Settlement and Social Organization: The Merovingian Region of Metz.

Settlement and Social Organization: The Merovingian Region of Metz. The kinds of questions we ask of the past are intimately connectedwith the level of analysis we use. Recently there has been a vogue foranalysis on the broadest scale - it has been argued that '[m]osthistorians . . . would agree that it makes good sense for students tostudy history from a global perspective' (Pomper 1995: 1). However,there are dangers behind this 'good sense', amongst them theprobability that we 'herd immense amounts of material under simpleand all-encompassing rubrics' thereby masking mask��ingn.1. The concealment or the screening of one sensory process or sensation by another.2. An opaque covering used to camouflage the metal parts of a prosthesis. 'heterogeneousand often odd developments' (Said 1994: 48).In Settlement and society, Guy Halsall aims to avoid the 'allencompassing' approaches to the early medieval past which havehitherto prevailed. He argues that our images of this past are largelythe product of works which 'jump back and forth between the sixthand eighth centuries . . . and in doing so make similarly huge spatial .. . leaps from one anecdote anecdote(ăn`ĭkdōt'), brief narrative of a particular incident. An anecdote differs from a short story in that it is unified in time and space, is uncomplicated, and deals with a single episode. to the next, crossing hundreds of miles in asingle bound' (p. 1). This results in a 'melting potapproach' which denies 'significant regional diversity ordynamic social change' (p. 1). To examine this diversity and changeHalsall focuses on the evidence from one region in the Merovingian world- that around the city of Metz, in northeastern Gaul.Halsall argues that the primacy given to the written word, combinedwith the sparse and dispersed dis��perse?v. dis��persed, dis��pers��ing, dis��pers��esv.tr.1. a. To drive off or scatter in different directions: The police dispersed the crowd.b. nature of the texts, has resulted in theevidence being drawn from across time and space to produce a monolithic Single object. Self contained. One unit. picture of early medieval society (p. 3). To remedy this situation,Halsall argues for a theoretical perspective which asserts that all'cultural practices are deliberate, meaningfully constituted andhistorically contingent. This is true whether we are talking of thenaming of children, the design of a belt-set, the lay-out and furnishingof a grave, the plan of a house or settlement, the contents andstructure of a law-code, charter or saint's vita, or the specificwords chosen to express a writer's thoughts' (p. 3). Thearchaeological data thus takes on a fresh importance and the writtenevidence has to be seen in a new light. Together they can be used toreveal the diversity of experience which hitherto has been hidden behindthe cloud of all-encompassing approaches.Halsall's book is one of the first to examine the archaeologyand history of the early middle ages in this theoretically informedmanner and in the course of the volume he touches upon and challengesmany of the issues which are fundamental to our understanding of earlymedieval society - the nature and role of ethnicity; the construction ofgender relations; the nature of power; the conflict between the nobilityand royalty; the dialectic dialectic(dīəlĕk`tĭk)[Gr.,= art of conversation], in philosophy, term originally applied to the method of philosophizing by means of question and answer employed by certain ancient philosophers, notably Socrates. between family and community; the shift fromachieved to ascribed status Ascribed status is the social status a person is given from birth or assumes involuntarily later in life. For example, a person born into a wealthy family has a high ascribed status. ; the concept of time in the early middleages; the role of writing; the relationship between history andarchaeology; and observations on the 'causality' of socialchange. In probing these issues Halsall shows the power of a contextual,regionalized, theoretical perspective.In Settlement and society, the dynamic and changing nature of thehuman persona and social relationships is demonstrated and emphasized.Halsall alerts us to the historical specificity and social dynamism ofthe Merovingian period, and emphasizes the geographical, regionalvariation within what is often seen as a seamless whole.In an attempt to understand the basis of power in the 6th and 7thcenturies, Halsall analysed the evidence from cemeteries both within andoutside the civitas of Metz. Detailed conclusions emerge (pp.109,162-3).In the 6th century 'grave-goods were clearly divided into thosewith masculine, feminine and "neuter neu��teradj.1. Having undeveloped or imperfectly developed sexual organs.2. Sexually undeveloped.n.A castrated animal.v.To castrate or spay.neuter1. " associations' (p.162). Weaponry was buried with adult males, especially young men;burials with lavish jewellery were usually those of young adult women;women over 40 were rarely buried with 'female specific goods'(p. 163); and old people in general were buried with goods that were'artifactually neutral' (neither male or female) or