MODERN HISTORY
Written (attending students only) and oral.
The course is designed to introduce students to a wide array of historical processes which shaped European society in the early modern period. The first unit explores cultural, social, economic, political and religious developments c. 1450 to c. 1800. The second unit provides a critical perspective on a more selected set of key themes from the history of Europe in the eighteenth century.
First unit (cfu 0-4,5): From medieval to early modern; The Renaissance; Geographical explorations and the expansion of Europe throughout the world – The advent of the new monarchies (France, Spain, England, the Habsburg monarchy); Reformation and Counter-Reformation; The French wars of religion; The Rise and decline of the Dutch economic supremacy; The Thirty years war; The Frondes; The English revolutions; The absolutism of Louis XIV; The War of the Spanish Succession; The new European system; The colonial trade; The Enlightenment and the reforms of the Enlightened despots; The birth of the United States; The French revolution.
Second unit (cfu 4,5-9): Demographic dynamics; Agriculture and land tenure; Guilds, corporations and the rural domestic system; The commercial and financial development; The social structure of the old regime; The forms of government; The Enlightenment; Churches and States; The cities; International relations; The crisis of the ancien régime.
First unit (cfu 0-4,5): 1. For a general revision of the basic issues of the history of early modern Europe C. CAPRA, Storia moderna (1492-1848), Firenze, Le Monnier 2004, is strongly recommended (the secondary school syllabus edited for the universities contains some useful introductory chapters based on the “long term” perspective; a second edition dated 2011 is available). Students with a good degree of knowledge in the subject are allowed to choose one the following: F. BENIGNO, L’età moderna. Dalla scoperta dell’America alla restaurazione, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2005; M. ROSA, M. VERGA, Storia dell’Età Moderna, 1450-1815, Bruno Mondadori, Milano 1998; A. PROSPERI, P. VIOLA, Storia moderna e contemporanea, voll. 1-2, Einaudi, Torino 2000; G.P.ROMAGNANI, la società di antico regime (XVI-XVIII secolo). Temi e problemi storiografici, Carocci, Roma 2010. 2. Additionally, students are required to present two monographic essays out of a selection of nine from the Manuale di storia Donzelli. Storia moderna, Donzelli, Roma 1998: G. IMBRUGLIA, Alla conquista del mondo: la scoperta dell’America e l’espansione europea; S. PEYRONEL RAMBALDI, La Riforma protestante; M. CARAVALE, La nascita dello Stato moderno; G. FRAGNITO, Religioni contro: l’Europa nel secolo di ferro; F. BENIGNO, Rivoluzione e civiltà mercantile; E. FASANO, L’assolutismo; G. PAGANO, Il dominio coloniale; G. ABBATTISTA, La Rivoluzione americana; A. M. RAO, La Rivoluzione francese. The two monographic essays can be replaced with G.J.AMES, L’età delle scoperte geografiche. 1500-1700, Il Mulino, Bologna 2011. As historical processes cannot be understood but in their geographical context, students are warmly invited to consult an historical atlas like the new Atlante Storico di Atlasmundi.com, http://www.silab.it/storia/europa/. Second unit (cfu 4,5 - 9): 1. For the section on eighteenth century Europe, L. GUERCI, L’Europa del Settecento. Permanenze e mutamenti, Utet, Torino (1988), ristampa 2006 is strongly recommended (parts I and II, plus chap. XIX , Il problema del dispotismo illuminato, from part III). 2. Additionally, students are required to translate the index and one abstract of one issue of a foreign review out of a selection of three which includes: a) «The Historical Journal»http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=HIS&volumeId=54&se... b) «Revue d’histoire moderne et contemporaine» http://www.cairn.info/revue-d-histoire-moderne-et-contemporaine.htm c) «Investigaciones históricas: Época moderna y contemporánea» http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/listaarticulos?tipo_busqueda=ANUALIDA...
Lectures.
Office hours: every day following appointment by email.