LFU:online

Acquisition of the skill, to formulate a suitable question on a topic in Medieval History after the research discussion. ability to analyse a topic supported by sources; ability to present the research results in an appropriate way with regards to contents and form; skill to critically reflect on the relevance and the methods of own’s own work.

Was everyone poor and hungry in the Middle Ages? How did people feed themselves in the Middle Ages? Did farmers use cash in the Middle Ages? Research into agriculture provides answers to these essential questions.
The central topics include subsistence farming, the development of consumption and the division of labor in the economy, then social differentiation and its mechanisms, agriculture and agricultural technology, but also the associated forms of society (landlordism, feudal system) These exciting aspects will be answered on the basis of various sources (Urbare, account books, notarial registers).

As part of the seminar, students will have the opportunity to do research in local archives (Tiroler Landesarchiv, Stadtarchiv Innsbruck, Stiftarchiv Stams) under guidance.
Introduction to the topic; joint reading of sources and relevant literature with analysis; preparation of a written paper with presentation; discussion.

Participation, presentation, written thesis

• Bünz, Enno (Hg.), Landwirtschaft und Dorfgesellschaft im ausgehenden Mittelalter (Vorträge und Forschun-gen 89), Ostfildern 2020.
• Ertl, Thomas, Bauern und Banker. Wirtschaft im Mittelalter, Darmstadt 2021.
• Rösener, Werner, Einführung in die Agrargeschichte, Darmstadt 1997.
• Sonderegger, Stefan, Landwirtschaft auf dem Papier und in der Praxis, in: Frey, Carola / Krief, Steffen (Hg.), Adel und Bauern in der Gesellschaft des Mittelalters: Internationales Kolloquium zum 65. Geburtstag von Werner Rösener, Korb 2012, 249-270.
• Wickham, Chris, The donkey and the boat: reinterpreting the Mediterranean economy, 950-1180, Oxford 2023.

Positive assessment of two modules from the elective modules 1 to 6