Mahomet et Charlemagne
Quick Summary
Henri Pirenne's work, Mahomet et Charlemagne, presents a controversial thesis on the decline of the Roman Empire and the transition to the Middle Ages. Pirenne argued that the empire's fall was not primarily due to Germanic invasions, but rather to the Arab dominance in the Mediterranean by the 8th century.1
He contended that this Arab ascendancy led to a decline in international trade and the disintegration of a monetary economy. This, in turn, caused a regression to a more localized, agricultural subsistence economy and a stratified class system. Pirenne's interpretation, which heavily emphasized economic factors, stimulated significant debate among historians.1
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