After the successful completion of this course:
You will be able to conduct historical research under the supervision of the lecturer, which means that you can:
- find, select and process relevant literature and historiography on a historical topic, in the form of a status quaestionis;
- formulate a relevant, well-defined research question within the theme provided, and compose a research plan;
- choose and apply a relevant research method;
- conduct empirical research by means of finding historical source material in archives, libraries and/or databases; you are able to select, analyse and interpret those data
You will be able to
- formulate and execute a research plan;
- report orally about your activities in a convincing and scholarly manner;
- report your findings in a scientific paper with a clear argumentation structure and adequate annotation, in correct English or Dutch;
You will be able to provide constructive feedback on the arguments of fellow students, and to process feedback from others in your own work.
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The Making of Constantinople and Rome (313-1054)
When the edict of Milan issued in 313 AD allowed the Christians to profess their faith in the public space, Emperor Constantine initiated the building of churches in the imperial city of Rome on top of the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul. Later in his reign, Constantine moved his imperial court to a ‘New Rome’ on the Bosporus, a new city called Constantinople. In the course of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Rome would grow into the mighty capital of Latin Christianity, and Constantinople would become the illustrious capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and Orthodox Christianity.
In this course, we focus on Constantinople and Rome, and explore the role that these cities played in the development of Christianity from the early councils to the Great Schism of 1054. How did the building of churches and monasteries define the city’s topography? How did saints and their cults impact life in these urban centres? And what influence did rulers such as popes, kings and emperors have on the religious function of these cities? What narratives were constructed to maintain the image of a mighty Christian city? These and other questions will be dealt with in order to find out more about the developments and events leading up to the division of Christianity into Latin and Eastern variants. We learn that there was not a straight-forward process leading up to the Great Schism of 1054, but that the roads leading to Rome and Constantinople could be rather bumpy. Periods of connectivity and intellectual exchange on the one hand, and threats from inside and outside on the other, alternated.
In this thematic seminar, we will pursue a comparative approach in which we think about the differences and similarities between two large urban centres and their function in a religious landscape from the fourth to eleventh centuries. We will use written texts, art and architecture to find an answer to this one question: How were Constantinople and Rome made into one of the most important cities of medieval Christianity, and how did they relate to each other?
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Admission to themed lectures in B2 and B3 is contingent on successfully completing the following course, which is part of the writing and research skills track: Writing History.
See the Education and Examination Regulations (EER) 2023-2024.
Exchange students: Only admitted if you are in a BA-degree program in History (USA: majoring in History).
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Paper - 70%
Portfolio - 30%
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