Dissertation

Topographies of power

Towns and elites in Merovingian northern Gaul, 450-650

Author: Barreveld, J.
Date: 28 May 2025
Links: Scholarly Publications repository

In Merovingian northern Gaul, thousands of people were buried lavishly with rich assemblies of grave goods. Traditionally, rich graves are interpreted as aristocratic tombs, but it now seems far too many people were buried with luxury goods to all be considered elite. Instead, ordinary peasants were able to acquire rich, luxury products from far away and participate in far-ranging exchange networks.

This turns our traditional understanding of early medieval social structure on its head, from a society dominated by elites to one of a relatively free peasantry. This book investigates the nature and presence of the Merovingian “aristocracy” and various models of social organization, maps the whereabouts of Merovingian kings and studies the courtly culture and networks.

Another problem is the lack of invisible central places in the archaeological record, the places where an “aristocracy’ may have lived. This book also discusses the invisibility of elite architecture and the development of post-Roman towns.

This book concludes that a new, heterarchical perspective on early medieval society needs to be developed that challenges traditional hierarchical narratives, and argues for a strong, multidisciplinary but independent cooperation between archaeologists and historians in the study of the early Middle Ages.