Les plateae calabraises d’époque normande Une source pour l’histoire économique et sociale de la Calabre byzantine ?

Given that the written sources ­concerning the rural organization of Byzantine Calabria are somewhat limited in number, this obliges us to look at the plateae, a form of documentation peculiar to Norman Calabria and Sicily, in order to re-examine the issue of the Byzantine status of the peasantry. These lists of men (­jarâ’id in Arab-speaking Sicily, katonoma in Greek-speaking Calabria) were established by the public authorities (the count, the king), usually so as to give them to vassals or religious institutions. Beyond the important differences that distinguish Sicily and Calabria, their plateae attest to the ­continuous power of public authority, as ­conveyed by both the Byzantine and Arabian traditions; as well as showing that they were produced for the same purposes, that is to ­control space, to stabilize population, and to levy taxes. By ­considering both formal criteria and the status of the peasantry, we can assume that these plateae, in Norman Calabria, show the ­continuity of various fiscal principles between the Byzantine and the Norman period, thus shedding new light on the ­complex situation of Byzantine paroikoi.