B1744 - Environment, Communities, and Landscapes of Medieval Italy (1) (LM)

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

By the end of the course students will acquire an updated knowledge about the main phenomena characterising the archaeology of settlements and environment of the Middle Ages. They will be familiar with the main methodological approaches of contemporary research, as well as they will be able to assess the reliability of the data presented and to highlight their limits. The students will acquire a general knowledge about the main aspects of the settlement patterns evolution and the transformations of the environment during the Middle Ages in several geographic contexts. By knowing the different methodological approaches adopted by the contemporary research, the students will gain the skills that they need to plan by themselves further studies or fieldwork itself, starting with the best methodological approach and the right research questions.

Contenuti

The course will present a series of research topics and processes through which the history and archaeology of Italian medieval landscapes will be explored and compared with those of other areas in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. To address this subject effectively, the course will also delve into key methods and strategies in the archaeology and history of landscapes.

The topics covered include:

• Archaeology, history, and medieval landscapes: methods and strategies
• Fortifications and castles
• Villages and other rural settlements
• Uncultivated and agrarian landscapes
• Urban landscapes
• New towns and secondary settlements
• Churches, monastic landscapes, and deserta
• Archaeology of rural lords and peasant communities
• The end of the Roman period
• Italy: comparative landscapes of the north, center, and south
• Italy in comparison with the eastern and western Mediterranean and northern and southern Europe

 

Testi/Bibliografia

The bibliography below lists the most relevant works addressed throughout the class. Readings will be introduced at the beginning of the course, and a detailed bibliography will be provided in the syllabus available on virtuale.unibo.it.

 

Main Reference Works

• Graham-Campbell, James, and Magdalena Valor. The Archaeology of Medieval Europe. Vol. 1. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2008, pp. 46–180, 316–365.

• Carver, Martin, and Jan Klápště, eds. The Archaeology of Medieval Europe. Vol. 2. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2011, pp. 15–48; 97–106; 230–243; 370–408; 490–493; 494–511.

• Patterson, Helen, Graeme Barker, and Tom Rasmussen. “Incastellamento and Its Aftermath: Medieval and Modern Landscapes, c. AD 700 to the Present.” In In the Footsteps of the Etruscans: Changing Landscapes around Tuscania from Prehistory to Modernity, edited by Graeme Barker and Tom Rasmussen, 246–277. British School at Rome Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023.

 

Other References

Castles, Villages, Rural Settlements, Aristocracy, and Peasantry

• Arthur, Paul. “From Vicus to Village: Italian Landscapes, AD 400–1000.” In Landscapes of Change. Routledge, 2004.

• Arthur, Paul. “Villages, Communities, Landscapes in the Byzantine and Medieval Salento.” In Paesaggi, Comunità, Villaggi Medievali, 547–564, 2012.

• Creighton, Oliver. “Castle Studies and the European Medieval Landscape: Traditions, Trends and Future Research Directions.” Landscape History 30, no. 2 (2009): 5–20.

• Ghisleni, Mariaelena, et al. “Excavating the Roman Peasant I: Excavations at Pievina (Gr).” Papers of the British School at Rome 79 (2011): 95–145.

• Guglielmotti, Paola. “Villenove e Borghi Franchi: Esperienze Di Ricerca e Problemi Di Metodo.” Archivio Storico Italiano 166, no. 1 (2008): 79–96.

• Hodges, Richard. “Defining the Archaeology of Bloch’s First Feudal Age: Implications of Vetricella Phases I and II for the Making of Medieval Italy (8th–9th Centuries).” In The nEU-Med Project: Vetricella, an Early Medieval Royal Property on Tuscany’s Mediterranean, edited by Giovanna Bianchi and Richard Hodges, 169–181. Biblioteca Di Archaeologia Medievale 28. Sesto Fiorentino: All’Insegna del Giglio, 2020.

Churches, Monastic Landscapes, and Deserta

• Augenti, Andrea, and Enrico Cirelli. “San Severo and Religious Life in Ravenna during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries.” In Ravenna: Its Role in Earlier Medieval Change and Exchange, 297–322, 2016.

• Brogiolo, Gian Pietro. “Architecture and Power at the End of the Lombard Kingdom.” In Churches and Social Power in Early Medieval Europe, 451–472, 2015.

• 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): 131–161. Hard copy available at Unibo libraries.

• Roubis, Dimitris, et al. “Exploiting a Monastic Territory: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach Using GIS and Pollen Analysis to Study the Evolution of the Medieval Landscape of the Jure Vetere Monastery (Calabria-Italy).” In Plants and Culture. Seeds of the Cultural Heritage of Europe, 107–120, 2009.

Forests, Uncultivated, and Agrarian Landscapes

• Abballe, Michele, Marco Cavalazzi, and Celeste Fiorotto. “Integrated Approaches to Understanding Complex Long-Term Reclamation Processes in the Hinterland of Ravenna (Italy).” Journal of Wetland Archaeology 31 (2022).

• Burri, Sylvain. “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 (2014): 7–38.

• Comet, Georges. “Technology and Agricultural Expansion in the Middle Ages: The Example of France North of the Loire.” In Medieval Farming and Technology, 11–39, 1997.

• 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.

• Groenman-van Waateringe, Willy. “Wasteland: Buffer in the Medieval Economy.” Actes des Congrès de la Société d’Archéologie Médiévale 5, no. 1 (1996): 113–117.

Urban Landscapes

• Augenti, Andrea. “A Tale of Two Cities: Rome and Ravenna between the 7th and 9th Century AD.” In 774: Ipotesi Su Una Transizione, 175–198, 2008.

• Augenti, Andrea. “Classe: Archaeologies of a Lost City.” In Vrbes Extinctae. Archaeologies of Abandoned Classical Towns, 45–76, 2012.

• Brogiolo, Gian Pietro. “Ideas of the Town in Italy during the Transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.” In The Idea and Ideal of the Town, 99–126, 1999.

• Christie, Neil J. “From Royalty to Refugees: Looking for the People in Reconstructing Urban Change in Late Antique Italy.” In Urban Transformations in the Late Antique West. Materials, Agents, and Models, 323–350, 2020.

• Gelichi, Sauro. “From the Late Antique City to the Early Medieval Town in Central and Northern Italy: Models and Narratives from Debates over the Last Thirty Years.” In Urban Transformations in the Late Antique West. Materials, Agents, and Models, 45–60, 2020.

Metodi didattici

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.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Assessment for attending students 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 10 days prior to the scheduled exam date. The questions in the oral exam will be related to: the personal essay topic; the main reference works (Graham-Campbell et al. 2008-the specified sections- OR Carver et al. 2011-the specified sections- AND Patterson et al. 2023); and the lesson presentations. For more details, see the Syllabus on Virtuale.

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 agreed upon with the teacher in advance.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

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 .

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Marco Cavalazzi