Notwithstanding the need for self-study of the entire proposed textbook, the following topics will be explored in the course of the lectures, in respect of which supplementary materials deposited on the Moodle platform will also be proposed:
1. The Middle Ages: a historiographical category;
2. Late Antiquity and the Romano-Barbaric kingdoms;
3. The Longobards and the ‘Longobard question’;
4. The Carolingians;
5. Europe at the turn of the year 1000;
6. The Reformation of the Church;
7. The Crusades and the Crusader States;
9. The Invention of the Commune;
10. The 13th century, the century of the duo magna luminaria;
11. The progressive constitution of national states;
12. The Italian evolution from commune to lordship;
13. The crisis of the fourteenth century;
14. The papacy in the Late Middle Ages.


During the course, students will be provided with basic informations about the main political-institutional events that took place during the Medieval millennium, from the crisis of the 3rd century to the era of the 15th century Italian Signorie. At the same time, certain themes (such as monasticism, the invention of the notion of the Crusade, the invention of the institution of the Commune, etc.) that represent the most widespread elements in the construction of the modern imaginary relating to the Medieval era will be explored in depth. Students will thus be able to reconstruct the chronological timeline of the Medieval millennium, with a particular focus on the Italian, Frankish and Germanic-imperial areas, correctly identifying causal links and lines of continuity.
In this way, students will also be able to correctly decrypt the historical and cultural informations with which they come into contact in the communicative reality, also facing with greater awareness the phenomena of ideological distortion to which the notion of the Middle Ages falls victim in common language, including that of the media.
At the end of the course, students should be able, when confronted with an image or a geo-political map, to construct an explanatory discourse on the reality represented, on the basis of some basic indications.

Attending students:
1. Alfio Cortonesi, Il medioevo. Profilo di un millennio, Carocci (for each lesson, chapters and paragraphs to be consulted will be indicated).
2. Giuseppe Sergi, L'idea di Medioevo, Donzelli, only: Cap. I Il problema; Cap. II Medioevo: definizione e limiti cronologici; Cap. III Formazione e sviluppo di un concetto storiografico (available on the Moodle platform)
3. Paolo Cammarosano, Italia medievale. Geografia delle fonti scritte, Carocci, only: Part 2, Centri e periferie: la riorganizzazione politica d'Italia e le scritture delle autorità pubbliche (secoli XII-XV) (available on the Moodle platform).
4. Dossiers of sources and documents deposited during the lessons on Moodle.

Non-attending students:
Complete reading of Giuseppe Sergi, L'idea di Medioevo, Donzelli

All texts are available in the library.

Guide to Alfio Cortonesi's textbook (also with reference to recorded lessons):
Late Antiquity and the Roman-Barbaric kingdoms (less. 2-3): cap. 1, 2 § 1-3, 3, 4 § 1-2.
The Longobards (less. 4-5): cap. 5, 4 § 3
The Carolingians (less. 6-9): cap. 7, 8, 6 § 4
Europe at the turn of the millennium (less. 10-13): cap. 9, 10, 8, 11, 12
The Reformation of the Church (less. 14-17): cap. 14, 13 § 4
The Crusades and the Crusader States (less. 18-19): cap. 17 § 1, 15
The Invention of the Commune (less. 20-21): cap.12, 17, 19
The 13th century, the century of duo magna luminaria (less. 22-23): cap.18, 20
The progressive constitution of nation states: cap. 13, 21, 24 § 1-5
Italian evolution from commune to seigniory: cap. 25
The crisis of the 14th century: cap. 22
The Papacy in the Late Middle Ages: cap. 23 § 1-2