L'Alta edat mitjana a la Catalunya central (segles VI-XI). Estudi històric i arqueològic de la conca mitjana del riu Llobregat

Abstract

This paper highlights the transformations in early medieval society in Central Catalonia, taking the disappearance of the Roman rural settlement pattern, the villae, as its starting point. Integrating the available data, this study characterizes the new settlement patterns as well as the territorial organization. Moreover, it also interprets the consequences of the Islamic conquest and particularly the special legal status of the Central Catalonia territories, which remained partly autonomous from the political powers surrounding them during the ninth century. Finally, using both archaeological and written data, the article describes the conquest and integration of these territories into the Christian counties, in relation to the seats of power, such as castles, towers and churches, but also to peasant settlements and their production facilities.