Do we live in Cities in the Early Middle Ages: the difficult question of house remains
Résumé
In Western Europe, the question of the material reality of cities during the early Middle Ages has been debated for many years. While religious buildings are well documented by both texts and archaeology and funerary discoveries are not lacking, remains that have been interpreted as houses are extremely rare. Must we conclude that no one lived in cities in the early Middle Ages or, more likely, that the nature and form of these houses left few traces? Several examples excavated in Italy, in France, and in England provide some avenues to explore and a glimpse of the diversity of the types of houses and their manner of construction. Between the antique domus the urban houses of the middle Middle Ages, numerous forms of housing, characterized by substantial regional, chronological, and social heterogeneity are hidden. This communication will address the subject according to three themes: the architecture of the houses, the organization of domestic spaces, and the topography of settlement in the cities.