The Emergence of Concentrated Settlements in Medieval Western Europe

Explanatory Frameworks in the Historiography

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7845952
AutoresDaniel R Curtis (0000-0001-8355-4153, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen48
Número2
Páginas223-251
Fecha de publicación2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0008-4107 • E-ISSN: 2292-8502
EditorialUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/cjh.48.2.223
OpenAlexW2163848505
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas33

There is now a general scholarly consensus that the concentration of rural people into settlements in Western Europe (as opposed to dispersed or scattered habitations across the countryside) occurred in various stages between the eighth and twelfth centuries, though with regional divergences in precise timing, speed, formation, and intensity. What is clear from the literature is that a “one-size fits all” model for settlement development across Western Europe is not possible. Concentrated settlements appeared in certain parts of Europe for different reasons. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of four of the most influential frameworks for explaining patterns of medieval settlement concentration and their relation to social and economic change. The frameworks under analysis emphasize, respectively, power, coercion and lordship; communalism and territorial formalization; field systems and resource management; and urbanization and market-integration

Archaeology · Coercion (linguistics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Epistemology · Explanatory power · Geography · Historiography · Human settlement · Political science · Resource (disambiguation · Settlement (finance · Sociology · Urbanization · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Medieval Literature and History