Teaching code

4S000703

Teacher

Mariaclara Rossi

Coordinatore

Mariaclara Rossi

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-STO/07 - HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY AND OF CHURCHES

Period

2 B dal Apr 4, 2022 al Jun 4, 2022.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to deepen the methodological and cultural basis for investigating the role of the history of Christianity in the wider context of Western history.

Program

Content of the course and Reference books

Poverty and wealth in the history of Christianity from the early centuries to the Mendicant orders

The course deals with the question of poverty and the poor in the history of Christianity as well as the impact of the use of wealth by Christians. Chronologically the course extends from the early centuries of our era to the high and late middle ages and includes topics in ancient and medieval history. The first part looks at the thought of some Church fathers on the topic of wealth and its use. In particular, there will be a close examination of comments on the episode of the “rich young man” and the parable of the “rich fool” and the thinking of Clement of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzius, John Chrysostom and Augustine. The second part deals with the role of evangelical-pauperist movements and of the Mendicant orders in medieval ideas about wealth.

Topics in Ancient History

1) Per foramen acus. Il cristianesimo antico di fronte alla pericope evangelica del ‘giovane ricco’, Milano, Vita e pensiero, 1986 (Studia patristica mediolanensia, 14)
2) Peter Brown, Per la cruna di un ago, La ricchezza, la caduta di Roma e lo sviluppo del cristianesimo, 350-550 d.C, Einaudi, Torino 2012.
3) Peter Brown, Tesori in cielo. La povertà santa nel cristianesimo delle origini, Carocci, Roma 2018.
4) Povertà e ricchezza nel cristianesimo antico (I-V secolo). 42° Incontro di studiosi dell’antichità cristiana (Roma, 8-10 maggio 2014), Istituto patristico Augustinianum 2016.
5) Clemente Alessandrino, Il ricco e la salvezza. Nuova versione, Testo greco a fronte, Milano 2003 (possono essere prese in considerazione anche altre traduzioni)


Medieval Topics

1) La conversione alla povertà nell’Italia dei secoli XII-XIV. Atti del XXVII Convegno storico internazionale (Todi, 14-17 ottobre 1990), Spoleto 1991.
2) Giacomo Todeschini, Ricchezza francescana. Dalla povertà volontaria alla società di mercato, Bologna 2004.
3) Giuliana Albini, Poveri e povertà nel medioevo, Carocci, Roma 2016.

Bibliography

Examination Methods

Examination methods: oral interviews
The oral exam will be an interview covering the topics that were dealt with during the lectures and expanded on in the study manuals. The interview will aim to determine:
-the students’ knowledge of the topic,
-their ability to use a specialised language,
-their ability to make connections between various arguments and to argue points in an appropriate manner
-their ability to read, contextualize and interpret a source