From Late Antique Castles to the Fortified Villages of the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

In some fortified villages of the late Middle Ages the walls are, at least in part, those of the castellieri of the Iron Age; in others we can still see a late antique phase referable to the defence system of the empire. The context and consequently the commissioning of the new villages have profoundly changed. The protagonists are the local communities and aristocracies who, in a climate of internal conflict, erected defences since 10th century. Since the end of the 12th century the local governments have founded, on the borders of their territories, new villages protected by walls. In a diachronic vision, between the fifth century and the fifteenth century, it is therefore necessary to take into account the military, social, economic and cultural contexts that determine the functions, structure and diffusion of the fortified villages.