501226 - CIVILIZATIONS OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

courses

ID:

501226

Duration (hours):

36

CFU:

SSD:

STORIA MEDIEVALE

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (23/02/2026 - 22/05/2026)

Course Objectives

- close reading of original sources referring to the topic in question - insights in the most siginificant methods of textual critique - knowledge of the history of the relations between the West and the Holy Land in the late Middle Ages - knowledge of the bibliographical tools necessary for doing research on topics such as late medieval history of mentalities, historical geography, or text critique - oral presentation of the student's researches and (possibly) written essay

Course Prerequisites

B.A. in ‘Lettere’ or in a similar discipline. Ability to read medieval Italian texts of a certain length and modern articles in English.

Teaching Methods

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

Assessment Methods

For students who will attend the class: Oral exam (50-75%) about the content of the lessons and the programme of reading. The main criterion for a successful exam – besides the knowledge of the most important aspects of the content and the historical context of the topic – is the student's competence in reflecting on the use and criticism of historical sources. Students who have already earned credits in medieval history during their previous career must prepare a paper (approx. 10 pp.) on a limited topic related to the course theme (precise instructions will be given at the beginning of the course) in one of the two medieval history modules (Civiltà del basso medioevo or Politica e cultura nell'Europa medievale) of their choice. In this module the delivery of the paper is required for being admitted to the oral exam. The oral presentation of the same argument in class, the student's contributions to the discussions during the lessons and - optionally - the paper account for another 50% (without essay: 25%) of the final evaluation in the module "Civiltà del basso medioevo". Students who have not yet taken credits in medieval history are exempt from preparing a paper, but must supplement their knowledge with the textbook by Massimo Montanari, Storia medievale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2002 (Manuali di base, 1), various re-editions. They are requested to contact the professor in good time. For students who will not attend the class: Oral exam about the entire programme of reading and the historical context of the topic (ca. 75-100% of the final evaluation in the module "Civiltà del basso medioevo"). The main criterion for a successful exam – besides the knowledge of the most important aspects of the content of the programme and the context – is the student's competence in reflecting on the use and the criticism of historical sources. Non attending students, too, will prepare a paper if they have already obtained credits in medieval history in their previous career. The paper (approx. 10 pages) will discuss a limited topic related to the course theme (precise instructions will be given at the beginning of the course) in one of the two medieval history modules (Civiltà del basso medioevo or Politica e cultura nell'Europa medievale) of their choice. In this module the delivery of the paper is requested for being admitted to the oral exam and accounts for ca. 25% of the final evaluation. In case the paper is written for the other module, the oral exam will be the only criterion (= 100%) of the final evaluation in the module "Civiltà del basso medioevo". Students who have not yet taken credits in medieval history are exempt from preparing a paper, but must supplement their knowledge with the textbook by Massimo Montanari, Storia medievale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2002 (Manuali di base, 1), various re-editions. They are requested to contact the professor in good time. NB: "To attend the class" means actively participating in at least 75% of the lessons.

Texts

For students who will attend the class:

(1) notes from the lessons
(2) Gabriella Bartolini e Franco Cardini, Nel nome di Dio facemmo vela. Viaggio in Oriente di un pellegrino medievale, Roma/Bari (Laterza) 1991
(3) Susanna Fischer, “Adoravimus Christum natum ad modum magorum”. Performance and Theatricality as Narrative Strategies in Ricoldo’s Liber peregrinationis, in Ricoldo da Monte di Croce (+ 1320). Missionary to the Near East and Expert of Islam, ed. Kurt Villads Jensen and Davide Scotto, Stockholm 2024, pp. 41-64
(4) possibly the handbook by Montanari (in case that students are exempted from a written essay, see above, “Verifica”; the handbook applies to both parts (moduli) of “Civiltà medievali”).

For students who will not attend the class:

(1) Franco Cardini, In Terrasanta. Pellegrini italiani tra Medioevo e prima età moderna, Bologna (Il Mulino) 2002, chapters IV-VII

(2) one of the following sources of the 14th century, to be chosen:
- Fra Giovanni di Fedanzola da Perugia, Descriptio Terrae Sanctae. Ms. Casanatense 3876, a cura di U. Nicolini / R. Nelli, Jerusalem (Franciscan Printing Press) 2003 (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Maior, vol. 43) OR
- Niccolò da Poggibonsi, Libro d'Oltramare, a cura di Antonio Lanzi, in: Pellegrini scrittori. Viaggiatori toscani del '300 in Terrasanta, a cura di Antonio Lanza e Marcellina Troncarelli, Firenze (Gruppo editoriale fiorentino) 1990, pp. 31-158 OR
- Nel nome di Dio facemmo vela. Viaggio in Oriente di un pellegrino medievale, a cura di Gabriella Bartolini e Franco Cardini, Roma/Bari (Laterza) 1991

(3) one of the following sources of the 15th century, to be chosen:
- L’”Itinerario” di Capodilista, in Viaggio in Terrasanta di Santo Brasca, 1480, con l’Itinerario di Gabriele Capodilista, 1458, a cura di Anna Laura Momigliano Lepschy, Milano 1966, pp. 159-241 (con l’Introduzione, in part. pp. 26-38) OR
- Bernhard von Breydenbach, Peregrinationes: un viaggiatore del Quattrocento a Gerusalemme e in Egitto. Ristampa anastatica dell'incunabolo, trad. italiana e note di Gabriella Bartolini / Giulio Caporali, saggio introduttivo di Gabriella Bartolini, Manziana 2000 OR
- Viaggio a Gerusalemme di Pietro Casola, a cura di Anna Paoletti, Alessandria (Edizioni dell'Orso) 2001 (Oltramare 11)

(4) Susanna Fischer, “Adoravimus Christum natum ad modum magorum”. Performance and Theatricality as Narrative Strategies in Ricoldo’s Liber peregrinationis, in Ricoldo da Monte di Croce (+ 1320). Missionary to the Near East and Expert of Islam, ed. Kurt Villads Jensen and Davide Scotto, Stockholm 2024, pp. 41-64

(5) possibly the handbook by Montanari (in case that students are exempted from a written essay, see below, “Verifica”; the handbook applies to both parts (moduli) of “Civiltà medievali”).

The course will focus on the reading of selected passages from Holy Land travel reports written by Italian or German pilgrims in the 14th and 15th century. For the historian, texts of this kind are especially problematic because they need a particularly careful analysis of the textual tradition used by their authors (e. g. the Bible) and of the sterotypes which might have influenced the experiences and the writing of the travellers. However, the pilgrims’ reports prove to be sources of great interest: this is true not only because they give plenty of insights in the reality of late medieval seafaring or in the history of the places visited by the authors, but even more so because by comparing these texts and their illustrations it is possible to grasp at least some fragments of the mentality and the imaginations of travellers living in a distant past (sometimes, albeit rarely, women too).