Rags to Riches? The Transformations of Medieval Communities

Despite popular belief, the Middle Ages were not the Dark Ages, which were mainly marked by oppression, material poverty and intellectual decline. On the contrary, the period was marked by fundamental changes in the forms of social and economic organisation. From an agrarian society emerged a society of thriving urban settlements, vibrant commercial activity and complex political structures. In Celje, the city under the largest castle in Slovenia, the event Rags to Riches? The Transformations of Medieval Communities will focus on these changes. Eleven history students from Slovenia, Italy and Croatia, from the universities of Ljubljana, Padua, Trieste and Zagreb will discuss several aspects of this remarkable period in a debate open to the public. They will focus on the following topics: the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages, the emergence of Italian city states, communes and the origins of complex trading systems in the High Middle Ages. The event's sessions will take as a