Aims

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:
- situate the principal chronological markers of the history of Christianity in the Middle Ages;
- read historical sources with a critical spirit;
- make proper use of the work instruments of the Medievalist historian.

Main themes

To meet these objectives, the course covers the following:
- the study of one or two of these questions: the development of monasticism, the Christianisation of Europe, the Imperial Church, Gregorian and Clunisian reform, the birth of the Cistercians and of the mendicant orders, the development of female piety, the Devotio moderna and the pre-reform.
- the daily life of the Christians and Church history in our regions with the course extended to cover the situation of Eastern churches.
- an initiation to historical criticism and the use of the work instruments of historians of this period.

Content and teaching methods

This course studies 1. Christianity under the Merovingians and the very difficult integration among the ancien Christianity; 2. the features of the Carolingian Church; 3. Christianity and Feodalism; 4. The renewal of the monastic discipline; 5. the pontifical monarchy and 6. the first decade of the mendicant orders.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Prerequisite: the use of the book by J. PAUL, Le christianisme occidental au Moyen Age, 4e-15e sicèle, Paris, coll. "U", 2004) and of documents of the period in question.

Other credits in programs