Universität Wien

070293 UE Historical Sources, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods (2024S)

in Medieval Studies

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 7 - Geschichte
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle
We 22.05. 13:15-14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Online classes: April 10; April 17; June 12
Archival visit: June 19

Wednesday 06.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 13.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 20.03. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 10.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 17.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 24.04. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 08.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 15.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 29.05. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 05.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 12.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 19.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7
Wednesday 26.06. 13:15 - 14:45 Hörsaal 30 Hauptgebäude, 1.Stock, Stiege 7

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The primary language of the course is English. Written exercises and seminar papers in German, Italian, French (and in some other languages) are possible.

By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the various types of documents, both public and private ones. They will learn to analyze both written and visual sources to build a convincing analysis. Students will also acquire a basic understanding of public speaking/discussion and academic writing. The course content will include examples of quantitative and qualitative research, microhistory, and interdisciplinary methods. The course material will focus on sources produced in late medieval and Renaissance Italy during the 14th-16th centuries. Guided small-group discussions, in-class exercises

1. Week: Introduction
2. Week: Annals and Chronicles
3. Week: Diaries, travel accounts and reports
4. Week: Private and business letters
5. Week: Tax documents and quantitative methods
6. Week: Notary contracts (partnerships, testaments, marriages), fiscal records and quantitative methods
7. Week: Account books
8. Week: Chancery documents
9. Week: Court cases and microhistory
10. Week: Textiles, goldsmiths’ objects, commerce, and fashion objects
11. Week: Archaeological objects, buildings, and warfare
12. Week: Illuminated Codices
13. Week: Archival visit
14. Week: Historical maps, Feedback

Assessment and permitted materials

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Grading will be based on three components:
1. Two in-class exercises (20%-20%)
2. Oral presentation (20%)
3. Seminar paper (40%)

2 unjustified absances are allowed

Examination topics


1. Reading the assignment for each class
2. Familiarizing oneself with the online resources
3. Two in-class exercises regarding basic concepts and the possibilities lying in the source material in question and its limitations (250-500 words)
4. One oral presentation (ca. 10 minutes)
5. Seminar paper: the methodological analysis of one source (min. 25.000 characters including spaces, 1½ space, 12 font size, footnotes, title page, bibliography, without images)

Reading list

General literature:

Howell, Martha und Walter Prevenier: Werkstatt des Historikers: eine Einführung in die historischen Methoden. Köln, Wien: Böhlau, 2004. /Howell, Martha and Walter Prevenier: An Introduction to Historical Methods
Eder, Franz X. und Kühschelm, Oliver: Bilder – Geschichtswissenschaft – Diskurse, in: Eder, Franz X.; Kühschelm, Oliver und Linsboth, Christina (Hg.): Bilder in historischen Diskursen. Theorie und Methode. Wiesbaden 2014, 3-44.

Jäger, Margarete: Diskursanalyse: Ein Verfahren zur kritischen Rekonstruktion von Machtbeziehungen, in: Becker, Ruth und Kortendiek, Beate: Handbuch Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung. Theorie, Methoden, Empirie. 2. Auflage Wiesbaden 2008, 378-383.

Mayring, Philipp: Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken. 11. Auflage, Weinheim u. a. 2010 .

Thaller, Manfred: Digital Humanities als Wissenschaft, in: Jannidis, Fotis; Kohle, Hubertus und Rehbein, Malte (Hg.): Digital Humanities. Eine Einführung. Stuttgart 2017, 13-18.

Reading assignment for each class:

- Gene A. Brucker, Florentine Politics and Society, 1343-1378, Princeton University Press, 2016, pp. 3 ̶ 9.
- Langkabel, Hermann. 1981. Die Staatsbriefe Coluccio Salutatis: Untersuchungen zum Frühhumanismus in der Florentinen Staatskanzlei und Auswahledition, Köln–Wien: Böhlau Verlag, pp. 8-27.
- Margherita Datini, Letters to Francesco Datini, translated by Carolyn James and Antonio Pagliaro, Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, Introduction
- Herlihy, David and Klapisch-Zuber, Christiane. 1985. Tuscans and their Families: A Study of the Florentine Catasto of 1427, New Haven-London: Yale University Press, pp. 1-27.
- Pitti, Bonaccorso. 2015. Memoirs. in Merchant Writers: Florentine Memoirs from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, ed. Vittore Branca, Toronto: Toronto University Press, pp. 254 ̶ 263.
- Anthony Molho, Marriage Alliances in Late Medieval Florence, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, Introduction
- Richard A. Goldthwaite: The Practice and Culture of Accounting in Renaissance Florence, Enterprise &Society, 2015, Vol. 16. (3), pp. 611 ̶ 626.
- Carlo Ginzburg: Der Käse und die Würmer, Berlin: Wagenbach, 2007, Preface
- Franco Franceschi: Big Business for Firms and States: Silk Manufacturing in Renaissance Italy, Business History Review 94 (Spring 2020), pp. 95 ̶ 105.

Online resources:

- The Datini Archives Online (datini.archiviodistato.prato.it)
- Online Catasto of 1427. Version 1.3, (Machine readable data file based on David Herlihy and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Census and Property Survey of Florentine Domains in the Province of Tuscany, 1427 ̶ 1480.). 2002. edited by David Herlihy, Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Robert B. Litchfield and Anthony Molho, Providence, RI: Brown University.
- Cives Veneciarum (civesveneciarum.org)
- The Borromei Bank Research Project (queenmaryhistoricalresearch.org)
- Dissident Networks Project (dissinet.cz)
- Metmuseum.org (Collection: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Renaissance velvet textiles)
- Belvedere: Mittelalter/Renaissance (sammlung-belvedere.at)
- Museum of the Castello Sforzesco
- Metmuseum.org (Collection: Arms and Armour)
- Uffizi.org. (Paolo Uccello, The Battle of San Romano)
- Hofjagd-und Rüstkammer
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (digi.vatlib.it)
- DECIMA (decima-map.net)
- Hidden cities App (historycityapps.org)

Association in the course directory

BA Geschichte (Version 2019): M1 Quellen und Methoden, UE Quellengattungen, qualitative und quantitative Methoden (5 ECTS).

Last modified: Sa 02.03.2024 20:05