1. The medieval city: culture and governance

2. Christianization of the urban landscape
The centrality of Christianism after the end of the Roman Empire.
Shrines, churches, parishes. The cult of relics and the practice of pilgrimages.
The role of the clergy. Bishops and lay authorities.
Confraternities and religious orders.

3. The formation of an urban identity
The impact of invasions. City walls and fortifications.
The development of public buildings: palaces and town halls. New central market square.
Transformations of private housing.
The past of the cities: civic chronicles and foundation myths. The organization of urban memory.

5. Cultural life Promoting civic image and cultural services.
Civic religion and cultural pluralism.
Architecture and arts. New models and cultural trading.
The emerging definition of public and private spaces.

6. City and State
The decline of urban institutions after the end of Roman Empire.
The iniziatives of princes, feudal and ecclestiastic lords. The empowerment of kings. New towns as strongholds.
Urban privileges. Royal charters and imperial status.
The rivalry between Emperor and Pope.

7. Municipal government Notables and municipal government.
Constitution of urban communities in northern Italy. Borgo franco or castelfranco.
The dominion of small oligarchy.
The rise of the populo. Podestà e chartered rights.
Leagues of cities. German Hanseatic League.

8. The institutionalism of urban government
Professional administration: paid financial officials and specialist offices to control urban spaces.
The concentration of power and the ascendacy of mercantile interests. The opposition of craft guilds.
Environmental policy: street improvement, public provision of water-supply, sanitation and cleaning.

9. City example: Venice
The location in a lagoon. Its impact on the urban shaping.
A series of nuclei separated by canals and large expanses of water.
Ideal place for isolation from local powers and for full access to the sea.
Several centres with their own identities.