with noneat all.In conjunction with the (admittedly very sparse) urban and ruralsettlement data, Halsall constructs a picture of the dynamics of powerin the 6th century. He argues that the purpose of 6th-century furnishedburials was 'public, competitive, display' (p. 252) within avolatile and unstable social and political context. In this context,social standing, to be effective, had to demonstrated on a day to daybasis and emphasized at times when the prevailing order might be calledinto question - in death. Halsall argues that there is 'perhaps acorrelation between the public nature of the funeral and the fact thatit is frequently those who may have been most visible withinsixth-century society who were interred with the greatest display ofgrave-goods: marriageable mar��riage��a��ble?adj.Suitable for marriage: of marriageable age.mar women, young warriors and active familyheads' (p. 253). Such people represented the present and futurepower base of elite families; their death would have necessitated anelaborate performance in the 'social theatre' which was the6th-century burial rite.Much changed in the 7th century (summarized on p. 163). Theassociations between age, sex and material culture broke down; the rangeof grave-goods became more limited and uniform; there was a narrowerrange of weaponry; artefacts placed with the dead were usually dressitems; and, in the later part of the century, many burial sites wereabandoned in favour of churchyard cemeteries. Importantly, although thenumber and variety of grave-goods decreases, there does appear to be a'greater correlation between grave-goods and straightforwardwealth. . . . Seventh century graves . . . demonstrated wealth with allof the family's dead. . . . [T]his represents a change . . .suggesting that the status brought by family identity was inherited andretained throughout the life-cycle' (pp. 264-5, emphasis added).Here we are witnessing the move from achieved to ascribed status. Thebasis of power may also have been different, shifting from 'giftgiving and display in the acts of social theatre . . . [to] outrightownership of more of the region's surplus producing assets' -land (p. 263).Halsall provides evidence for further changes at the end of the 7thand in the early decades of the 8th century, but here I want to focus onsome the implications of his analysis of the material from the 6th and7th centuries. Firstly, it should be emphasized that he does not see thematerial evidence as a passive reflection of change. The materialobjects found in 6th-century graves; the feasting and gift giving whichaccompanied the burial of the decorated corpse; the use of charters inthe transfer of land in the 7th century were all essential elements inthe construction and transformation of person and society in theMerovingian region of Metz. They were also instrumental in changes inthe mentalite of the inhabitants :This article is about the video game. For Inhabitants of housing, see Residency Inhabitants is an independently developed commercial puzzle game created by S+F Software. DetailsThe game is based loosely on the concepts from SameGame. of that region. Thus Halsall suggeststhat there was a change in the concept of time between the 6th and 7thcenturies.The funerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner rites and remains of the 6th century were essentiallytemporary. There is no evidence for permanent grave markers and thedisplays of wealth and rituals associated with the funeral itself'would be invisible to anyone not actually present during thefuneral process' (p. 248). Power was transitory, achieved bycurrent family members, while the laws in the Pactus Legis Salicae are'concerned with the "here and now", the use of public,ritualized, essentially temporary displays' (p. 258). Thistransient view of time is transformed by the 7th century. Thearchaeological and documentary evidence A type of written proof that is offered at a trial to establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact that is in dispute.Letters, contracts, deeds, licenses, certificates, tickets, or other writings are documentary evidence. demonstrate a concern to projectthe present into the future. Temporary displays of grave goods In archaeology and anthropology grave goods are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit. arereplaced by permanent grave markers; a charter 'proved ownershipforever, unless superseded by a later charter' (p. 265-6); the useof witnesses to verify the transfer of land in the Pactus Legis Salicaeis replaced in the Lex See yacc. 1. (tool) Lex - A lexical analyser generator for Unix and its input language. There is a GNU version called flex and a version written in, and outputting, SML/NJ called ML-lex. Ribvaria with an emphasis on authentic chartersand the notion of perpetual possession (p. 47-8).It should be clear from the above that I think that this is anexcellent book which succeeds admirably in what it sets out to do. Aswell as providing us with the 'broad picture', throughout thebook Halsall undermines this picture by referring to regional andtemporal difference. Thus in the 4th century, unlike other areas, therewas no expansion of large villas at the expense