La haute-cour du château de Walhain-Saint-Paul : étude des vestiges archéologiques

Details

Supervisors

Verslype, Laurent ; Bragard, Philippe

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire de l'art et archéologie, orientation générale

Abstract

enThis master thesis aims to study the high courtyard archaeological remains of Walhain-Saint-Paul’s castle (Brabant Walloon, Belgium), located on the former border between the Duchy of Brabant and the County of Namur, prior to restoration works and opening to the public. The thesis’ purposes were to review the whole excavations’ information’s since the beginning of the digs at the end of the 20th century, give an exhaustive remains’ description and to interpret them regarding iconographic documents and archives. For the first time, this study made possible to create complete excavations plans, but mainly to suggest ways of interpretation of the room layout, the circulations between rooms and an integrated synthesis including the structures phasing understood through the castle phasing, the iconography and the historical documents such as the accounting. The classical scheme “aula-camera-capella” was highlighted for this Philippian-shaped castle, as well as the connections between this tripartition, the domestic spaces and the craft zone, including the remains of a possible forge. The principal aim of the study was to give solid foundations to wider studies; the thesis now calls to new interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of soil and palynological sciences, historical and archives study, and archaeology.