The Route of the Franks

Contents

Acknowledgments ;

Introduction ;
Clearing the ground. Archaeological research vs merchandising and branding ;
Note ;

Chapter 1. Conceptualising the Journey ;
Theoretical framework and methodological issues: Defining ‘travelscapes’ ;
Conceptualising the journey ;
Landscapes of movement ;
Phenomenology of travel: Landscapes of the mind ;
On the way… of constructing an identity ;
An insight into the confrontation of groups of different nature ;
Pilgrimage ;
On the edge of danger ;

Chapter 2. The Historical Framework ;
The geo-cultural definition ;
The Carolingians ;
The tenth century ;
Before and after the year 1000 ;
The communication network ;

Chapter 3. Sigeric and Canterbury ;
Archbishop Sigeric and his time: Eschatology for the end of a millennium and the Anglo-Saxon kingdom ;
Paving the way: Sigeric’s predecessors and epigones ;
Canterbury calls Rome: Building an identity ;
Canterbury in the Early and High Middle Ages ;

Chapter 4. Travel in Early Medieval Europe: Modalities, Practice, Exploration ;
Routes, roads and infrastructure ;
Travels from England to Rome ;
A range of possibilities: Routes and roads through medieval France ;
Orienteering and mapping ;
Itineraries and guides ;
Motivations for reporting ;
Scheduling, duration, distance, pauses, means of transport: The routine of travel ;
Hospitality and accommodation ;
Internal structure and composition of the parties ;

Chapter 5. In the Footsteps of Sigeric ;
On the (Roman) road. The itinerary across modern France ;

Chapter 6. A Cross-section of Continental Europe at the End of the First Millennium AD ;
Towns and centres ;
Churches, abbeys, sanctuaries and artistic trends ;
Around the year 1000. At the dawn of a new era? ;
Conclusion. Landscapes of movement at the twilight of the first millennium ;
Landscape perception and medieval journey ;

Bibliography ;

Index of Geographical, Ethnic and Personal Names ;

Index of Ancient and Medieval Sources ;

Index of Manuscripts

About the Author

Cristina Corsi is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Cassino. She is Marie Curie fellow and associate member at the LA3M, Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l'homme in Aix-en-Provence. Her main research interests are Mediterranean landscape archaeology and communication networks in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. She is internationally acknowledged as a specialist in archaeological diagnostics and has directed surveys and excavations in several parts of Italy and at the Roman towns of Mariana (Corsica) and Ammaia (Portugal). Her publications include two volumes on road networks and infrastructure in Roman Italy and Medieval Lazio, a book on the archaeological excavations at the Roman town of Ammaia, and (as co-editor) a book devoted to guidelines for good practice in archaeological diagnostics.