The hierarchy of power in rural northern Italy after the end of the Roman villa settlement system

The aim of this essay is to re-examine current archaeological knowledge about early medieval settlements in northern Italy (6th–8th centuries) to try to connect written sources with the individual villages wherever possible. It is important to note that there are no fundamental differences regarding the importance of villages in the rural landscapes of western areas, but in the final phase of the pars occidentis a specific rural settlement form, the villa, was abandoned and replaced by a broader and more complex settlement system. Consequently, this presentation about the northern areas of the peninsula will be split up into two parts: a discussion of the settlement hierarchies centered around the villa in the Roman world in northern Italy, and an overview of post-Roman settlement forms that replaced it in this sector of the western Mediterranean.