La porte Bannier, entrée principale de la ville d’Orléans aux xive-xve siècles

Abstract

The Bannier gate in Orléans is the main entrance to the town from the 14th to the 15th century AD. It protects a very dynamic part of the city where craftsmen, merchants and rich burghers are settled. It was discovered in 1986 during archaeological investigations conducted before the construction of an underground car park. Preventive archaeological investigations carried in 2013 produced a new analysis of the gate in order to understand better its evolution and its function during two centuries. The analysis of the construction still preserved today and the extensive archival documentation, provided by the fortress accounts, make possible to reconstruct the appearance and the history of this structure, which was an essential location in medieval Orléans. The research on the Bannier gate has very well integrated with the general knowledge about the defence system displayed by the city during the Hundred Year’s War, and more generally with the field of medieval fortifications, providing important information on the construction of dirt roads in the early 15th century.