Early Democracies in the Low Countries: Urban Society and Political Conflict in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

by Henri Pirenne

Book by Pirenne, Henri

Genres: History

284 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1971

About the author

Henri Pirenne was a leading Belgian historian. He also became prominent in the non-violent resistance to the Germans who occupied Belgium in World War I.

Henri Pirenne's reputation today rests on three contributions to European history. First, what has become known as the Pirenne Thesis, concerning origins of the Middle Ages in reactive state formation and shifts in trade; secondly, for a distinctive view of Belgium's medieval history; and, thirdly, for his model on the development of the medieval city.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good concise history of the low-countries in the middle ages and the social and political aspects of low-countries life particularly during the high and later medieval ages, with a small amount about the roman and Frankish low-countries.

[Simon Kissam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite good. It has good overview of Early Democracies in the Low Countries, hence the title. I was surprised by the amount of violence happened between the early proletariat and bourgeois in the towns of the low countries. Overall very readable and is a good history of the subject matter.

[Robert Monk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henri Pirenne is one of the great historians of the past, a Belgian who came up with two major theories that are still argued today. One is that the collapse of classical civilization (if not the western Roman Empire) resulted, not from the Germanic invasions, but from the loss of the Mediterranean to Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries. The other is that the rise of Medieval cities came entirely from the revival of trade that followed that collapse. This little book is an early version of the latter theory. It's not read as often as, say, for the understandable reason that it has a less-developed version of the theory. But it's also got a more specific aim, and that makes it interesting in its own way. Pirenne is very good at explaining his points, and his work is clear and logical. Have a lot of his ideas been successfully counter-argued? Yes, indeed, but when one reads later books on the subject they're often going to take Pirenne as their starting point. It's a fine idea to actually absorb his thoughts as a preliminary to following someone else's refutation.

[Richard Sisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic work still worth reading.