Le origini dei comuni italiani, 1050-1150 d.C.: Roma / The Origins of the Italian City Communes, 1050-1150 A.D.: Rome

The lecture is part of the New Work in the Humanities Series 2013-14: New Work on Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

In this final lecture of a three-part series on medieval cities, renowned historian Christopher Wickham considers the problem of Rome. Rome is often thought to be the untypical commune, as its traditional rulers were popes not emperors, and their power did not diminish in the long run. Rome nonetheless developed communal practices across a similar time period to those of the kingdom of Italy to its north; until suddenly, in 1143, its citizens revolted against both the pope and the city‘s traditional élites and developed a rather more radical and self-conscious commune than in other cities. Why that was, and what it tells us about the lack of self-consciousness elsewhere, will be the focus of this lecture.

Christopher Wickham is Chichele Professor of Medieval History at All Souls College, University of Oxford. This event is in collaboration with the American University of Rome.

The lecture will be held in English with simultaneous translation available into Italian.

RELATED EVENTS
30 September 2013 - 6:30pm
The Origins of the Italian City Communes, 1050-1150 A.D.: Milan
American University in Rome - Via Pietro Roselli, 4
www.aur.edu

1 October 2013 - 5pm
The Origins of the Italian City Communes, 1050-1150 A.D.: Pisa
Centro Studi Americani - Via Michelangelo Caetani, 32
www.centrostudiamericani.org