In previous chapters I brought textual and archeological evidence of the existence of the maisons fortes, which served as administrative centers for agricultural estates. However, the documents and the archeological remains do not provide evidence of how the estates and the manor houses were administered, whether the Frankish masters lived in them permanently, and whether they received help from the local population. Furthermore, they do not provide answers to the question of whether the local population who participated in the administration of these estates was Christian or Muslim. Nonetheless, it is difficult to imagine that the Franks would have invested so great an effort in building maisons fortes if they had not intended to live permanently in them. Furthermore, from an examination of the agricultural remains discovered in the Frankish farm houses, as discussed in the previous chapter, it transpires that the Franks used agricultural and irrigation technologies developed in the Orient over a period of hundreds of years, and that it is reasonable to assume that they employed local labor in order to apply this technology, most of which was unknown in the Latin Occident.

This chapter is devoted to proving that the Franks did actually build their estates and manor houses for their own use, although their day-to-day administration was entrusted, apparently, to members of the local Christian community.

The Frankish maison forte in Kabul

During a survey which I conducted in Kabul (Cabor of the Frankish period), I discovered remains of a large barrel-vault and of fortifications from the Frankish period.