Conference “The origins of the communes of the Loudunais”.

The communes replaced the parishes in 1790. But how did the parishes themselves come into being? At the end of the 19th century, several renowned scholars had looked into this question. They believed that they were the heirs to the great agricultural estates of late Antiquity. Recently, however, university researchers, archaeologists and historians have challenged this view. In reality, the formation of parishes is the result of a succession of complex phenomena over time. Using examples from the Loudunais region, this talk aims to take stock of the current state of the question.
François Chairon
Archaeologist and historian