Mohammed and Charlemagne

Published posthumously in 1937, this historical thesis argues that the ancient Mediterranean world of Rome did not end with the Germanic invasions of the fifth century. Pirenne holds that trade, cities, gold coinage, and a still-classical culture continued under the Merovingians so long as the sea remained open. The decisive break, in his account, came with the seventh- and eighth-century Islamic conquests, which closed the western Mediterranean, impoverished Gaul, and forced the Frankish world inland. Only then, around Charlemagne, does he place the true beginning of a medieval, agrarian, and northern Europe. The book is an argument about periodization, using economic and urban evidence rather than a biography of either named ruler.

Bound in brown cloth, cover blocked with a gilt and red design by Neil Gower based on a T and O map, with Arabic calligraphy by Josh Berer. Dark brown slipcase.