Medieval History (5th-11th Century) - 2nd semester
Code
711051058
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
História
Credits
6
Teacher in charge
Maria de Lurdes Rosa
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
Objectives:
a)Familiarize the students with the historiographical problems which cross the period under study
b)Provide the necessary elements for the students to understand and interiorize the main events and the most important facts and problematic concerning the nuclear themes being studied
c)Develop a critical thinking on the problems addressed
d)Promote oral and written critical work
General skills: Students are expected to be able to:
• master the studied contents and subjects;
•analyze, interpret and synthesize data, themes and issues concerning the medieval period in the West from the 5th to the 11th centuries
•understand and interiorize historical facts and processes as elements of wider issues, and to integrate them in broader contexts and perspectives
•critically comment on direct sources.
Prerequisites
None
Subject matter
A. Sinopsis:
This course aims at opening to the students the possibility of studying, working and debating topics which are fundamental for the understanding of the main structuring lines, characteristics, and defining elements of the period which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries in Western Europe. In order to be able to study with some depth the most important The course will be organized in topics, so as to allow the students to deepen their knowledge on particularly important themes without whose knowledge the period may seem incomprehensible
B. Programme:
THEME 1: THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES: CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMS
THEME 2: THE CAROLINGIAN ERA: THE “BIRTH” OF EUROPE?
Topic 1. Rome and the Barbarians: tradition and innovation?
Topic 2. The \"Carolingian Europe\": the political construct- Europe, what Europe?
Topic 3. The “Carolingian Europe”: society and economy
Topic 4. The Carolingian Europe”: culture and religion
Topic 5. The Translatio Imperii and the question of the two swords: pandora’s box opened
THEME 3: THE YEAR 1000
Topic 1. The Revolution of the Year 1000: the myth and the reality
Topic 2. Feudalism and Feudal Society. Seigneurie and segneurial modes
Topic 3. Agriculture and Rural Exploration
Topic 4. Urban Life and Economy
Topic 5. Ecclesiastical Reform: The rise of the Papacy
THEME 4 – EXPANSION OF THE CHRISTIAN WEST
Topic 1. The Universities and the rebirth of the Law
Topic 2. Popes, Emperors and Kings: the new deal
Topic 3. Government and Politics: the cases of England and France
Bibliography
-BALLARD, Michel, GENET, Jean-Philippe, ROUCHE, Michel, A Idade Média no Ocidente, dos Bárbaros ao Renascimento, Lisboa, Ed. D. Quixote, 1994.
-CLARAMUNT, S., PORTELA, E., GONZÁLEZ, M & MITRE, E, Historia de la Edad Media, 2ª ed, 5ª reimpr., Barcelona, Ariel Historia, 2003
-DUBY, Georges, A Europa na Idade Média, Lisboa, Teorema, 1989
- LE GOFF, Jacques, As raízes medievais da Europa, Petrópolis, Vozes, 2007.
- LE GOFF, Jacques, SCHMITT, Jean-Claude (dir.), Dictionnaire raisonné de l’Occident médiéval, Paris, Fayard, 1999.
LINEHAN, Peter, NELSON, Janet (eds.), The medieval World, Londres, Routledge, 2001.
Teaching method
Formal lectures and practical classes, in which the combination of lectures and debate on primary sources and recent articles may develop in the students not only the necessary basic knowledge, but also specific competences in debating and updating their perspectives on the Medieval World of the 5th-11th centuries and its sources.
Evaluation method
The student’s assessment will be done in three moments: 1) Oral presentation (with power point) on a specific question, based on source materials (25% of the final mark); 2) Abstract of a 20 pp. article on a relevant question or the production of a critical commented bibliography on a topic of the programme (25% of the final mark); written test with consultation (50% of final mark).