Cities were central to new early medieval societies; the inheritance of ancient Roman cities in the vast territories of the former empire provided the structures and materials for new forms of living. This lecture explores the material experience of urban living, seeking to answer the questions: Was life in an early medieval city different from life in the countryside? What are the material, economic, and social qualities that shaped the cities of early medieval Europe? In this lecture, Caroline Goodson will consider the people, places, plants and animals of cities like Rome, Cologne, and Cordoba to understand how the practicalities of living in a dense urban center shaped the lives of those who lived there.

Caroline Goodson is the Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor at the American Academy in Rome. Her second book, Cultivating the City in Early Medieval Italy (2021), examined the phenomenon of urban gardening and the ways in which horticulture and the spaces of gardens and orchards provided opportunities for social negotiation. She has taught at the University of Cambridge since 2017, where she is also a fellow in history at King’s College.

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