B5100 - Early Medieval Political Institution (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students acquire critical and in depth knowledge of the history of political institutions in the Early Middle Ages and can connect long term historical memory in contemporary culture. Students can evaluate the contribution of thematically defined historical disciplines, particularly in the field of political and institutional history. They can assess the relevance of a research problem for the historical debate and can identify, collect, catalogue and comment on the original historical sources needed to address it. At the end of the course, students can connect their critical knowledge to the most up-to-date historiographical and scientific debate. They are able to apply specific tools and source analysis, and to critically evaluate different cultures. They are able to communicate effectively in written and/or oral form.

Course contents

Rethinking the 10th Century

The course aims to present and discuss the historical and historiographical problems posed by the 10th century, known in Italian historiographical tradition as the "Iron Century," by re-evaluating its events and processes of political, social, and cultural transformation within a European context. Recent studies on the functioning of 10^th century political societies and on the scopes of action of royal power, the material bases of public structures, and the forms of their management and sharing with elites will be presented and discussed.

Various themes will be addressed: royal power and the problem of its legitimacy; the structures of royal and aristocratic kinship; the forms of female power and the use of gender representation in political discourse. Special attention will be given to the renewed analysis of the structures of aristocratic networks and their relationship with the kingdom, as well as the role of monasteries and churches in these networks.

Readings/Bibliography

The course is a module of the Origini dell'Europa course and is fully integrated with the Civiltà dell’Alto Medioevo module.

Students attending the Master's degree in Scienze storiche e orientalistiche cannot attend a single module, and the following program applies to the entire Origini dell'Europa course.

Attending students will be required to study and present in class, in small groups, a historiographical essay on the course topics, identifying the sources used by its author. They will be then required to produce a short paper (2000 words) that will include their own reinterpretation of the identified sources, developed in light of the methodological approaches discussed during the course and the common work conducted in class.

For non-attending students, a written test and an oral examination are planned instead.

The written test will be based on the book by S. Gasparri, C. La Rocca, Tempi barbarici. L'Europa occidentale tra antichità e Medioevo (300-900), Roma, Carocci, 2012.

For the oral examination, students will discuss the contents of two books chosen from the following:

• G. Albertoni, L'elefante di Carlo Magno, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020.
• I. Barbiera, Memorie sepolte. Tombe e identità nell'alto medioevo (secoli V-VIII), Roma, Carocci, 2012.
• F. Borri, Alboino. Frammenti di un racconto (secoli VI-XI), Roma, Viella, 2016.
• G. Gandino, Contemplare l'ordine. Intellettuali e potenti dell'alto Medioevo, Napoli, Liguori, 2004.
• S. Gasparri, Desiderio, Salerno, Salerno Editrice, 2019.
• S. Gasparri - S. Gelichi, Le isole del rifugio. Venezia prima di Venezia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2024.
• P. Geary, In principio erano le donne, Roma, Carocci, 2018.
• H. Keller, Gli Ottoni. Una dinastia imperiale tra Europa e Italia (secc. X e XI), Roma, Carocci, 2012.
• W. Pohl, Le origini etniche dell'Europa: barbari e romani tra antichità e Medioevo, Roma, Viella, 2011.
• G. Ravegnani, Teodora, Salerno, Salerno Editrice, 2016.
• C. Stedile, La Vita Mathildis antiquior e la scrittura femminile in epoca ottoniana, con introduzione di T. Lazzari, Pisa, Pacini Editore, 2023.

Teaching methods

The course is a module of the Origini dell'Europa course and is fully integrated with the Civiltà dell’Alto Medioevo module. It is not possible for students of the Magistrale in Scienze storiche e orientalistiche to attend a single module.

The first module of the course Istituzioni politiche altomedievali provides lectures that will address the political, social, and institutional history of the early Middle Ages (5th-10th centuries).

In the second module, Civiltà dell’Alto Medioevo after some introductory lectures on the specific theme of the course, direct participation from students will be required.

Students will have to study short historiographical essays and present them in class, in small groups, identifying the sources used by their authors in their reconstruction. Students will then have to re-examine the identified source dossiers in light of new interpretative categories, discussing them in class with the lecturers.

Regular attendance and active participation in lessons are therefore required.

Students, divided into small groups, will be guided to prepare the necessary database to develop, at the end of the course, a short paper (2000 words) focused on the work of reinterpreting the sources and on the study of the bibliography.

Assessment methods

The present course (6CFU) is part of the Integrated Course Origini dell’Europa C.I. (1) LM.

Attending students must attend both parts of the integrated course.

A student is considered attending if they participate in at least 75% of the classes.

Attending students must present to the class, in small groups, the results of reading some assigned scientific essays.

At the end of the course, they will prepare a written paper that will be discussed in a reserved examination section, and it will constitute the only final assessment of the integrated course and, therefore, of both parts of the course.

The assessment of the papers will be based on both the completeness and formal accuracy of the text, and the ability to critically analyze the themes and issues.

Non-attending students must take a single written exam, common to both parts of the course, followed by a single oral exam.

The written exam and the oral exam can be taken in the same exam session or in different ones.

To access the oral exam, it is necessary to have taken and passed the written exam with a score of at least 18/30.

The written exam aims to verify the acquired knowledge of the manual and consists of five open-ended questions, which require precise answers and good synthesis skills, the first one being evaluated from 0 to 10 points, and the others from 0 to 5. The maximum possible score is 30/30.

Therefore, the following will be evaluated:

· Mastery of the content

· Ability to synthesize and analyze themes and concepts

· Ability to express oneself in writing appropriately and with language suitable for the subject matter.

Achievement by the student of an organic understanding of the topics covered in the manual, their critical use, good expressive mastery, and the use of specific vocabulary will be evaluated with excellent grades.

Memorization of the material, along with synthesis and analysis skills articulated in correct but not always appropriate language, will result in satisfactory grades.

Educational gaps and/or inappropriate language use – even in a context of minimal knowledge of the exam material – will lead to grades that do not exceed the passing mark.

Educational gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the manual contents will be evaluated negatively.

The oral exam, also common to both parts of the course, is a free conversation aimed at assessing the acquired knowledge of the two selected books, one for each part of the course.

During the conversation, the acquired knowledge, synthesis skills, and critical abilities developed by the student, who will prepare on the exam bibliography, will be assessed.

In evaluating the exam, particular attention will be paid to the student's ability to navigate within the exam bibliography in order to extract useful information to illustrate themes and issues and to connect them.

Therefore, the following will be evaluated:

· Mastery of the content

· Ability to synthesize and analyze themes and concepts

· Ability to express oneself appropriately and with language suitable for the subject matter.

The achievement by the student of an organic understanding of the topics covered in the lessons together with their critical use, good expressive mastery, and specific language will be evaluated with excellent grades.

Memorization of the material, along with synthesis and analysis skills articulated in correct but not always appropriate language, will result in satisfactory grades.

Educational gaps and/or inappropriate language use – even in a context of minimal knowledge of the exam material – will lead to grades that do not exceed the passing mark.

Educational gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials will be evaluated negatively.

The maximum score assigned in the oral exam is 30/30. The final exam grade will result from the reasoned average between the result of the written exam and the result of the oral exam. At the discretion of the teacher, a mention of distinction may be added.

Teaching tools

"Virtuale", the University's repository, will be used to share tools to support teaching: power points summarizing the contents of the lessons, pdf files of sources and proposed readings.

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

Office hours

See the website of Giacomo Vignodelli