of smaller ones (p.249). In the 7th century 'the region of Metz saw no foundation ofaristocratic rural monasteries', unlike the areas to the north,northwest and east (p. 264). In the early 7th century in other parts ofthe Frankish world, such as Alamannia, aristocrats were buried away fromthe community cemetery (p. 266). This distancing of the aristocracy aristocracy(ăr'ĭstŏk`rəsē)[Gr.,=rule by the best], in political science, government by a social elite. In the West the political concept of aristocracy derives from Plato's formulation in the Republic. fromthe rest of the community happened in the region of Metz only in thesecond half of the 7th century (p. 273-4). In opposition to staticconceptions of male and female Halsall argues that '[t]heconstruction of gender differed . . . across . . . short distances andfrom one century to the next (p. 61). Finally, ethnicity, rather thanbeing something borne in the blood, may have been politically contingent(p. 258).However, even in a book as good as this there are some problems. I amnot sure that the detailed analysis of the cemetery evidence needed tobe presented in the text. He associates the increased stability of the7th century with changes in the economic sphere (p. 267-9) and with a'the revival of a money economy' (p. 268). But what exactly ismeant by 'a money economy'? In what sphere of society did thecoins operate? What kind of exchanges could they be used in? How did'monetary' exchange interact with other aspects of the economysuch as gift giving and the rendering of tribute? These are importantquestions since the role of coinage is fundamental to our understandingnot only of the operation of the economy but of the nature of society asa whole.Halsall spends a long time successfully outlining a series of changesin Merovingian society. The question that must be asked is - What wasthe driving force behind the demonstrated dynamism of society in theregion of Metz? Given the complexity of the situation revealed byHalsall's detailed research, and our current distrust of monocausalexplanations, a simple answer might not be expected. However, it doescome as something of a disappointment to read the answer to the question'What brought about these changes?' posed on p. 269 -'The catalyst is surely to be sought in the series of minoritiesbetween Sigibert I's assassination AssassinationSee also Murder.assassinsFanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52]Brutusconspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. in 575 and the invasion ofAustrasia by Chlothar in 613'. Later we are told that '[t]hechanges around 700 might be associated with the civil wars of the periodwhich established the power of Charles Martel Charles Martel(märtĕl`)[O.Fr.,=Charles the Hammer], 688?–741, Frankish ruler, illegitimate son of Pepin of Heristal and grandfather of Charlemagne. after the death of Pippin Pippin.For Frankish rulers thus named, use Pepin.A multimedia game and Internet machine from Apple that used the PowerPC architecture and a limited version of the Mac OS. "II"' (p. 275).This, least a partial explanation, is one predicated upon theimportance of the 'event' in history. As Halsall notes (pp.281-2) there has been considerable debate over the relative power of'structure' and 'event' in determining change in thepast (most recently, Pomper 1996). The tendency has been to downplay down��play?tr.v. down��played, down��play��ing, down��playsTo minimize the significance of; play down: downplayed the bad news.Verb 1. thesignificance of the event, and while it is true, as Halsall argues, thatit will no longer do to simply reject the history of the event, it isnot made clear, to me at least, how the 'political, even militaryevents' (p. 281) of the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries contributed tothe huge transformations in society, economy, and mentalite which he soexpertly documents in the course of his book. Events may have beenimportant, but for us to have any confidence in their explanatory powerwe need to understand how they affected people on the ground; people whowere usually geographically as well as socially at some remove fromthese 'surface disturbances'.In reviewing a book of such quality it would not do to finish on anegative note. Settlement and social organisation Noun 1. social organisation - the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships; "the social organization of England and America is very different"; "sociologists have studied the changing structure of the family" is an exceptionallygood book. It is well written and argued, marshalling the availableevidence to arrive at convincing and exciting conclusions. In many waysit is a model of the regional studies which are necessary for us even toapproach an understanding of the middle ages. It is unfortunate that wecannot fully judge the distinctiveness and uniqueness of settlement andsocial organization in the region of Metz because Halsall's studyis itself almost unique.ReferencesPOMPER, P. 1995. World history and its critics, History and Theory,Theme Issue 34: 1-7.1996. Historians and individual agency, History and Theory 35[3]:281-308.SAID, E. 1994. Culture and imperialism. London: Vintage.