The Venetian Republic, c. 1450-1575
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| HIST2030 | History | 2 | 20 | Spring UK |
- Code
- HIST2030
- School
- History
- Level
- 2
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
This module explores the nature of the Venetian Republic in the later fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It examines the constitution, and administrative and judicial system, its imperial and military organisation, but will above all focus on the city and its inhabitants. The module will examine the enormous cultural dynamism of the city (especially the visual arts from the Bellini to Tintoretto and Veronese), changing urban fabric, the role of ritual and ceremony, the position of the Church, and class and gender.
- Venice and international context
- The Venetian economy
- Constitution and administration
- Venice at war and peace
- Patricians, citizens and popular classes
- Women in Venice: wives and workers, whores and nuns
- Urban fabric
- Patronage and the arts
- Artisans and printers
- Religion and the republic
- Jews and foreigners
Target Students
Students must have taken HIST1001 or HIST1002. Also available to exchange students hosted by the Department of History. The module is also available to Liberal Arts students.
Classes
- One 1-hour seminar each week for 10 weeks
- One 2-hour lecture each week for 10 weeks
Assessment
- 50% Coursework 1: Piece of individually assessed coursework
- 50% Coursework 2: Piece of individually assessed coursework
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
To provide students with a framework for understanding the way in which the Venetian Republic functioned as: an international, imperial, and commercial power, as a centre of artistic and cultural production; as a remarkably stable regime. To offer an appreciation of the social and gender relations that both shaped Venetian society and reflected the values of that society. To foster an understanding of the historiographical debates surrounding the subject, and through this to develop the intellectual and transferable skills outlined below.Learning Outcomes
a.Knowledge and understanding.
By the end of the module students should be able to:
• explain and interpret the major underlying forces that shaped the nature of the Venetian Republic in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
• evaluate forces of change and continuity at work within the period.
b. Intellectual skills.
By the end of the module students should be able to:
• think critically and imaginatively about the subject matter
• identify and address key problems relevant to it
• interpret secondary and selected primary sources on the subject matter, and be aware of differing historical interpretations
• construct coherent and independent historical arguments.
c. Professional and practical skills.
The module will develop students’ ability to:
• select, sift and synthesize information from a range of secondary and primary sources
• identify and compare key arguments in those materials plan
• research and write up sustained pieces of historical research
• use IT to access relevant secondary and primary material