MEDIEVAL HISTORY OF WESTERN EUROPE

Specific Foundation / Core

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

The course studies the formation and the development of Western Medieval Europa (5th-15th c.). Students are expected to familiarize themselves with a) the political processes that formed the medieval political entities, b) basic elements of medieval political thought, c) aspects of social and economical systems, and d) research methods and relevant historiographical debates. Moreover, the course aims at sharpening the students' skills in interpreting complex historical events, like the transition processes from the Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, as well as those from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era.

This course is an introduction to the medieval history of Western Europe from the 5th to the 15th century. Because of the wide, temporal as well as geographic extent of the subject the survey focuses mainly on the formation and development of political forms, i.e. the German Empire, the various kingdoms and the autonomous cities, from the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire until the end of the 15th century. Emphasis is also stressed on the role of the Roman Church in the European political developments of that time. The students will be acquainted with a) the political processes that formed the medieval political entities, b) basic elements of medieval political thought, c) aspects of social and economical systems, and d) research methods and relevant historiographical debates. Moreover, the course aims at sharpening the students' skills in interpreting complex historical events, like the transition processes from the Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, as well as those from the Late Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era. Αναλυτική περιγραφή μαθήματος ανά εβδομάδα (Syllabus) Week #1 Introduction. Temporal and geographical limits. Medieval perceptions of time and place. Sources for the study of medieval history. Week #2 Western Europe in early medieval ages (5th-10th c.): Romans and “Barbarians”. The invasion of the German tribes in the western part of the Empire and the formation of medieval kingdoms. The role of the Church. . Week #3 Western Europe in early medieval ages (5th-10th c.): Political, ethnic and cultural identities in Middle Ages. Week #4 Western Europe in early medieval ages (5th-10th c.): society and economy Week #5 Western Europe in early medieval ages (5th-10th c.): society and economy Week #6 Western Europe in early medieval ages (5th-10th c.): The Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire. The new “invasions” (Normans, Arabs, Magyars): perception of the Other and assimilation processes Week #7 Western Europe in high middle ages (11th-13th c.): feudalism and social transformations. The investiture controversy and the Roman Church. Week #8 Western Europe in high middle ages (11th-13th c.): Crusades Week #9 Western Europe in high middle ages (11th-13th c.): society and economy (the trade expansion, the emergence of medieval town and the medieval civic culture) Week #10 Western Europe in late middle ages (14th-15th c.): Political developments in the medieval kingdoms. The “Black Death” (1348) and its social and economic consequences Week #11 Western Europe in late middle ages (14th-15th c.): The origins of the absolute monarchy and the representative institutions. Changes in the religious expression. Week #12 Western Europe in late middle ages (14th-15th c.): the Italian renaissance and the formation of new intellectual horizons. The shaping of the term “medieval”. The new historical thought. Week #13 General overview of the subject

Medieval History, Western Empire, Roman Church, medieval cities, Renaissance

25-02-2021