Undergraduate Course: Venice c. 1400 - c. 1700 (HIST10283)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | An exercise in 'total history' examining the environmental, economic, social, religious, political and cultural life of the Venetian Republic in the early modern period. |
| Course description |
The course is an exercise in the 'total history' of one of the most important city-states in world history and examines almost every aspect of Venetian life in the period - environmental, economic, social, political, religious and cultural. We shall take account of the state as a maritime and territorial entity, but our main focus will be the city, where the clearly defined urban space encourages an exercise in 'micro-history'. Venice is celebrated for its stability - but how then do we measure change over the 'long duration' of the period in question? How do we adjust our language of historical analysis to characterise continuity and change in a large and diverse population over three centuries? To address these questions the course has an hour-glass shape, beginning with general contextualisation both historical and historiographical, moving to a sharp narrow and close focus on the city, then in the second semester gradually broadening out once more to an assessment of the Republic's general significance. Students should therefore feel a sense of real advance of knowledge and deepening of understanding between the beginning of the course and its end. That depends very heavily on student input in terms of preparatory reading, oral presentation and participation in seminar discussion. The nature of the subject favours the extensive use of primary sources, and audio/visual aids. One of the two exam papers for this course is a 'gobbets' paper (i.e. source analysis) and students will be assigned specific readings from the source book Venice: a documentary history (pbk. 2003), on which they may be examined.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass in 40 credits of third level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503780). |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge about the social, economic, cultural, political, and religious history of Venice considered in the course;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship about the social, economic, cultural, political, and religious history of Venice;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material, including assigned texts;
- demonstrate, by way of seminar contribution, coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Primary Source:
David Chambers and Brian Pullan, Venice: A Documentary History, 1450-1630 (2003)
Secondary Reading:
Patricia Fortini Brown, Art and Life in Renaissance Venice (1997)
Elizabeth Horodowich, Brief History of Venice (2000)
Frederic C. Lane, Venice: A Maritime History (1973)
Joanne M. Ferraro, Venice: History of the Floating City (2012)
Eric Dursteler (ed.), A Companion to Venetian History, 1400-1797 (2014) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Venice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephen Bowd
Tel: (0131 6)50 3758
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Annabel Stobie
Tel: (0131 6)50 3783
Email: |
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