Modelling Monnikerede. The Topographical Reconstruction of a Deserted Medieval Outport near Bruges

Abstract

Since the middle of the thirteenth century, the small outport of Monnikerede was part of the portuary system of the later medieval international market of Bruges, which used the Zwin tidal inlet as its gateway to overseas markets. During the sixteenth century, when the political, economic and environmental conditions in the Zwin harbours deteriorated, Monnikerede slowly became depopulated and eventually disappeared from the landscape. In order to analyse the morphology of this deserted harbour, an interdisciplinary research scheme was initiated aimed at integrating historical, cartographic, archaeological, and geophysical data. Through a GIS-based methodology, this integration of complementary sources enabled a topographical reconstruction up to the level of individual parcels and allowed for the discernment of a socio-economic topography. The decline of the city could be visualised through a series of time slices between 1450 and 1850, indicating that Monnikerede’s misfortunes are reflected in the disintegration of the urban fabric. Historical and cartographic data are indispensable in laying the spatio-temporal framework of such reconstructions, whereas the archaeological data provide a more detailed insight in the intra-parcellar occupation and material culture of a site.