Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages
Code: 106865 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2504611 Archaeology | OB | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Oriol Olesti Vila
- Email:
- oriol.olesti@uab.cat
Teachers
- Jesus Brufal Sucarrat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
No specific requirements
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of the subject is to introduce the student to the basic knowledge of the main historical, social and economic phenomena of Late Antiquity and the High Middle Ages.
At a second level, the subject will also focus on the following objectives:
- Know the main historical literary sources of each period, and know how to interpret these documents in the light of the most significant historiographical schools.
- Know how to integrate archaeological and epigraphic data into the historical discourse, highlighting the most significant sites and documents as well as their material sets.
- At the end of the course the student must demonstrate:
Having achieved the contents expressed in the syllabus and identifying any of its points in the context that corresponds to it.
Be able to analyze, process and interpret any kind of additional material (old sources, tables, graphs) in accordance with the contents of the syllabus and place it in the corresponding framework.
Demonstrate having done the required minimum reading (books and/or chapters specially indicated and/or recommended articles).
Having achieved a comprehensive and global knowledge of the subject through the articulation and existing relationship between the different points in which the syllabus is divided.
Learning Outcomes
- KM19 (Knowledge) Understand the main and diverse theoretical (epistemological and ontological) and methodological debates in the context of the study of ancient and medieval societies.
- KM21 (Knowledge) Explain ancient and medieval historical processes from a critical and reflective perspective, analysing how archaeological evidence can question current theoretical frameworks.
- KM22 (Knowledge) Understand the processes of social formation in the ancient and medieval periods and from the perspective of geographical, social and gender diversity to build inclusive historical accounts that avoid taking androcentric and Eurocentric perspectives.
- SM21 (Skill) Develop critical and reflective archaeological thought from the inference and generation of ancient and medieval archaeological information.
- SM22 (Skill) Consider the relationship between the archaeological record and the historical processes of ancient and medieval times in their respective contexts and social complexity.
Content
Contents:
LATE ANTIQUITY.
1-The High Empire. Antoninus and Severus: a system with problems.
2- The Crisis of the s. III. Political instability and first imperial reforms.
3- Diocletian and Constantine. The Tetrarchy A new political, social and economic model.
4- The s. IV AD Ruling dynasties. From the Constantinian to the Valentinian dynasty.
5- Society and economy in the s. IV. City and territory. Dependent groups.
6- Theodosius and the division of the Empire. Eastern and Western Dynasties.
7- Society and economy in the s. V. The crisis of the cities and the rural reorganization.
8- Christianity and Paganism in the Late period.
9- The Germanic peoples. Political, social and territorial forms.
10- The end of the Western Empire and the continuity of Byzantium.
11- Late Antiquity in the Spanish provinces and the North-East of the peninsula.
12- From the Byzantine Restitutio Imperii to the crisis of the 11th century.
13- Christianity in the West: churches, monasteries and necropolises (5th-10th century).
14- The formation of the new political entities in the West (5th-10th century).
15- Islam: mosques, necropolises, medinas and fortresses (7th-10th c.).
16- The genesis of the medieval city.
17- Exploiting the territory in the West. The shaping of a new agricultural landscape (5th-10th c.).
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Course | 30 | 1.2 | KM19, KM22, SM22, KM19 |
| Tutorials | 20 | 0.8 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Classroom activity and seminars | 10 | 0.4 | KM21, SM21, KM21 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal work | 82.4 | 3.3 |
- Attendance at theoretical classes led by the teacher.
- Attendance at seminars/practice sessions led by the teacher in the classroom.
-Comprehensive reading of texts and interpretation of maps, graphs, tables and archaeological documents.
-Completion of two compulsory readings, and completion of the corresponding comment/review.
-Personal study.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assesment 1 | 25 % | 1.3 | 0.05 | KM21, KM22, SM21 |
| Classroom activity and seminars | 10 % | 1.3 | 0.05 | KM19 |
| Review of paper/papers 1 | 15 % | 5 | 0.2 | SM22 |
The assessment of this subject, in the case of students taking the Continuous Assessment, will be made up of the following elements:
- Classroom practice 1 (Antiquity): 10% of the grade.
- Review 1 (Seniority): 15% of the grade.
- Written test Part 1 (Antiquity): 25% of the mark. The test will consist of two parts: a broad topic to be developed by the student (it will be a broad problem seen throughout the course) and a text comment on an ancient literary source
- Classroom practice 2 (High E.M.): 10% of the grade.
- Review 2 (High E.M.). 15% of the grade.
- Written test Part 2 (High E.M.): 25% of the mark
- Active participation in sessions and colleagues' presentations. 5%.
