B5123 - Circuits of Exchange and Trade in the Middle Ages (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module students have a basic and specific knowledge of the development of medieval society and exchange, by studying the interactions between historical phenomena and geographical areas. They are able to use different types of sources as well as tools and have a specific and interdisciplinary knowledge of economic development. They can design and create an effective communication of specific contents, also within working groups and heterogeneous cultural contexts.

Course contents

Medieval economic history is today an evolving field of research, and in recent years important issues, wrongly considered as exhausted, have been subject to rethinking and new interpretations. In the light of the most up-to-date and innovative studies, and with an eye to the dialogue between material and written sources, the course will focus on the circuits of exchange and trade in the medieval Mediterranean. Both the different internal development of the three main economic basins (Latin, Byzantine and Islamic) and the ways in which these areas interacted with the North Sea will be investigated, in order to promote a global vision of the European and Mediterranean economy between the 5th and 13th centuries.

The aim of the course is to facilitate the knowledge of sources, the acquisition of research methods and historiographical updating on the following topics:

• The late-Roman 'world-system': the state as the pivot of the economy
• The collapse of the fiscal system and Mediterranean trade between the 5th and 7th centuries
• Post-Roman economies in the West: a fragmented landscape
• The dynamics of exchange in continental Europe between stagnation and the first signs of revival
• The Byzantine economic system
• Another world: the economic system of the Islamic caliphate
• The 'Northern Mediterranean': emporia and trade between the North Sea and the Baltic
• The development of the Italian coastal areas and the exchanges with the inland areas of the peninsula in the 9th-11th centuries: Sicily; Southern Italy; the Upper Adriatic (Comacchio and Venice); the beginnings of Pisa and Genoa in the fight against Islamic piracy
• Islamic, Byzantine and Latin networks in the Mediterranean at the height of the Middle Ages (9th-11th centuries)
• A new model of trade in Europe, the role of cities and local trade
• The affirmation of Italian cities in long-distance trade (12th century)
• The take-off of the 13th century: international trade and the commercialisation of the countryside

Readings/Bibliography

List 1 (Texts to be studied both by attending and non-attending students):

• A. Fiore e A. Poloni, L’economia medievale, Roma, Carocci, 2024 (only pp. 11-166)
  
• Ch. Wickham, L’asino e il battello. Ripensare l’economia del Mediterraneo medievale, 950-1180, Roma, Viella, 2024: only chapter 1 (pp. 43-67) and chapter. 7 (pp. 699-742) [NB: a scelta degli studenti il capitolo 7 può essere sostituito dal saggio Ch. Wickham, Prima della crescita: quale società?', in La crescita economica dell'Occidente medievale. (Pistoia, 2017), 93-106]
  

List 2 (Texts to be studied by non-attending students):

• Ch. Wickham, Le società dell’alto Medioevo. Europa e Mediterraneo, secoli V-VIII, Roma, Viella, 2009, cap. 11 (pp. 729-859)
• an essay on your choice between the following (avalaible on Virtuale):

1. M. E. Cortese, Sui sentieri del sale. Proprietà, risorse e circuiti economici tra Comacchio e Ravenna (secc. IX-X), in «Reti Medievali Rivista», 23/1, 2022, pp. 81-119 (liberamente scaricabile al link: http://www.serena.unina.it/index.php/rm/article/view/9080/9725 )
2. G. Petralia, Le navi e i cavalli: per una rilettura del Mediterraneo pienomedievale, in «Quaderni storici», 103, 2000, pp. 201-222
3. A. Molinari, Riflessioni sulle economie dei secoli X e XI. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2018

Teaching methods

Lectures, with exposition of topics and readings of documents (in Italian translation or original language – Latin -accompanied by an Italian translation).

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

For attending students, the examination consists of an oral interview on:

- the topics covered in the lectures as well as on the exegesis of the relevant sources

- the texts indicated in the List 1

For non attending students, the examination consists of an oral interview on:

- the texts indicated in the List 1

- the texts indicated in the List 2

Are evaluated: the property of language, the understanding of the topics discussed, the ability to propose connections between different themes.

The vote is expressed in 30/30. At discretion of the teacher, a mention of “lode” can be added.

Evaluation criteria and degrees

The achievement by the student of a full critical knowledge of the topics taught in the course and mastery of the specific language will be evaluated with excellence marks. A mnemonic knowledge of the matter and synthesis and analysis skills articulated in a language not always appropriate will lead to discrete evaluations. Inappropriate formative and/or inappropriate language will lead to just sufficient marks. Serious formative errors, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials provided by the course will be negatively evaluated.

This course (6 CFU) is a component of the Integrated Course ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN THE MIDDLE AGES (12 CFU). If the student has the integrated course (12 CFU) in his study plan, the final mark will result from the arithmetic mean of the marks obtained in the two components (B5124 + B5123)

Teaching tools

Reproductions or editions of the sources analysed in class will be made available to the students. At the end of each lesson, the corresponding power point will be uploaded to Virtuale.

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

Office hours

See the website of Maria Elena Cortese