509256 - Church Councils in the Late Middle Ages: Institutional Challenges, Utopian Thinking, and Interfaith Encounters

courses

ID:

509256

Duration (hours):

36

CFU:

SSD:

STORIA MEDIEVALE

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

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

Course Objectives

- Critical reading/interpretation of primary sources.
- Knowledge of the history of Church councils and heterodoxies.
- Use of bibliographical tools for conducting research in the fields of political and ecclesiastical history.
- Knowledge of the most recent literature (international, English-speaking in particular) on the topic discussed in the class.

Course Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of Church history.

Teaching Methods

- Lectures. Power point presentations, images and maps will be available on KIRO.
- Close-reading and discussion of primary sources with the students.
- Written paper based on a chosen topic.

Assessment Methods

- Oral exam based on the topics discussed during the class and the literature pointed out in the bibliography (60%). - Written paper on a chosen topic (40%).

Texts

Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta. Editio critica, ed. Istituto per le Scienze religiose Bologna, Giuseppe Alberigo (†)/Alberto Melloni (cur.): The Latin Councils of Western Christendom, II 1: From Constantinople IV to Pavia-Siena (862–1424), Turnhout 2013. - Phillip H. Stump, The Council of Constance (1414-1418) and the End of the Schism, in A Companion to the Great Western Schism 1378-1417, ed. by Joëlle Rollo-Koster and Thomas M. Izbicki, Leiden 2009, p. 395-442. - Heribert Müller /Johannes Helmrath (Hg.): Die Konzilien von Pisa (1409), Konstanz (1414–1418) und Basel (1431–1449). Institution und Personen (Vorträge und Forschungen 67), Stuttgart 2007. Phillip H. Stump, The Reforms of the Council of Constance (1414-1418), Leiden 1993 E cfr. http://opac.regesta-imperii.de/lang_en/suche.php?qs=&ts=council+of+constance&ps=&tags=&ejahr=&thes=&sprache=&sortierung=d&pagesize=20&objektart=alle&page=2 Program for attending students: 1. Notes from the lessons 2. Written paper on a chosen topic. 3) P. Stump, Concilium Constantiense, 1414-1418, in: Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta. Editio critica, ed. Istituto per le Scienze religiose Bologna, Giuseppe Alberigo (†)/Alberto Melloni (cur.): The Latin Councils of Western Christendom, II 1: From Constantinople IV to Pavia-Siena (862–1424), Turnhout 2013, p. 517-629. 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. Program for non-attending students: 1. Written paper on a chosen topic. 2. Phillip H. Stump, Conciliar Diplomacy at the Council of Constance (1414–1418): Unity and Peacemaking in a World Historical Perspective, Leiden 2024 3. P. Stump, Concilium Constantiense, 1414-1418, in: Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta. Editio critica, ed. Istituto per le Scienze religiose Bologna, Giuseppe Alberigo (†)/Alberto Melloni (cur.): The Latin Councils of Western Christendom, II 1: From Constantinople IV to Pavia-Siena (862–1424), Turnhout 2013, p. 517-629. 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.

The Council of Constance (1414–1418). 'International' matters put to the test by a European assembly The great conciliar season of the fifteenth century, which started in Pisa in 1409 and finished in Basel in 1449, included the Council of Constance. It ended the great schism that opened in 1378, dealt with issues of faith (heresies) and the reform of the Church ‘in head and members’. Beyond the strictly historical-religious sphere, its importance stems from its status as a "European" conference, a center of communication and a forum for the formation of "public opinion," as well as a book market. The lecture addresses the many topics that have been discussed in the lively historiography of the past few decades: reform projects and the relationship between the pope and the conciliar body, forms of representation and voting procedures, cultural transfer, diplomatic endeavors and political matters. The aim is to show how an 'international' assembly made an effort to tackle the challenges of its time, not just religious ones.