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.
- Adopts a new approach of 'total history' to the study of the Merovingian empire
- Opens up interdisciplinary approaches in history and archaeology to the subject
- Offers a new interpretation of the transformation from 'Roman' to 'Medieval'
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Product details
- Date Published: September 2002
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9780521521895
- length: 328 pages
- dimensions: 255 x 196 x 27 mm
- weight: 1.139kg
- contains: 96 b/w illus.
- availability: Available
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.
Look Inside
Author
Guy Halsall, Birkbeck College, University of London