History 214 (Fall 2005): Medieval Italy

This course provides an overview of Italian history from the disintegration of the Roman empire in the fifth century through the rise of urban communes in the thirteenth century.  Topics of discussion include the birth and development of the Catholic Church and the volatile relationship between popes and emperors, the history of monasticism and various other forms of popular piety as well as the role of heresy and dissent, the diverging histories of the north and the south and the emergence of a multi-cultural society in southern Italy, and the development and transformation of cities and commerce that made Italy one of the most economically advanced states in Europe in the later medieval period.

Books Available for Purchase
William Cook and Ronald Herzman, The Medieval World View
Chris Wickham, Early Medieval Italy
David Abulafia, Italy in the Central Middle Ages

Requirements and Grading
You will be graded based on the following components:

      A Short Essay (25%) due on October 20

      A Research Paper (app. 10 pages) due on December 22 (35%)

      5 Short Response Papers (20%)

      Class Participation (20%)

 

HIST 214 Course Conference

I have set up a course conference on First Class where you can find the course syllabus, e-reserves, paper topics, instructions for writing papers, and changes in reading assignments.  Please be sure to check the conference before doing your readings as I do anticipate some modifications.  I will also be posting messages from time to time.

 

E-reserves

All primary source readings can be found as e-reserves.  Please bring printed copies of them to class.
 

History 214: Readings

(Subject to change - Please check HIST 214 conference)

 

I. The Early Middle Ages

9/12     Ostrogothic Rule and the Justinian Wars

            Wickham, chapter 1

            Procopius, History of the Wars, vol. III, pp. 337-47, 15-23 (recommended: vol. I, pp. 451-73)

               (e-reserve)

            Cassiodorus, Letters I.17, I.45, II.24, II.25, II.27, II.32, IV.51 (recommended: Letters I.27, II.16,

               and IX.18) (e-reserve)

           

9/15     The Lombards

            Wickham, pp. 28-47, 115-28

            Paul the Deacon, History of the Langobards, Book II, chapters 1-9, 25-28; Book IV, chapters   

               16-19; Book VI, chapter 55-53 (e-reserve)

(You need not read Book IV, chapters 1-15 or Book V, chapters 5-12)

            Lombard Laws, Rothaire's Edicts 19-25, 153-62, 181-96, 203-214, 359-64 (recommended:

49-74, 172-75); Liutprand's Laws, 127 & 136 (recommended:1-6, 100-103, 134-35);    

Ratchis' Laws 1-3; Aistulf's Laws, 1-6 (recommended, 7-9) (e-reserve)

                         

9/19     St. Peter and the Bishop of Rome

            Cook and Herzman, chapters 3-4 (recommended: chapters 1-2)

            Ambrose, Letters to Valentinian II and Theodosius I (e-reserve: Ambrose-Petrine)

            Leo I, Sermon (e-reserve: Ambrose-Petrine)

            Gregory the Great, Letter to Emperor Maurice (e-reserve: Ambrose-Petrine)

 

9/22     Christianity and Philosophy

            Cook and Herzman, pp. 42-46 (1^st edition: pp. 56-60) (review)

            Augustine, Confessions (e-reserve)

            Jerome, On Classical Literature (e-reserve: Sources of Medieval History)

                       

9/26     St. Benedict and Latin Monasticism

            Cook and Herzman, chapter 6 (recommended: chapter 5)

            Gregory the Great's Life of St. Benedict, chapters 1-3, 6, 8, 11, 14-15, 17, 35

   (e-reserve: Gregory the Great's Dialogues)

            Rule of St. Benedict, chapters 1-7, 33-35 (e-reserve)

 

9/29     Cities and Countryside

            Wickham, chapter 4   

            Henri Pirenne, Charlemagne and Muhammad, pp. 17-20, 62-74, 140-56, 163-69, 183- 85

               (Knapp reserve/e-reserve)

 

10/3     Lombards, Byzantines, and Arabs in Southern Italy

            Wickham, chapter 6

            Charters from the Abbey of Cava (e-reserve: Abbey Trinity), pp. 1-5, 9-10

            Read one of the following (e-reserve or Knapp reserve):

               G. A. Loud, The Age of Robert Guiscard, pp. 12-29 (on Lombard southern Italy)

               G. A. Loud, The Age of Robert Guiscard, pp. 29-47 (on Byzantine southern Italy)

               Aziz Ahmad, A History of Islamic Sicily, 6-24 (on Muslim Sicily)

 

10/6     The Papacy and the Franks

            Wickham, pp. 47-63, 129-45

            Excerpts from the Liber Pontificalis (e-reserve)

           

