Abstract
In Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, territorial changes brought a redefinition of the hierarchy of cities. In the ancient civitas of Gévaudan, the ancient capital, Javols, loses the episcopal see, transferred to the vicus of Mende, who took advantage of the relics of the holy bishop Privat. A capital city becomes a small town while a small town is promoted between the end of the 6th century and the end of the 8th century. The main written sources to these changes are hagiographic texts (Passio of Saint Privat, Vita of Saint Hilaire). They also surreptitiously mention fortified settlements presented as refuge sites for a threatened Christian population. A confrontation with archaeological documentation shows a different reality and invites to question the relationship between hagiographic stylization and material reality in a period of transition.
Original language | French |
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Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Siècles |
Publication status | Submitted - 2017 |
Keywords
- hagiography
- episcopal see
- secondary town
- topography
- Gévaudan
- Lozère
- Late antiquity
- early middle ages