93590 - History of the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages

Learning outcomes

This course aims at providing students with the knowledge of the main institutional, political, economic, social and cultural processes, which shaped medieval Europe and particularly the Mediterranean space, to be intended as a contact area between the Byzantine world and the Islamic one. At the end of the course, the students will be able to comprehend the formation of the medieval civilisation and its monumental and documentary heritage; point out the main factors and events, which changed the geopolitical role of Mediterranean countries and influenced the preservation of their archaeological and artistic heritage; explore new topics through the knowledge acquired on this course.

Course contents

This is a course of medieval history with a pronounced focus on a specific transcontinental space, which is the Mediterranean region from the fifth to the fifteenth century.

Cradle of the Roman civilisation and early Christianity in the late Antiquity, the Mediterranean space lost coherence and unity in the Middle Ages, but preserved a strategic relevance and partially increased its geopolitical complexity. This course explores the Mediterranean medieval space as the scenario where religious and anthropological practices of crucial importance for medieval societies, such as monasticism and pilgrimages, became widespread. The lessons analyse the Islamic expansion and the confrontation between the Byzantine empire, on the one hand, and the Umayyads, Abbasids and Fatimids, on the other hand, which was occasionally extended to the Romano-Germanic empire and, with major consequences, the Normans. A relevant part of this course is devoted to the invasion of most of Asia Minor by the the Seljuq Turk; the birth of a new type of pilgrimage and penitential warfare, the so-called 'crusade'; the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula; the growing protagonism of the Apostolic See of Rome within the Mediterranean framework. The rise of new mercantile powers in Genoa and Venice; the expansion of the Anjevins of Naples towards the Balkans and Tunisia; the Aragonese power throughout the Mediterranean Sea are here analysed as the outcome of a recovered maritime mastery in Latin Europe. Marco Polo's travels through Asia and the fall of Constantinople are the last topics of the course.

Readings/Bibliography

1) Attending students will be assessed on

- the contents of the lessons;

- one handbook to be chosen from the following list:

• Storia del Mediterraneo medievale. Tempi, spazi, interazioni, a cura di A. Musarra e P. Silanos, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2025.
• L. Tanzini - F. P. Tocco, Un Medioevo mediterraneo. Mille anni tra Oriente e Occidente, Roma: Carocci, 2020.

- one book to be chosen from the following list:

• G. Albertoni, L'elefante di Carlo Magno. Il desiderio di un imperatore, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2020.
• F. Cardini, Europa e Islam. Storia di un malinteso, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1999, pp. 9-202.
• S. Cosentino, Storia dell'Italia bizantina (VI-XI secolo). Da Giustiniano ai Normanni, Bologna: Bononia University Press, 2008, pp. 229-334 (capitoli: II.5 La politica; II.6 La religione).
• M. Di Branco, 915. La battaglia del Garigliano. Cristiani e musulmani nell'Italia medievale, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2019.
• A. Feniello, Sotto il segno del leone. Storia dell'Italia musulmana, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2011..
• H. Houben, I normanni, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2013.
• A. Musarra, Le crociate. L'idea, la storia e il mito, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2022.
• G. Ravegnani, Bisanzio e l'Occidente medievale, Bologna: il Mulino, 2019.
• F. P. Tocco, Il regno di Sicilia tra Angioini e Aragonesi, Bologna: Monduzzi, 2008.

2) Non-attending students will be assessed on

- one of the aforementioned handbooks;

- two books to be chosen from the same list that has been provided for attending students.

 

This course does not require prior knowledge of medieval history.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons.

The traditional lecture format is integrated by slides with maps, images, and texts, including some excerpts from medieval sources in Latin with an Italian translation.

These materials are uploaded on the online platform Virtuale throughout the course.

Assessment methods

The final exam, to be held at the end of the course, is oral. It consists of an assessment of the knowledge and skills acquired during the course. This final oral exam is the main assessment method.

A written test, to be held during the course (in its second half, on a date to be fixed), has been scheduled, covering the topics of the lessons already delivered at that date. In the event of a positive assessment (>18), this becomes a good departure point for the deeper examination at the final oral exam, which should therefore confirm or improve the preliminary grade of the written test. Alternatively, in the event of a negative assessment (<18), or in case of absence, the final oral exam remains not only the main but also the unique assessment method.

The assessment concerns how well students know and understand the topics discussed during the course and in the recommended readings. A special relevance is given to the ability of the students to correctly analyse, critically re-elaborate and properly explain these topics, adopting a logical-argumentative type of speech, an appropriate methodology and the specialised language of the discipline.

Class attendance is highly recommended.

A clear and intensive engagement with the course topics and materials - including simple questions, critical observations, requests of clarification or further explanations - is deeply appreciated and can change the final mark.

Teaching tools

- Projection (with comments) of images and especially maps of the medieval Mediterranean world, displaying the most relevant changes of the geopolitics of this macroregion from the fifth to the fifteenth century;

- Projection (with comments) of some medieval sources, in original (Latin) and translation (Italian).

Please note that initiatives suggested or organised by the professor (educational visits, seminars, book presentations, etc.) are to be considered as a supplementary part of the course and are therefore recognised at the exam.

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A message for students with disabilities (whether permanent or temporary), SLD, ADHD or other special educational needs related to learning disorders.

Those who need special strategies to compensate their disorders are kindly requested to contact the professor, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions.

Please see also: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Manganaro