To show the organization of the course that includes this module, follow this link:  Course organization

Learning outcomes

The course aims to introduce students to a specific topic about medieval society and institutions, to show them a research method and to provide them with skills to carry out individual research on Middle Age history.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
(a) report the main contents of the course, using an appropriate vocabulary;
(b) expose methods that have been used in the research path to reach determined conclusions;
(c) analyze a historical source about the subjects covered in the teaching describing the features and articulations of its form and content
(d) judge the results of the research critically, hypothesising different solutions or proposing further research.

Program

Church and laity in the Middle Ages. The contrast between clergy and laity is one of the keys to understand the entire history of Western Christianity. The subject will be discussed in general terms (definitions; phases of the contrast during the Middle Ages) and in the history of brotherhoods:
- prayer associations
- hospital foundations
- penitent order
- flagellants
- brotherhoods
- brotherhoods and hospices
- corporations and guilds
- brotherhoods in modern ages.
It will be referred to specific examples concerning the Trentino area.

* J. Le Goff, Chierico/laico, in Enciclopedia Einaudi, II, Torino 1977, pp. 1066-1086.
* J.-C. Schmitt, Chierici e laici, in Dizionario dell'Occidente medioevale, Einaudi, Torino, 2001, pp. 197-212.
* A. Vauchez, I laici nel Medioevo. Pratiche ed esperienze religiose, Milano 1989, pp. 19-67, 84-90.
* G.G. Meersseman, Ordo fraternitatis. Confraternite e pietà dei laici nel Medioevo, Roma, Herder, 1977, pp. 3-34, 265-304, 355-389, 451-512.
* Studi confraternali: orientamenti, problemi, testimonianze, a cura di M. Gazzini (Reti medievali e-book, 12), Firenze 2009 (http://www.rm.unina.it/rmebook/index.php?mod=none_Gazzini_Studi), part 1 and part 2 (up to page 213)
* Confraternite in Trentino e a Riva del Garda, Caselle di Sommacampagna (Vr), Cierre, 2017 (Biblioteca dei Quaderni di Storia Religiosa, 9), pp. 9-146.
* G.M. Varanini, Uomini e donne in ospedali e monasteri del territorio trentino (secoli XII-XIV), in "Quaderni di storia religiosa", 1 (1994), pp. 259-300.
* D. Ressegotti, Gli antichi statuti della confraternita dei Battuti di Trento, in "Studi Trentini. Storia", 92 (2013), pp. 65-96.
* G. Pederzini, Il primo libro di conti della confraternita dell’Immacolata di Villa Lagarina (1500-1535), in “Studi Trentini. Storia”, 96 (2017), n. 2, pp. 359-382.

Not-attending students: furthermore, part 3 and part 4 of "Studi confraternali: orientamenti, problemi, testimonianze, a cura di M. Gazzini (Reti medievali e-book, 12), Firenze 2009 (http://www.rm.unina.it/rmebook/index.php?mod=none_Gazzini_Studi)".

Examination Methods

Oral exam. The students will have to demonstrate knowledge of the subject presented during the course, using an appropriate vocabulary and exposing the methods used in the research path. The analysis of a historical source will also be part of the exam.