The issue of the creation of European cities is an important chapter of European, both old and modern, reality, and it relates to how we experience Europe today.

How were the cities formed in a densely populated area of Western Europe? How did initially undivided residential settlements change over time, become aware of themselves, and gain political emancipation? This dual perspective, connecting history with politics, contributes as additional well-documented material to the interpretation of the urban phenomenon throughout Europe.

In one way or another, the cities under consideration gradually acquire their true identity, allowing the reconstruction of the material conditions of their existence and the identification of indicators that map ideological experiences from life within them.

Guided by interdisciplinarity, this historical analysis presents the most characteristic aspects of the aforementioned trends. The first chapter demonstrates the connection between the urban history of medieval Flanders and broader historical periods (Henri Pirenne, Félix Roux, Franz Pëtr, Jean Doud, Fernand Ferkouteren, Adrian Ferloust), analyzes how these theories supported or were used to promote continuities or discontinuities with Europe's Roman past, and addresses the issue of capital accumulation, highlighting the relevant economic theories (Karl Buecher, Werner Zobar, Max Weber).

The subsequent sections examine Flemish residential settlements both from the perspective of their Roman proto-history and the emergence of new towns during the subsequent periods of the Merovingians (5th-8th centuries) and the Carolingians (8th-10th centuries).

Chapters four and five explore Viking raids in the Flanders region, which acted as catalysts for power reconfigurations and highlighted the count as a new and rising authoritative figure.

Finally, the internal life of Flanders' towns is presented mainly in terms of their communal organization, the development of new administrative and judicial institutions, and especially, their guild-based expression of economic activity.

• Nikoleta Yiatsi-Meletiadi is a Professor in the Department of History and Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.