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Home , History of Florence

Lecture Course

Santa Reparata International School of Art Course Syllabus

Semester Course Course Title: History of : From the Ancient Roman Times to the SRISA Course Number: HIST 3201 Maryville Course Number: HIST 389 Credits: 3, Contact Hours: 45

1. COURSE DESCRIPTION The course will guide the student in the history of Florence in order to make clear the birth of this world wide beloved city and understand the history of Italy, its contradictions and divisions, but also its great art, literature and political development. The Students will be presented with an interdisciplinary overview of the history of Florence until the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of Modern Era. The most prominent characters of the Florentine history will be presented one by one, through visits on site.

2. CONTENT INTRODUCTION This is a course designed to help students to explore the historical background of Florence, its artistic riches and how the city grew and developed until it became one of the most important political centers of the Medieval world. Following a roughly chronological order, it will provide a deep analysis of local and national politics as well as theology, philosophy, economy and architecture of the time. The name Florence comes from the Latin Florentia, city of the flowers. We will discover together why it was given this name.

The course is particularly recommended to all those students that want to gain an in-depth knowledge of the history of Florence, from every point of view and focused on the golden age of the city: the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

3. PREREQUISITES As this course is an introduction to the history of Florence, there are no special requirements to attend it.

4. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES This course is intended to provide students – whether they are majors in History, Political Science or whether they have taken only an introductory course – with specific answers to the question "what is Florence and what is Italy?". It is intended to stimulate discussion and critical thinking about representations and idealizations of the concept of city, with special regard on Florence, its role during the Ancient times and the Middle Ages, and then the Renaissance and its contribution in the construction of Modern Italy. Students will develop their awareness and understanding of the major historical and political issues that characterize Florence, and they will be able to trace them through the history of its origin to the Renaissance. Students should gain a command not only of the "facts" of the history of Florence; the dates of key events; the importance of major personalities and such, but also come to understand the dynamics involved such as the basic trends of continuity and change; and the cause and effect and the role and influence of regional, national and international events in the Florentine historical and political scenario.

5. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS Students are required to take notes from class and will find assignments and reading on the SRISA website in the MYSRISA section. Only registered students can access this section. To obtain your login credentials please ask the professor.

Suggested textbooks (two of the following are required):

1. Michael Rocke, Forbidden Friendship: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence, Oxford University Press 1996. 2. Alan Cameron, Jacqueline Long, Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius, University of California Press 1993. 3. Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians, Penguin 1986. 4. Averil Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity. AD 395-600, Rutledge 2001. 5. Dmitri Obolensky, The Byzantine Commonwealth. Eastern Europe, 500-1453, Praeger 1971. 6. Christopher Hibbert, Biography of a city: Florence, Penguin 2004. 7. Anthony Molho, Florentine Public Finances in the Early Renaissance, 1400-1433, Harvard University Press 1971. 8. Raymond de Roover, The Medici , 1397-1494, Beard Books 1999 9. James Shaw, Evelyn Welch, Making and Marketing Medicine in Renaissance Florence, Rodopi 2011. 10. Ann G. Carmichael, Plague and the Poor in Renaissance Florence, Cambridge University Press 2014. 11. Richard A. Goldthwaite, The Building of Renaissance Florence, The Johns Hopkins University Press 1982. 12. Richard A. Goldthwaite, The Economy of Renaissance Florence, The Johns Hopkins University Press 2009. 13. Gene Brucker, Florence : The golden age, University of California Press 1998. 14. Elizabeth S. Cohen-Thomas V. Cohen, Daily life in Renaissance Italy, Greenwood 2008.

15. Brian Jeffrey Maxsons, The Humanist World of Renaissance Florence, Cambridge University Press 2013. 16. Samuel Kline Cohn, The Laboring Classes in Renaissance Florence, Elsevier 2013. 17. John Stephens, The : The Origins of Intellectual and Artistic Change Be- fore the Reformation, Routledge 2014.

18. Mary McCarthy, The stones of Florence, Harvest 2002. 19. Richard Trexler, Public life in Renaissance Florence, Cornell 1991. 20. Richard Turner, Renaissance Florence: The invention of a new art, Prentice 1997.

NOTE: 1. Not all of these books are available at the school’s library. Handouts will be given by the instructor at the beginning of class when necessary. 2. Further readings will be required and indicated by the professor in class and individually according to the student’s interests.

6. GRADING POLICY AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES

20% Attendance 20% Class participation 20% Mid-term test 20% Final Paper 20% Final exam

Following grading system will be observed:

A Excellent 4.0 (95% -100%) A- 3.7, (90% to 94%)

B+ 3.3 (87% to 89%) B Above Average 3.0 (83% to 86%) B- 2.7 (80% to 82%) C+ 2.3 (77% to 79%) C Average 2.0 (73% to 76%) C- 1.7 (70% to 72%) D Below Average 1.0 (60% to 69%) F Failure 0.0 (59% and below) W Withdrawal 0.0

7. PLAGIARISM AND COPYING SRISA severally condemns ignorant plagiarism and copying during examinations. Any student that makes use of words or ideas taken from another person’s work without properly citing credit for the specific purpose of deceiving their professor will receive an automatic “F” on that assignment or exam. Should the offense be repeated, the student will receive an automatic “F” in the class. fair use and copied imagery with their professors before turning in their assignment.

8. EXAMS There is a Mid-term Test and a Final Exam for this course. No make-ups are allowed for the exams and the dates of the exams CANNOT be changed for any reason. If a student misses the Final exam, the final grade will be an “F”.

