OVERVIEW

The course addresses medieval public documents (imperial, realm, lordly, pontificate etc.), private and hybrid (city, episcopal etc.), understood as written evidence of a fact of a legal nature compiled in observance of certain forms aimed at bringing about trust and giving proof. The form rather than the contents of documents will be examined. Some public acts and private documents will be read and their formal characteristics will be analysed. 

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The “History and forms of documents” course has the objective of making students familiar with the main thrust of the evolution of the extrinsic and intrinsic characteristics of public and private documents; teaching modern editing provisions; and giving students the capacity to recognise and read documentary records. 

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Teaching aims to attain the following objectives in relation to knowledge, skills and abilities: 1) understanding extrinsic characteristics (support, writing, validation systems) and intrinsic characteristics (text structure) of public and private documents diachronically, chronological uses, tradition of documentary texts; 2) ability to read and possibly edit documents according to modern norms; 3) capacity to recognise and ability in reading public (papal and imperials) and private documents.

TEACHING METHODS

Teaching is articulated in two modules of 6 and 3 credits and there will be lectures with a part dedicated to reading and analysing public documents for the first six credits and private documents for the subsequent three.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Programme for students taking the course for 6 cfu

Public and semipublic documents.

Programme for students taking the course for 9 cfu

Public and semipublic documents. Private documents.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

SANDRA MACCHIAVELLO (President)

ANTONELLA ROVERE (President)

VALENTINA RUZZIN

LESSONS

Class schedule

THE DOCUMENT: HISTORY AND TYPES

EXAMS

ASSESSMENT METHODS

There will be an oral exam. Students will be assessed on the basis of primarily general oral questions that enable the examining board to evaluate students’ capacity to frame topics, use specific lexicon, their readiness to discuss with specific appropriate knowledge and respond to any objections and requests for clarification, the ability to support discussions with interdisciplinary links without moving away from the themes the programme tackles. During the exam students’ ability to read and analyse documents proposed during the course will be evaluated.

Exam schedule