Rome and Italy in the Age of Dante (Taught on-site in Rome)

This course examines the history of Rome and Italy in the Middle Ages. It is an age that produced the glittering mosaics at S. Maria in Trastevere, the powerful papal court of Innocent III, the new spirituality of Saint Francis, the vernacular poetry of Dante, and the Jubilee of 1300, each topics considered in this course through primary sources in translation, lectures, discussions, and on-site visits. The course aims to make its participants critical readers and writers of history.