Henri Pirenne Thesis, explained and proved.

In a series of articles and addresses which culminated in the book Mohammed and Charlemagne, Pirenne advanced the thesis that the Ancient World ended only after the Arab invasions of the seventh and eighth centuries had swept around the perimeter of the Mediterranean and had converted it into a Moslem lake upon which, as one Arab writer graphically said, the Christians could no longer "float a plank." The waters of the Mediterranean have held the …

…with Pirenne and believe his economic theory wins out over the competition. Extended Bibliography. Mohammed and Charlemagne - Henri Pirenne "Identifying the Middle Ages" - John France http://www.swan.ac.uk/history/staff/france/med2.htm "The Middle Ages" - Dr. George Bouree http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/middleages.html "Pirenne Thesis" - Bruce Lyon http://teaching.arts.usyd.edu.au/history/1025/sect4/pirennelyon.html Pirenne Thesis Prof. William Flinter Medieval History 5:30 - 8:30 T