History of Medieval Church and Heretical Movements

The course aims to offer the intellectual elements of the history of the church through the different historiographical orientations and specialized terminology in the long history of Christianity. The course aims to provide the conceptual and terminology tools suitable for scientific and popular historical communication.

The course aims to introduce participants to the historical reflection on the history of the medieval church through forms of non-conformist or heretical religiosity through the historical-critical use of published and unpublished sources and the printed and online bibliographic tools essential for the study of the period. Through the analysis of concrete examples, students will be introduced to different methodologies of historical investigation and the study of archival documentation on anti-heretical repression. At the end of the course students will be able to critically read primary sources and scientific texts relating to the historical period under consideration and develop independent reflections on the main historical and historiographical issues relating to heretics. These skills will be acquired through a direct and continuous meeting with the instructor in the classroom: in particular, through critical reflection on documents and texts proposed for individual analysis and participation in seminar activities and insights through specialized readings suggested by the teacher.
Students opting not to attend the lessons will be able to make use of the educational tools provided by the instructor on Ariel, deepen their knowledge of main topics through special readings with the agreement with the instructor, and of course contact the instructor either by e-mail and during office hours.