Transformations and resiliencies in Catalan settlements during the Middle Ages

Abstract

The ten centuries of the Middle Ages, in Catalonia, bore witness to many changes in its settlements. Significant breaks in continuity occurred, although at the same time there were a few noteworthy continuations. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of a network of hamlets in tandem with the abandonment of the Roman villae (although the memory of the fundi lingered on). These habitats had to adapt to new political and economic realities, after the conquests of the Arabs and Berbers (713-721), and Carolingian Franks (759-801). During the High Middle Ages, there were remarkable transformations both in society and in settlements with the construction of ecclesiastical villages, castral villages, and planned new towns. At the same time, in some regions, the number of scattered farmsteads increased dramatically. Also, hamlets continued to exist in the Pyrenean lands, and some settlements (e.g., villas and hamlets) from the rest of Catalonia became villages and farmsteads.