The course provides the knowledge of the history of writing in Latin and vernacular from the origins to the Renaissance, with special focus on Italy, and develops also the skills to read and critically evaluate the writings in Latin alphabet with a prevalent reference to the book ones. The course aims also at developing the critical knowledge in order to date rightly the manuscripts and to put them into the historical and cultural processes within which the morphological transformations of writing have occurred. At the end of the course students are able to read the principal Latin book writing of the Middle Age, to recognise and to place all the writings from the Antiquity to the Renaissance in its historical context.
Course Prerequisites
Special prerequisites are not required, however, since the course provides for a reading of manuscript examples in Latin, an elementar knowledge of this language is recommended.
Teaching Methods
The course provides theoretical lessons and practice sessions. Educational visits at some important Italian libraries are to be scheduled, in order to illustrate some of the pretious manuscripts there preserved. During the visit in the libraries will be explained also the history of its manuscript collections.
Assessment Methods
Oral exam aimed at assessing the competency acquired by the students in the reading of the principal Latin writings of the Middle Age and in the recognition of all the book writings before the printing. Students must demonstrate and correctly display the knowledge of the Latin writing history from the origins to the Renaissance, proving to have achieved the training objectives of the course.
Texts
P. Cherubini, La scrittura latina: storia, forme, usi, Roma, Carocci, 2019
Contents
Latin writing history from the origins to the Renaissance. The course provides lessons devoted to the history of writing and to the methods of the Paleographic analysis; practical lessons will be focused on the reading of facsimiles of medieval manuscripts and the analysis of their graphic characteristics, with regard also to the diacritics, punctuation marks and abbreviations systems proper to the medieval writings.
Course Language
Italian
More information
INCLUSIVE TEACHING METHODS Students entitled to benefit from the inclusive teaching methods should contact the teacher to arrange extraordinary collogues and others activities dedicated to them.
