An aspect of the question of continuity between antiquity and middle ages: the origin of the Flemish cities between the North Sea and the Scheldt

Abstract

Most historians of the Flemish cities have argued that there was no significant Roman habitation north of the civitates of Belgica secunda. Urban development in Flanders was thus seen essentially as a creation of the Carolingian period and after. But recent archaeological excavations have shown a substantial Roman presence at six cites which later were towns of medium or considerable importance. Although the buildings were evidently abandoned in the fifth century, settlement and political and ecclesiastical organization developed around them in the Merovingian age. The Roman background thus had a considerable effect on the development of town life in medieval Flanders.