Medieval Italy: Italy in the Age of Dante (1000-1350)

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course is a survey of the history of northern Italy during the central Middle Ages (ca. 1000-1350). It traces the emergence, flowering, and decline of the "communes," the independent city republics that made Italian political life distinctive during the Middle Ages. The course explores the culture of these dynamic urban communities, especially emphasizing the rich visual and material culture, as well as the particular relationship between religion and society in Italy before the Renaissance.