(Re)Building the Present, (Re)Claiming the Past: Architecture and Social Memory at the Medieval Monastery of Psalmodi, Gard, France

Summary

This study employs archaeological and documentary evidence to examine adaptive reuse and social memory at the site of the medieval monastery of Psalmodi in Gard, France. During the late twelfth century, the abbey church was partially rebuilt, enclosing the footprint of an earlier church and maintaining early public space while transforming and enlarging monastic space. The reconstruction occurred shortly after a century of turmoil that saw the takeover of the monastery by a rival and the ultimate retention of Psalmodi’s independence and sovereignty based on a forged foundation legend. I argue that the meshing of early and later architectural elements was an expression of social memory in the aftermath of a period when the independence and the very existence of the monastery and its community had been threatened.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21263