Châteaux du Languedoc montagnard aux X' et XI' siècles.(Hérault)

Abstract

The medieval fortified dwellings in the southern part of the Massif central border, constituted by the Haut-Biterrois (high region of Béziers) and the Lodévois (region of Lodève), were exhaustively analysed. For the Xth and XIth centuries, various signs (building techniques, ceramics, texts...) indicate that five monuments, orperhaps eight, are related to this period, the others showing a site and a situation which may be investigated. It appears from this study that the « castles », single buildings or small built-up areas of buildings set against one another, without enceinte, were rather exiguous, built with the means available, according to the preroman fashion, and withless sophisticated defence features. The lodgements in an outwork are not very numerous and the perching position was often not very satisfactory. The siege wars do not seem to have been envisaged. In relation to the contemporary settlement, the situation of the castles mentioned in the texts, shows that a superior authority, the viscounts of Narbonne and Béziers and the bishop of Lodève, ensured their positioning near the major routes and important resources like the polymetallic mines, whereas the warden undertook the building. Moreover, besides these settlements of the official authority, there were small castles not mentioned in the sources, in an isolated location at the bottom of secondary valleys. The fact that the preserved monuments ail show foundations of dependant domestic buildings, even those which were soon abandoned, may suggest the idea that a small polyvalent population may soon hâve been at the origin ofthe villages later surrounding the castles.