As a Belgian historian, Henri Pirenne challenged the long-held belief that the decline of civilization occurred because of the Germanic invasions in the Roman Empire. Renaissance and Reformation thinkers, Enlightenment philosophers, and Modernist historians all pointed to the Germanic invasions that begin in the fifth century as giving rise to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Instead, Pirenne points to the swift and surprising spread of Islam as the reason behind the break with traditional antiquity. Islam cut off trade in the Mediterranean, thus making the Mediterranean Sea and Musulman lake. For the first time in history, the center of life shifted northward from the Mediterranean.
Pierenne states that although there was a flood of Germanic immigration to the Roman Empire, the invaders were simply absorbed into the Empire. The German language died away. The Gothic conception of royalty was lost. All Germanic law was crushed and the organization of the judiciary was entirely Roman. In Spain and Gaul, the Germanic character was modified by Roman manners and Roman institutions. In the Empire, royal insignia went from Germanic to Roman. The agricultural system of the Roman Empire continued without addition after the invasions. Spanish agriculture bore no resemblance to Germanic agriculture. Social classes remained the same. The organization of great estates remained unchanged.With regards to navigation, Pirenne argues that it was just as active under the Empire as after the invasions, an important distinction that will be noted later. Trade was not greatly affected. Pirenne states that the diffusion of spices from the Orient was uninterrupted after the invasions.Instead of declining, the author posits that the Germanic invasions may have revived the prosperity of the slave trade. The Germanic peoples would have been familiar with the slave trade, brought slaves with them, and their wars must have added to their numbers.
Leaving no room for error, Pirenne emphasizes that imports and exports were extensive in the sixth century.Had there been a fall of civilization, then surely trade would have been the first to noticeably deteriorate. Most importantly to Pirenne, the invasions did not supplant the Empire with a Germanic coin. “Nothing attests more clearly the persistence of the economic unity of the Empire. It was impossible to deprive it of the benefit of monetary unit”.
In consideration of art, Pirenne states that there was no artistic interruption in the Mediterranean. The Germanic vein of Visigothic art was extinguished by the sixth century. Poets continued to write poetry. Coyly, Pirenne points out that someone had to be reading the poetry that was created. Overall, Piernne deftly reconstructs the economic, social, and cultural practices “Romania” after the invasions, and demonstrates that although the invaders were considerably different, the Germans almost seamlessly assimilated into their new environment and empire. Not a fall or decline of the Empire, but business and life carried on as usual.
According to Pirenne, the Middle Ages began after the eighth century. “Before the 8th century what existed was the continuation of the ancient Mediterranean economy. After the 8thcentury there was a complete break with this economy. The sea was closed. Commerce had disappeared”.Pirenne differs in this respect to previous historians in that prior to Pirenne, the Middle Ages started much sooner. Specifically, Pirenne points to the reign of Charlemagne as the beginning of the Middle Ages. “The Carolingian Empire, or rather, the Empire of Charlemagne, was the scaffolding of the Middle Ages”. As Pirenne pointed to the circulation of money as an indicator that civilization was not dead in the sixth century, he does the opposite in the eighth. “As for the currency, this was in a terrible state of confusion. There was practically no gold in circulation.” Prices were frequently paid in grain or cattle. Navigation degenerated. Pirates infested the waters of the Mediterranean. The class of wealthy merchants had vanished. Aside from a very few, the only group of people to manage trade were the Jews.Pirenne concludes that the degeneration of commerce “resulted in making the soil more than ever the essential basis of economic life”.
For the most part, McCormick agrees with Pirenne, his thesis, and surrounding details. Agreeably, McCormick also denotes the Middle Ages as beginning around the eighth century after the spread of Islam, not the invasions of the Barbarians in the fifth century. McCormick points out how Pirenne easily denotes papyrus missing from the scribes in Gaul during the seventh century. Even more impressed, McCormick gives Pirenne credit with grasping the next obvious conclusion: the disruption of trade with the Orient because the Islamic world had taken control of the Mediterranean.
McCormick offers several important additions involving communication to think about regarding Pirenne’s thesis. First, McCormick speculates the reason merchants, and specifically merchants mentioned by name, disappear from record books during the seventh century is not because there simply were no merchants, but because the chroniclers would not have deigned to waste their time recording such information. However, McCormick points out that just because merchants are quiet in the record books does not mean they did not exist. He counters that what we are left with is communications. Using the movements of people, coinage, goods, and slaves, McCormick deftly adds another element to Pirenne’s thesis.
Without a bibliography, deciphering Pirenne’s sources is a bit daunting. One of Pirenne’s favorite sources was Gregory of Tours, who was a contemporary Bishop who recorded a history of the Franks, and recorded observations during his time period. Gregory of Tours seems to be an invaluable source to Pirenne. According to the Preface, Henri Pirenne’s son, Jacques Pirenne, completed Mohammed and Charlemagne after the death of Henri. Basing the completed version ofMohammed and Charlemagne on a “rough draft” completed by Henri Pirenne, Jacques Pirenne and a valued pupil of Henri Pirenne’s, M. F. Vercauteren, cited sources. This double-dip of note-taking and referencing no doubt left several assertions incomplete. Nonetheless, Jacques Pirenne is correct when he asserts that Mohammed and Charlemagne contain the “most vital, boldest, and most recent ideas” of the conditions leading up to the fall of the Roman Empire and the spread of Islam in the early Middle Ages.
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