Posted at Oct 14/2007 06:52PM:

Sebastian Gallese: Pirenne Thesis

Put forth by the Belgian historian Henri Pirenne in Mohammed and Charlemagne (1935).

"Without Mohammed, Charlemagne would indeed have been inconceivable."

Details:

1. Western Europe Before Islam (4th-6th Century CE)

• European Tribes did not destroy classical civilization during this time period
• Trade relations continued as normal in the Mediterranean
• Germanic invaders and the Church attempted to preserve classical culture

2. Islam and the Carolingians (7th-8th Century CE)

• Muslims conquer north Africa, eastern Mediterranean, and Spain via the sea lanes.
• Split Roman empire into West and East (Byzantium).
• Western Political power collapsed and became focused in land holdings and the Church.
• Charlemagne sets up a new political and monetary system.

Conclusion: "Changes in the Mediterranean isolated the Merovingian king in the north-west Europe and caused the gradual rise of the Carolingians." The Pope allied with the economically powerful Carolingians and "ultimately led to the coronation of Charlemagne" and the "Empire of the West" and the end of the classical world in the seventh century.

In class we looked at how Hodges & Whitehouse conclude that the Pirenne Thesis is correct; however, Charlemagne did not reach power directly from the Muslim conquest of Byzantium, but from Muslim silver traded through the Baltic (Vikings).

From Mohammed, Charlemagne & the Origins of Europe by Hodges & Whitehouse Pp 3,4

Posted at Oct 15/2007 03:28PM:
Ian: Given that Pirenne establishes this historical link which H&W revise, what has this meant for the way in which scholars might approach the archaeology of the Muslim world? Certainly one of the significant features of this thesis is that it has pushed academics to consider that the Muslim world has had an effect on the development of the West. The question is whether it has really captured the nature of that dynamic relationship or only given it lipservice.