th-Mid: 13th c.): Examples from the Polish Lands’. In Paesaggi, Comunità, Villaggi Medievali, 41–60.
• Burri, Sylvain. 2014. ‘Reflections on the Concept of Marginal Landscape through a Study of Late Medieval Incultum in Provence (South-Eastern France)’. PCA: European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies 6 (January):7–38.
• Curtis, Daniel R., and Michele Campopiano. “Medieval Land Reclamation and the Creation of New Societies: Comparing Holland and the Po Valley, c. 800–c. 1500.” Journal of Historical Geography 44 (2014): 93–108.
• Creighton, Oliver. “Castle Studies and the European Medieval Landscape: Traditions, Trends and Future Research Directions.” Landscape History 30, no. 2 (2009): 5–20.
• Pasquali, Gianfranco. “Economia e Paesaggio Rurale Di ‘Deserta’ Alle Porte Di Ravenna: L’isola Litoranea Di Palazzolo Dal VI al XIV Secolo.” Atti e Memorie Della Regia Deputazione Di Storia Patria per Le Provincie Di Romagna 34 (1983): 131–61.
• Settia, Aldo Angelo. 2012. ‘“Una Preda in Fuga”: Morfologia Del Villaggio Nelle Fonti Scritti’. In Paesaggi, Comunità, Villaggi Medievali, 283–92.
• Torró Abad, Josep. 2012. ‘One Aspect of the Christian Settlement of the Kingdom of Valencia: The Drainage and Placing under Cultivation of Coastal Wetlands (c.1270-1320)’. In Paesaggi, Comunità, Villaggi Medievali, 225–38.

 

Teaching methods

The course is organised with frontal lessons and seminars. Periodically, the class will include a 1-hour discussion about the topics covered (seminar). During the seminars, students will discuss selected scientific contributions listed above. Participation in such sessions is strongly recommended, as it is an integral part of teaching and assessment.

Assessment methods

Assessment will include: a) attendance and contribution to seminar sessions, b) a 20-minute presentation agreed upon with the teacher during the course, c) an oral exam, and a final written essay to be agreed upon with the course organizer. The essay must be submitted to the course organizer via email at least one week prior to the scheduled exam date.

For non-attending students, the final exam will consist of a presentation, an oral exam, and a final written paper. In this case, the readings for the oral exam must be supplemented with the texts listed in the "Readings/Bibliography" section.

Teaching tools

Lectures will be delivered using PowerPoint presentations, which will be made available on the Virtuale platform.

Students who require specific services or adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD) must first contact the appropriate office:https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students .

Foreign students, students with specific learning needs, and students with disabilities will receive support throughout the course and in exam preparation through individual meetings with the instructor, the use of foreign-language bibliographies, and the aid of conceptual maps. Any such needs should be communicated at the beginning of the course by contacting the instructor via email.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Cavalazzi