10/13   Ottonian Rule and Urban Autonomy

            Wickham, chapter 7

            Liudprand, A Chronicle of Otto's Reign or The Embassy to Constantinople (e-reserve)

 

10/17   Women in Early Medieval Society

            Patricia Skinner, Women in Medieval Italian Society, chapter 4 (e-reserve)

            The Epitaph of Adelheid (e-reserve)

 

10/20   Essay Due

 

II. The High Middle Ages

10/24   Economic Expansion

            Abulafia, chapter 7 and pp. 127-34

Robert Lopez and Irving Raymond, Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World, pp. 56- 60,  

   174-79, and 239-44 (e-reserve) (You need not read pp. 61-69)

            Charters from the Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Cava (e-reserve: Abbey Trinity), pp. 5-8

           

10/27   Papal Reform and the Investiture Controversy

            Cook and Herzman, pp. 184-88, 193-201 (1^st edition: pp. 225-32, 238-47)

            Letter of the Synod of Worms to Gregory VII (e-reserve)

            Account of Canossa and Henry's Oath at Canossa (e-reserve)

            Letter of Gregory VII to Hermann of Metz (e-reserve)

            Concordat of Worms (e-reserve: Various Documents on Gregory VII)

 

10/31   The Communal Movement

            Abulafia, pp. 27-42

            Giovanni Tabacco, The Struggle for Power in Medieval Italy, pp. 182-208 (e-reserve)

            Statutes of Biella, pp. 1-6 (statutes 1-20), pp. 12-14 (statutes 45-57), pp. 16-18 (statutes 60-70),

               and pp. 25-27 (statutes 182-195) (e-reserve)

            Trevor Dean, The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages, documents 1, 3, and 19 (e-reserve)

                       

11/3     Frederick Barbarossa and the Lombard League

            Abulafia, pp. 42-57

            Otto of Freising, The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa, pp. 122-59 (e-reserve)

 

11/7     The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy

            Donald Matthews, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily, pp. 9-32 (e-reserve/Knapp)

            Excerpts from Amatus of Montecassino, The History of the Normans (e-reserve)

 

11/10   Society and Religion in the Regno

            Abulafia, pp. 58-75 and chapter 10   

            The Translation of St. Nicholas (e-reserve)

           

11/14   New Forms of Religious Life: Patareni, Humiliati, and Heretics

H. E. J. Cowdrey, "The Papacy, the Patarenes, and the Church of Milan," in Transactions of

   the Royal Historical Society 5^th ser. XVIII (1968), 25-48 (e-reserve/Knapp)

Heretics of Montforte, Etienne de Bourbon and Walter Map on Peter Waldo, and documents on

   the Humiliati, the Cathars, and Arnold of Brescia (e-reserve: Birth of Popular Heresy,

   Waldenisans, Heresies of the High Middle Ages)

Research Questions and Bibliographies Due

 

11/17   The Papacy of Innocent III

            Cook and Herzman, pp. 201-22 (1^st edition: pp. 247-61) or Abulafia, pp. 82-100

Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council, nos. 1, 3-6, 12-22, 42-54, 67-71

       (www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/LATERAN4.HTM)

            The Martyrdom of Peter Parenzo (e-reserve)

 

11/21   The Fourth Crusade

            Cook and Herzman, pp. 188-93 (1^st edition: pp. 232-37)

            Documents on the fourth crusade (e-reserve)

 

11/28   The Franciscans and the Poor Clares

            Cook and Herzman, chapter 10

            Thomas of Celano, Life of St. Francis (e-reserve)

            St. Clare's Rule (e-reserve)

 

12/1     Family and Material Life

            Abulafia, chapters 6 and 8

            Joanna Drell, Kinship and Conquest, (e-reserve)

            The Trotula: A Medieval Compendium of Women’s Medicine (e-reserve)

 

12/5     The Crisis of Communal Government and the Rise of the Signori

            Abulafia, chapter 3

            Giovanni Villani, Florentine Chronicle (e-reserve)

            Trevor Dean, The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages, documents 74-76 and 89 (e-reserve)

 

12/8     Lay Religiosity in the Thirteenth Century

            Lester Little, "Functions of Confraternities," in Liberty, Charity, Fraternity (e-reserve/Knapp)

            Orders of Penance and the Congregation of Mercy (e-reserve)

            Trevor Dean, The Towns of Italy in the Later Middle Ages, documents 26-28, 39, and 42

               (e-reserve)

            Statutes of Biella, pp. 19-20 (statutes 71-77) (e-reserve)

 

12/12   Review

            Rough Draft or Outline for Final Paper Due (optional)

 

12/22   Final Paper Due

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