Learning outcomes
- to deepen the knowledge of the Middle Ages by studying a concrete topic of medieval religious and social history
- to test the methodological concepts acquired in the "modulo A", especially the critique and historical interpretation of written and figurative sources
- to get insights in the most important bibliography on the topic, to read critically the results of modern research and to become aware of the international character of medieval studies
Course contents
"The Mendicant Orders in Their Urban Context, 13th to 15th Century"
The so-called 'mendicant' orders are a form of religious life created in the first half of the 13th century. They answer to dissident movements that were going to become increasingly critical against the way of life embodied by the Roman church. The option of voluntary poverty, propagated especially by the Franciscans and the poor Clares, but followed at least partly by Dominicans, Carmelites and Austins too, went along with the decision to settle in urban contexts and to put into practice an intense activity of preaching and pastoral care in the towns. For this reason the presence of mendicant orders has been used (Jacques Le Goff) as an indicator for evaluating the importance of a medieval city (in Pavia, e.g., all four mendicant orders were present, some of them with even more than one friary). With the help of original sources students will familiarize themselves with the history of the mendicant orders and, based on selected examples, with the relationship between the orders and late medieval towns.
Reccomended or required readings
(A) Reading for students who will attend the class:
(1) notes from the lessons
(2) Clifford Hugh Lawrence, I mendicanti: i nuovi ordini religiosi nella società medievale, Cinisello Balsamo 1998 (original English edition 1994)
(3) David Foote, Mendicants and the Italian Communes in Salimbene's Cronaca, in The Origin, Development, and Refinement of Medieval Religious Mendicancies, ed. by Donald S. Prudlo, Leiden/Boston 2011, p. 191-238
(B) Reading for students who will not attend the class:
(1) Clifford Hugh Lawrence, I mendicanti: i nuovi ordini religiosi nella società medievale, Cinisello Balsamo 1998 (original English edition 1994)
(2) David Foote, Mendicants and the Italian Communes in Salimbene's Cronaca, in The Origin, Development, and Refinement of Medieval Religious Mendicancies, ed. by Donald S. Prudlo, Leiden/Boston 2011, pp. 191-238
(3) Dieter Mertens, Clero secolare e cura d'anime nelle città del tardo medioevo, in Ordini religiosi e società politica in Italia e in Germania nei secoli XIV e XV, Bologna 2001, p. 257-285 (Annali dell'Istituto storico italo-germanico in Trento. Quaderni, 56)
(4) Francesco d'Assisi, Regola non bollata; Regola bollata; Testamento, in Fonti francescane. Scritti e biografie di san Francesco d'Assisi. Cronache e altre testimonianze del primo secolo francescano. Scritte e biografie di santa Chiara d'Assisi, Assisi 1986, pp. 26-71 (page numbers may change when another edition is used)
(5) Chiara d'Assisi, Regola, ibidem, p. 1152-1172
(6) La Regola di Agostino d'Ippona: introduzione, traduzione, commento, a cura di Tarcisio van Bavel, Palermo 1986
Assessment methods
The main criterion for a successful exam – besides the knowledge of the most important aspects of the content of the course – is the student's competence in reflecting on the problems raised by historical sources.
For students who will attend the class:
Oral exam about the content of the lessons and the programme of reading.
For students who will not attend the class:
Oral exam about the entire programme of reading and the historical context of the topic. Not attending students are requested to contact the professor in time.
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