Résidences fortifiées et centres administratifs dans la vallée de l'Escaut (IXe - XIe siècle)

Since 1976, a research programme of the Instituut voor het Archeologisch Patrimoniunt focusses on the medieval settlement and defense works in the Flemish Scheldt valley, leading to new information on three fortified residential complexes : the Carolingian "curtis" at Petegem, the Ottoman "castrum" at Ename and the Count's Castle in Ghent. The present contribution summarizes the evidence for these sites taking into account the historical information and context. Though of non-urban nature, Petegem is included because it helps to understand the general evolution of these residences. The 9th-century 'curtis' at Petegem included stone buildings ("aula"\"camera"), a (wooden and later stone) church ("capella"), and farm buildings. Its characteristics make it closely comparable to the "curtes" mentioned in the "Brevium Exempla". But it also included defense works (moat), a feature very probably linked to the the strategic location of the site. Ename provides a complex pattern of an earlier rural domain, converted into an impressive stronghold with residence by the Emperor Otto II around 974. An emergmg proto-urban settlement with a yet to be studied portuary infrastructure flanked the stronghold and a complex pattern of churches developed, the whole reflecting political aspirations. Following political reversals, however, the site was "demilitarized" and the stronghold and original settlement were replaced with a monastery in the 11th century. The work in and near the Count's Castle in Ghent yielded information related to the general organization of the site and its immediate surroundings, as well as data concerning its 10th- and 1 lth-century residential predecessor, its later conversion into a stronghold (motte with hall-keep) and its relation to the earlier "Oudburg". These three sites have a number of common features, their differences being related mainly to their subsistence infrastructure.Callebaut Dirk. Résidences fortifiées et centres administratifs dans la vallée de l'Escaut (IXe - XIe siècle). In: Archéologie des villes dans le Nord-Ouest de l'Europe (VIIe-XIIIe siècle) Actes du IVe Congrès International d'Archéologie Médiévale (Douai, 26, 27, 28 septembre 1991) Caen : Société d'Archéologie Médiévale, 1994. pp. 93-112. (Actes des congrès de la Société d'archéologie médiévale, 4