| CODE | HST3031 | ||||||
| TITLE | Medieval Regions | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | History | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit is made up of three principal components: Medieval Sicily discusses the political, social, cultural and economic evolution of Sicily from Muslim times up to the early sixteenth century, in the light of wider central Mediterranean developments. Topics covered include: a discussion of the historiography; Sicily and North African Islam; the Norman conquest and the political evolution of the Kingdom of Sicily; the unmaking of Sicilian Islam; the social and cultural transformation of the island; economy and society in Sicily on the eve of the Vespers; Sicily in the Catalan-Aragonese orbit. Students are encouraged to evaluate contrasting interpretations of late medieval Sicilian history. Medieval Sardinia presents a regional case-study in the wider Mediterranean context; Sardinia’s political history, from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, is studies in relation to the wider forces which were shaping Mediterranean history. Topics covered include: society and politics in eleventh century Sardinia; Genoese and Pisans in Sardinia down to 1323; commerce and colonisation; the Catalan-Aragonese take-over, 1323-1410; late medieval Sardinia: a colonial society? Medieval Cities addresses the different forms of urban life which emerged in the medieval Mediterranean world on both sides of the Christian-Muslim divide. It studies urban life within its physical, political, economic and cultural context; the making of urban societies is discussed in relation to the agrarian hinterlands studied in a number of case-studies. Other topics covered include: the recovery of urban life in the High Middle Ages; the evolution of urban institutions; city politics and urban elites; cities in late medieval regional economies; and, last but not least, medieval citizens. The lectures and discussions throughout the course, as well as the texts discussed in class, are in English. Nevertheless, students are advised that a working knowledge of Italian is an important advantage in view of the available secondary literature on Sicily and Sardinia. Aims: - To offer students factual knowledge and comparative insights into the regional histories of two principal Mediterranean islands in the medieval period; - To emphasize the connection between political, economic, social and institutional developments in these regional case-studies, within the broader picture of medieval Mediterranean history; - To offer students the opportunity to form a critical understanding of the role of cities and ports in the medieval Mediterranean world; - To make students aware of different approaches to medieval regional history, both with regard to the history of these two islands as well as in relation to the wider Mediterranean context; - To emphasize the interconnection between the different factors shaping the history of these island regions, and their important consequences and effects; - To alert students about comparative historical approaches to the subject. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain what the key concepts and thematic debates in medieval Mediterranean regional history are; - Highlight how this field of study is related to the wider subject of medieval history, as well as the field of Mediterranean history; - Describe developments in the history of two principal Mediterranean islands and their interconnection with the wider context; - Analyze the factual knowledge and the thematic interpretations of the subject in terms of the recent historiography of the medieval Mediterranean; - Make historical comparisons between developments in the two islands in the medieval period. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Read critically and selectively and make sense of a range of secondary sources on the subject; - Write advanced historical essays with a clear structure and logical presentation of arguments; - Demonstrate a critical awareness of the long-term development of regional history; - Explain the structural similarities as well as the differences between different historical case-studies. Reading List: • The New Cambridge Medieval History • Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages ed A Vauchez et al (2000) • Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia ed C Kleinhenz (2004) • D.Abulafia, The Great Sea. A Human History of the Mediterranean (Penguin, 2011) • D.Abulafia, Italy, Sicily and the Mediterranean, 1100-1400 (Aldershot, 1987) • J.Day, Uomini e terre nella Sardegna coloniale, XII-XVIII secolo (Turin, 1987) • H.Bresc, Un monde méditerranéen. Économie et société en Sicile, 1300-1450 (Palermo - Rome, 1986) • H.Bresc, Politique et société en Sicile, XIIe-XVe siècles (Aldershot, 1990) • S.L.Dyson & R.J.Rowland, Archaeology and History in Sardinia from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 2007) • S.R.Epstein, An Island for Itself. Economic development and social change in late medieval Sicily (Cambridge, 1992) • D.Herlihy – C.Klapisch-Zuber, Tuscans and their families. A study of the Florentine catasto of 1427 (Yale, 1985) • G.Meloni, Mediterraneo e Sardegna nel basso medioevo (Cagliari, 1988) • D.Nicholas, The Later Medieval City 1300-1500 (Addison Wesley, 1997) • J.J.Norwich, The Normans in Sicily (Penguin, 1992) • S. Orvietani Busch, Medieval Mediterranean Ports (Brill, 2001) • I.Peri, La Sicilia dopo il Vespro (Laterza, 1982) • I.Peri, Restaurazione e pacifico stato in Sicilia, 1377-1501 (Laterza, 1988) • H.Pirenne, Medieval Cities (Princeton, 1925) • R.J.Rowland, The Periphery in the Center: Sardinia in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Archaeopress, 2001) • M.Tangheroni, Medioevo tirrenico: Sardegna, Toscana e Pisa (Pisa, 1992) • C.Trasselli, Sicilia |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Charles Dalli |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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