HIS4144 ¨C Conflict and Order in medieval Italy and Scandinavia

Course content

Comparative history helps us understand what is unusual or unique about each of the societies that we compare. This course teaches us more about both Italy and Scandinavia by comparing their history during the Middle Ages.

In this course we will focus on four topics in medieval Italy and Scandinavia: wars within and between polities, the Church as a political actor, internal violence, and legal culture. In each field, we will find striking similarities between Scandinavia and Italy but also startling differences. While central and northern Italy was precociously urbanized, most of Scandinavia remained largely rural. At the same time as Italians experimented with republican constitutions, Scandinavia was governed by kings. But there are also similarities. In both societies, conflicts played out both within and between polities, as wars, feuds and political rivalries. Moreover, clashes between the state and church played out in similar ways, and Norwegian law shared some basic assumption with Italian laws.

The course will draw extensively on primary sources and allow the students to explore facets of political culture by analyzing chronicles, laws and charters in a comparative way.

Learning outcome

On successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

• understand the basic outline of the development in high medieval Scandinavia and Italy
• discuss political, religious, and social aspects of medieval societies both with regard to cohesion and tensions
• be able to compare various entities, being familiar with methods of difference and agreement
• be acquainted with historians having differing views on the past
• be able to analyse and express orally and in written form complex historical processes

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

Recommended previous knowledge

A good ability to read, write and understand English is required for this course.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with HIS2144 ¨C Conflict and Order in Medieval Italy and Scandinavia.

Teaching

Teaching will be done in seminars. There will be 10 seminars, with the duration of 2 or 3 hours each. In each three-hour seminar, students will present topics and drafts for their term paper.

Resources and information on this course will be given in Canvas.

Compulsory assignment:

Participants shall write and present a draft on a topic of their choosing within the framework of the course. A list of potential topics will be presented at the beginning of the course. If accepted - subject to possible revision - this will qualify for the final examination. The draft will receive feedback from students and teacher.

All participants?will give an oral presentation on the draft in class. Moreover, they will give a prepared oral presentation on secondary literature. Each student have to write two response papers. Students in HIS4122 will in addition independently identify 200 pp. of reading beyond the assigned readings, to be included in their bibliographies of their term paper.

The compulsory activity/assignment must be completed in the same semester as you take the exam.

Examination

The course is assessed by a term paper, based on the obligatory draft.

The length of the paper should be maximum 5000 words (footnotes included) and the bibliography must contain at least 200 pp. beyond assigned readings. The bibliography is not included in the word count.

Language of examination

You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.