If the tests cannot be taken in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining their weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB's virtual tools. Homework, activities and class participation will be done through forums, wikis and/or exercise discussions through Teams, etc. The teacher will ensure that the student can access it or will offer him or her alternative means, which are within their reach.
In the event that the student commits any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an assessment act, this assessment act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instituted. In the event that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
Regarding recovery, it will not affect the presentation, it will keep your grade and it will not be recoverable. Practice 1 can be retaken two weeks after it has been scored. The final test will be made up for a new final test of the same style during the make-up schedule established by the faculty.
The student will receive the grade of "Not assessable" as long as he has not delivered more than 1/3 of the assessment activities.
Unique Assessment.
In this case, the evaluation of this subject will be composed of the following elements:
- Written test on the content of the syllabus: 60%.
- Commentary on 2 ancient and medieval literary sources: 40%.
The same recovery system will apply as for the continuous assessment, as well as the regulations on any type of irregularity.
Bibliography
ARCE, J. Bárbaros y Romanos en Hispania, 400-507 AD. Ed. Marcial Pons, 2005.
BAVUSO, Irene, Castrorao Barba, Angelo (eds.), The European Countryside during the migration period: Patterns of change from Iberia to the Caucasus (300-700 CE), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2023.
BRADLEY, K., Esclavitud y sociedad en Roma, Ed. Península, Barcelona, 1998.
BROGIOLO, Gian Pietro, CHAVARRIA ARNAU, Alexandra, Aristocrazie e campagne nell’Occidente da Constantino a Carlo Magno, All’Insegna del Giglio, Firenze, 2005.
BROGIOLO, Gian Pietro, Le origini della città medievale, Società Archeologica Padana, Mantova, 2011.
BROWN, P., El mundo en la Antigüedad tardía, de Marco Aurelio a Mahoma. ed. Gredos, Madrid, 2012.
CAMERON, A. (1998), El mundo mediterráneo en la Antigüedad Tardía, 395-600, Crítica, Barcelona.
CAMERON, A., (2001) El Bajo Imperio Romano: 284-430 d.C., Encuentro, Madrid.
CASTRORAO BARBA, Angelo, La fine delle ville romane in Italia tra Tarda Antichità e Alto Medioevo (III-VIII secolo), Edipuglia, Bari, 2020.
CASTRORAO BARBA, Angelo, TANASI, Davide, MICCHICHÈ, Roberto (eds.), Archaeology of the Mediterranean during Late Antiguity and the Middle Ages, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2023.
CHAVARRIA ARNAU, Alexandra, A la sombra de un imperio: Iglesias, obispos y reyes en la Hispania tardoantigua (siglos V-VII), Edipuglia, Bari, 2018.
CHAVARRIA ARNAU, Alexandra (eds.), Cambio de era. Córdoba y el Mediterráneo cristiano, Ayuntamiento de Córdoba, Córdoba, 2023.
DIARTE-BLASCO, Pilar, Late Antiquity & Early Medieval Hispania. Landscapes without Strategy? An archaeological approach, OxbowBooks, Oxford, 2018.
DOLEZALEK, Isabelle, GUIDETTI, Mattia, Rediscovering objects from Islamic lands in Enlightenment Europe, Routledge, London, 2022.
DUBY, G. PERROT, M. (Eds.). Historia de las Mujeres. 1. La Antigüedad. Ed. Taurus, Barcelona 2000.
GUIDETTI, Mattia, In the shadow of the church: the Building of mosques in early medieval Syria, Brill, Leiden, 2017.
JONES, A.H.M. The Later Roman Empire. 284-602. Original 1964. Múltiples edicions.
LÓPEZ DE BARJA, P., LOMAS, J.F., Historia de Roma. Ed. Akal. 2001.
MITCHELL, S. A History of the Later Roman Empire. 284-641 AD. Blackwell Publishing, 2007.
PETTEGREW, David, CARAHER, William, DAVIS, Thomas, The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Arcaheology, Oxford Univesity Press, Oxford, 2019.
RIPOLL, Gisela, GURT, Josep Maria (eds.), Sedes regiae (ann. 400-800), Reial Acadèmia de les Bones Lletres, Barcelona, 2000.
WARD-PERKINS, B., (2007) La caída de Roma y el fin de la civilización, Espasa-Calpe, Madrid.
WICKHAM, CH. (2013) El legado de Roma, Una Historia de Europa de 400 a 1000, Colección Ensayo (Pasado Presente). Madrid.
WICKHAM, Chris, Europa en la Edad Media: una nueva interpretación, Crítica, Barcelona, 2017.
Software
No specific requirements.
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |