Learning objectives

The module intends to enable the attending students to date, read, interpret and examine the main forms of manuscript testimonies in the Latin alphabet (libraries, documentaries, epigraphs) of the classical age, the late antique, the Middle Ages and the early modern age.

Prerequisites and basic notions

No prior knowledge required

Program

The teaching programme includes the presentation and discussion of the main phases in the history of Latin writing from its origins (7th-6th century B.C.) to the mid-15th century. In particular, the following will be illustrated:
- the scripts of Roman civilisation (archaic capital in the age of monarchy, epigraphic capital, capital cursive and book majuscule between the age of the republic and the imperial age);
- the writing practices of Late Antiquity and the appearance of minuscule script both in books (so called "primitive minuscule", uncial and half-uncial) and in charters (later roman cursive);
- "particolarismo grafico" in the early Middle Ages (national later roman cursive for books and charters on the Western European territories, insular scripts for the British Isles);
- the Carolingian graphic reform and the Carolingian minuscule: genesis and contexts of use between the 9th and 12th centuries of a script for primary schools;
- the writing culture of the laity between the 12th and 13th centuries: universities and professions in the urban renaissance between the litterae textuales and the new professional cursives;
- the reaction of the erudites: the semigothic script of Petrarch and Boccaccio;
- the humanistic writings between Salutati, Bracciolini and Niccoli: a bridge towards movable type printing

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The lecturer will use:
a) lectures;
b) practical exercises;
c) thematic in-depth studies proposed to the students

Learning assessment procedures

Oral examination for attending and non-attending students

Evaluation criteria

The following will be assessed:
- ability to discursively organise acquired knowledge;
- ability to engage in critical reflection on the work undertaken;
- quality of exposition and competence in the use of specialist terminology.
The grade will be expressed in thirtieths

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

A maximum of ten thirtieths shall be granted for each of the three evaluation areas declared in the "Evaluation Criteria" section

Exam language

Italiano