Mid-term Test (20% of final grade) The exam will last one hour. It will consist of 10 specific essay questions about the assigned readings and the lectures. Final Exam (20 % of final grade) The exam will last one hour. It will consist of 10 specific essay questions about the assigned readings and the lectures. If you need to consult with the instructor on any academic question, it is possible to do so by appointment – this should be set up the week before. Guidelines for Final Paper (20% of final grade) The length of the paper should be a minimum of 8 pages and a maximum of 12. A full bibliography must be included at the end of the paper. Web sites consulted should also be cited. All direct quotations from published sources should be acknowledged in your text immediately following the quotation. This is to avoid any inadvertent plagiarism. All papers should be handed personally to the instructor before the final exam review session. If you need to consult with the instructor on anything relating to the final papers (or indeed on any academic question) it is possible to do so by appointment – this should be set up the week before. In the week preceding exams – both mid-term and finals – ‘Office Hours’ will be held at a time and place to be announced.

9. ATTENDANCE AND BEHAVIOR POLICY Students may miss up to 2 classes with no penalty to their grade. Students who miss 3 class will have their grade lowered by one letter grade for each additional absence. For example, if you have an “A” in this class and you are absent 3 times you will receive a “B” in the course. If you are absent more than 4 times you will receive an “F” on your transcript. · Tardiness: After 10 minutes into class time, students are considered absent. · Students who leave 10 minutes before class time ends will be considered absent. · Excused absences require a doctor’s note or a written note from the Director. · Arriving in class unprepared to work is considered an unexcused absence. · The use of cellular phones is prohibited during class time. · Students are expected to participate in class, act responsibly, and behave properly while on the school premises. Classrooms are to be left in order and clean. Students must take care of equipment and materials and promptly report any damage and/or loss. No eating or drinking in class.

10. COURSE CALENDAR Introduction, why a course on the history of Florence?

Lectures: Etruscan and Ancient Roman Florence, the beginning · Tuscany and the Etruscans. · The Foundation of Florence, Florence as a Roman 1st week: Province. · Emperors Hadrian, Diocletian and the Goddess Isis in Florence · Florence as capital of Etruria-

Focus on · and Florence

Lectures: The Early Middle Ages in Florence, warfare and resurrection · The Barbarian invasions and Florence: the Goths 2nd week: · The Byzantines and Florence · The Lombard invasion: a real decline?

Focus on · Barbarians? Is it correct to speak of barbarians still today? Some reflections

Lectures: Florence and the Carolingian Empire · Charles the Great and Florence · Rethinking Early Medieval Florence: what was the Feudalism and which were its outcomes in Tuscany · Starting from Early Medieval Florence to understand 3rd week: Modern Italy

Focus on · Charles the Great, the Carolingian empire and the birth of Europe

Lectures: The Middle Ages. Birth of a world myth · The reorganization of the Florentine territory: 1. Florence and its river 2. Florence and its hills 3. Florence and the sea 4. Florence and the monastic orders 4th week: · Florence and the 11th century’s Reform of the Church

Focus on · The Archaeology of Florence.

Visit on site · and the 1980’s Excavations

Lectures: Florence as a city-State: 1. Foreign policy · Florence, Gregory 7th and the Emperor Henry 4th 5th week: · Florence and the crusade

Focus on · The political power of the , its origin: the Constitutum Constantini

Lectures: Florence as a city-State: 2. Internal policy · 1177-1180: the first civil war in Florence 6th week: · The birth of the city guild (Arti) · Florence and Tuscany. A troubled relation

Focus on · Florence and medieval travelers

Lectures: The new city institutions · The power of city-guilds · The Consoli and Podestà 7th week: · Between the Emperor and the Pope: Guelfi e Ghibellini · Vendetta as a political instrument

Focus on · Modern Mafia and medieval vendetta: is it possible to trace a parallel?

Lectures: From apogee to the disaster: pre-Renaissance Florence · One of the largest cities in the world: 14th century Florence · Florentine economy, wealth and bankrupt 8th week: · Florence and the International trade · The Black plague in Europe and Florence, some stereotypes to disband · Famine, economy and political crisis

Focus on · Dante, the Comedy and the birth of Modern

Midterm exam Break

Lectures: in Florence. A cultural revolution · The rise of the Medici family. A new power in Italy · The Council of Florence. The attempt to pacify the Oriental church and the Western one. Many intellectual 9th week: from all over are in Florence · Lorenzo il Magnifico and the glory of Florence

Focus on • Francesco Petrarca and

Lectures: Renaissance Florence. The new capital of the world · Florence as a Territorial State, a new concept for the 10th week: future of Italy

Focus on · Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus discovered America, but Vespucci gave to the New World his name

Lectures: Renaissance Literature · The rediscovery of Classic Literature · Niccolò Machiavelli e Francesco Guicciardini 11th week: · The Reformation and Florence

Visit on site · Biblioteca Laurenziana. The Medici Library

Lectures: Renaissance Art · Why Florence? · Leon Battista Alberti and 12th week: · and · Brunelleschi and the new architecture

Visit on site · Hidden Florence, a field trip to discover some secrets of the city and the Duomo

Lectures: Renaissance Philosophy, the Careggi new platonic 13th week: School

Focus on · Lorenzo Valla and the birth of Philology as a science

Lectures: Renaissance Politics • Leonardo Bruni 14th week: • Lorenzo e Cosimo de’ Medici • Pope Julius 2nd

Focus on • The Bargello. A renaissance court house in the center of Florence

15th week: Final Exam

______Final review: The final papers must be handed in. Final exam ______

11. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS SRISA strives to foster an all-inclusive learning environment that best caters to its students’ needs. While faculty frequently work one-on-one with students, there are some situations in which special accommodations are required. Should a student have any academic accommodations regarding test taking or otherwise, they must present an official letter from their home University to the SRISA Director within the first week of class stating the accommodations.

12. DISCLAIMER This Syllabus may be amended as the course proceeds. You will be notified if changes are made.