The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries in Italy and France (Second Half of the Fourth Century to the Eighth Century (in collaborazione con S. Bully)

The paper presents some of the main topics of Early Medieval monasticism between Italy and France, in a perspective of comparison between the two sides of the Alps, highlighting specificities and common aspects. Thus, in this respect, it represents a quite uncommon approach in the very vast specialised literature. A synthesis is proposed, with a selection of cases in both Countries, providing an overview of an important part of the European continent. It starts with an examination of the very notion of ‘monasterium’ in the written sources and then looks at some of the main archaeological evidence found both in Italy and France for the period under consideration, in a perspective that is always interdisciplinary, taken as a guiding thread on the methodological level. The research strands identified by the most recent monastic archaeology are examined, from the problem of pre-existences to material structures and the organisation of monastic space. The article has a deliberately synthetic slant, included in a volume of the Cambridge History aiming at presenting a complete picture of western monasticism in the Middle Ages (until the 12th c.). The volume was widely disseminated within the international scholarly community and represents a point of reference for studies in this field.