Recapping the World History Seminar “Urbi et Orbi: Rome as the International Destination of the European Middle Ages” conducted by Prof. Hendrik DEY on 23 March 2023

Prof. Hendrik DEY from the Department of Art and Art History, Hunter College of The City University of New York, was invited by the Centre for Comparative and Public History to deliver a lecture entitled “Urbi et Orbi: Rome as the International Destination of the European Middle Ages” on 23 March 2023. The talk outlined the three significant moments in the history of Rome’s transformation, which resulted in its shrinkage but never its disappearance. The first moment was characterized by a demographic decline caused by several conquests and sieges. The speaker employed interdisciplinary approaches, including demography, archaeology, and epigraphy to elaborate this issue. The second moment, also known as “the great privatization,” was exemplified by the privatization of the theatre, whose parts were owned either by noble families or the church. With the collapse of Byzantine control in Italy, the papacy became the rulers of Rome and its surrounding territory. The third moment witnessed an increase in ground levels near the main processional routes between the Lateran and St. Peter’s Basilica in the 12th century. This development was attributed to the papacy’s growing wealth and prestige, which attracted more pilgrims. The talk concluded that the medieval Rome we see today was built on the ruins of the old city, with the economy, institutions, and material contours evolving in response to the constant presence of outsiders and visitors.

 

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Academic Seminar

 

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World History Seminar (2022-23)

Organisers: Centre for Comparative and Public History, Department of History, CUHK
Enquiry: 3943 8541

 

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Workshops for the First-Year RPg Students 2022-23

For enquiry, please call 3943 7448.

 

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60th Anniversary Lecture Series of Department of History, CUHK

 

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Exhibition

 

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For teachers and students who have information to share with the Department, please email your articles in both Chinese and English to chanfiona@cuhk.edu.hk by 4:00pm every Monday.