Etienne Renard

Grandes propriétés et organisation domaniale dans le Midi de la Gaule à l’époque carolingienne : que peut-on savoir ?

Large Estates and their Organisation in the South of Gaul in Carolingian Times : the Limits of Extant Sources. ; Unfortunately, the scarce written primary sources dating back to Carolingian times, which are able to shed some light upon the consistency, structure and organization of large landownership in southern Gaul, are too unevenly distributed in time and space to draw a regional synthesis. Moreover, their use implies an in-depth analysis of their vocabulary and, in the case of the polyptychs of Marseille and Mauriac, a thorough study of the nature and scope of the document. In spite of this, it appears that these large properties were relatively scattered and mostly consisted of holdings with no links to the demesne, a rent-based landlordship whose demesne was usually of a modest level and apparently not exploited via customary labour services required of the free or unfree tenants.