2015/2016

2015/2016

DM270

M-STO/01 (MEDIAEVAL HISTORY)

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

HISTORY OF EUROPE

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

1st semester (22/09/2015 - 22/12/2015)

6

36 lesson hours

ITALIAN

ORAL TEST

FRANK THOMAS - 6 ECTS

B.A. in Lettere or a similar discipline. Ability to read Italian texts of the 14th century and modern articles in English.

- close reading of Anonimo romano, "Cronica"
- ability to employ the most important methods of historical criticque
- knowledge of the historical context of Italy and Europe in the 14th century
- knowledge of the bibliographical tools necessary for doing research on topics such as late medieval historiography
- comprehension of the contributions of international research (especially written in English) to the topic of the seminar

"Rome and Italy in the first half of the 14h century: the Cronica by the Anonimo romano"

The "Cronica" written about 1358 in Roman dialect by an anonymous author has been called a "masterpiece" in the context of late medieval Italian historical writing. The author, a writer with an exceptional literary talent, presents a series of very lively narrations of events which had taken place in Rome, Italy, France and the Mediterranean between the 1320s and 1350s. On the base of selected passages from the "Cronica" and comparable texts the seminar proposes an approach which combines historical and literary methods of interpretation. Thus it intends not only to deepen the knowledge of the history of Italy and Europe in the 14th century, but also to develop the students' methodological tools for reading critically historiographical texts of the Middle Ages. As a matter of fact, the manuscript tradition of the "Cronica" is not totally convincing, in such a way that recently some scholars have cast doubt on its authenticity putting forth the hypothesis that it might have been produced only in the 16th century.

- Lectures
- Powerpoint presentation of images and maps
- classroom reading and discussion of selected sources
- oral presentation of arguments chosen by the students
- written essay

Reading for students who will attend the class:

1) notes from the lessons

2) Anonimo romano, Cronica, edizione critica a cura di Giuseppe Porta, Milano, Adelphi, 1979 (Classici, 40), passages selected fot the lessons

3) Gustav Seibt, Anonimo romano. Scrivere la storia alle soglie del Rinascimento, ed. ital. a cura di Roberto delle Donne (trad. di Cristina Colotto), Roma, Viella, 2000 (orig. German edition: Stuttgart, Klett, 1992)

4) Amanda Collins, Cola di Rienzo, the Lateran Basilica, and the Lex de imperio of Vespasian, in "Mediaeval Studies", 60 (1998), pp. 159-183


Reading for students who will not attend the class:

1) Anonimo romano, Cronica, edizione critica a cura di Giuseppe Porta, Milano, Adelphi, 1979 (Classici, 40)

2) one of the following two works (to be chosen):
- Andreas Rehberg, Clientele e fazioni nell'azione politica di Cola di Rienzo, Roma 2004 (Roma nel Rinascimento: Inedita, 33/1)
or
- Marco Fossati / Alessandro Ceresatto, La Lombardia alla ricerca di uno Stato, in Comuni e signorie nell’Italia settentrionale: la Lombardia, a cura di Giancarlo Andenna et al.,Torino 1998 (Storia dell’Italia UTET 6), pp. 483–572

3) Gustav Seibt, Anonimo romano. Scrivere la storia alle soglie del Rinascimento, ed. ital. a cura di Roberto delle Donne (trad. di Cristina Colotto), Roma, Viella, 2000 (orig. German edition: Stuttgart, Klett, 1992)

4) Amanda Collins, Cola di Rienzo, the Lateran Basilica, and the Lex de imperio of Vespasian, in "Mediaeval Studies", 60 (1998), pp. 159-183

- the student's participation in the discussions
- the oral presentation of a research argument
- correction of the written essay
- oral exam about the content of the course

- the student's participation in the discussions
- the oral presentation of a research argument
- correction of the written essay
- oral exam about the content of the course