Rushforth Lecture | How did peasants react to city government? Rome and Piacenza in the late twelfth century

Rushforth Lecture | How did peasants react to city government? Rome and Piacenza in the late twelfth century

Lecture by Prof. Chris Wickham (Oxford, Birmingham)
Lecture by Prof. Chris Wickham (Oxford, Birmingham)

Exactly how cities extended their power over the countryside in the late twelfth century and later has often been studied, but above all from the standpoint of the cities themselves. How people in the countryside, overwhelmingly peasant cultivators, reacted, has been studied less often; their reactions have been taken for granted. This is partly because peasant views are hard to identify; but after c.1170, we find documentation of witnessing in court cases and arbitrations in which (male) peasants speak, sometimes at length. These witness statements thus tell us about peasant perceptions in a way that no other sources do. This lecture will take two important sets of these witness statements, for Piacenza in 1184 and Rome in 1201, as guides to what country-dwellers thought of city power.

Prof. Chris Wickham is former Professor at Oxford and Birmingham and former Director at the British School at Rome. In addition, he is author of 16 books on Italy and Europe including Framing the early middle ages, 2005; Roma medievale, 2013; The donkey and the boat, 2023; L’asino e il battello, 2024.

The lecture will be accessible in person and online, registering at the link above.

Latest Events

Latest Events

ITALY
Black History Month | Un altro patrimonio è possibile: Hardeep Dhindsa & Maria Pia Guermandi in dialogo sulla decolonizzazione del patrimonio
In occasione del Black History Month, che dal 1987 nel Regno Unito ad ottobre celebra i contributi delle persone Nere alla storia, si terrà il
9 October 2024
18:00 - 19:30
ITALY
Falerii Veteres e Falerii Novi: il fenomeno urbano nella media valle del Tevere / Falerii Veteres and Falerii Novi: the urban phenomenon in the Middle Tiber Valley
On 14 and 15 October we will celebrate archaeological research in the area of Falerii Novi and Falerii Veteres.On 14 October, from 6.00 to 7.30
14 Oct: 6 - 7.30 pm
15 Oct: 9 am, 7 pm
ITALY
Talk | Rothko and Roma: An Encounter with Art and Architecture
The speakers will be addressing the question of architectural influence on Mark Rothko’s oeuvre with a specific attention towards holistic spaces and not restricting  to
31 October 2024
18:00 - 19:30

Search