Settlement and social organization : the Merovingian region of Metz

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Settlement and social organization : the Merovingian region of Metz

Guy Halsall

Cambridge University Press, 1995

Available at  / 7 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-300) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This book examines one region of north-eastern Gaul around Metz in the period between the end of the Roman Empire and the accession of Charlemagne. It adopts a new, multi-disciplinary approach using all available evidence, both documentary and archaeological. It deals with a broad range of historical themes, and, by looking at the reasons behind the creation of different forms of evidence, it examines how the different facets of social organisation (ethnicity, gender, age and social hierarchy) were related intimately to each other and to contemporary settlement patterns of the region. As a result, it is argued that the Merovingian period was not one of slow 'transformation' from 'Roman' to 'medieval' but was one of constant, dynamic social change and diversity even between the recognised periods of dramatic upheaval.

Table of Contents

  • 1. Introduction
  • Part I. Social Organization: 2. Social organization: descriptive analysis of the documentary evidence
  • 3. Creating a model: cemeteries of the Merovingian civitas of Metz
  • 4. Testing the model: cemeteries outside the civitas of Metz
  • Part II. Settlement: 5. Rural settlement
  • 6. Intermediate settlement: Castra, vici, palaces and monasteries
  • 7. Urbanism in Metz
  • Part III. Conclusions: 8. Town and country, c. 450-c. 600
  • 9. The later Merovingian period
  • Bibliography
  • Index.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top