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02-10-2015, 11:30 AM
Belgian Democracy: Its Early History
by Henri Pirenne
Preface to the English Edition
This little book first saw the light in 1910. Since that date, no work has appeared which
has required me to reconsider the general ideas on which it is based. Nevertheless, this
English translation includes a certain number of detailed corrections which have here and
there improved the text.
The subject of this book deals with the Low Countries as a whole, using the term in
its old acceptation to designate the stretch of country now comprising the French departments
of the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais as well as the kingdoms of Belgium and Holland.
The only democracies known to those districts before our own days were the
urban democracies, and therefore no one will be surprised to find that towns are the sole
topic of this little book. Moreover, the scope of the work is in practice almost entirely
limited to the towns of the modern kingdom of Belgium. Nowhere in northern Europe did
democratic institutions grow up with more energy and result than in the towns on the
banks of the Scheldt and the Meuse. Quite apart from the historical interest which this
remarkable development offers, the study of the history of democracy in the Belgium of
the past is well worthy of the attention of those who wish to investigate the problems of
contemporary democracy. In this relation I cannot but express my profound conviction
that the vitality which the towns of Belgium have hitherto shewn in all stages of their
history is a certain proof that they will assuredly renew their strength, even after the
terrible disasters of which they have recently become the victims. May the English-speaking
public extend to their early history a little of the sympathy which it is lavishing on their
present misfortunes!
I am extremely grateful to the University of Manchester for doing this little book the
honour of inclusion among the historical series of its publications. I also wish to express
my indebtedness to Mr. J. V. Saunders, who undertook the task of translating this volume.
The present state of affairs has made it impossible for me to take much personal
share in the review of his translation, and has altogether prevented me from seeing the
6 / Henri Pirenne
book in proof. I must, therefore, tender my best thanks to my friend Professor T. F.
Tout, who has been good enough to make himself responsible for the revision of the
translation and for seeing the work through the press; and to Miss J. M. Potter, who has
given him considerable help in both these respects, and has compiled the index. To Mr.
H. M. McKechnie, the secretary of the Publications Committee of the University, I must
also acknowledge my obligations for much invaluable assistance.
H. Pirenne.
Ghent,
February, 1915.
Henri Pirenne:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Henry.Pirenne.Portrait.gif
Henri Pirenne (23 December 1862 – 25 October 1935) was a Belgian historian. A medievalist of Walloon descent, he wrote a multivolume history of Belgium in French and became a national hero. He also became prominent in the nonviolent resistance to the Germans who occupied Belgium in World War I.
Henri Pirenne's reputation today rests on three contributions to European history: for what has become known as the Pirenne Thesis, concerning origins of the Middle Ages in reactive state formation and shifts in trade; for a distinctive view of Belgium's medieval history; and for his model of the development of the medieval city.
Pirenne argued that profound social, economic, cultural, and religious movements in the long-term resulted from equally profound underlying causes, and this attitude influenced Marc Bloch and the outlook of the French Annales School of social history. Though Pirenne had his opponents, notably Alfons Dopsch who disagreed on essential points, recent historians of the Middle Ages usually take Pirenne's main theses, however much they are modified, as starting points.
Pirenne's other major idea concerned the nature of medieval Belgium. Belgium as an independent nation state had appeared only a generation before Pirenne's birth; throughout Western history, its fortunes had been tied up with the Low Countries, which now include the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of north-east France. Furthermore, Belgium lies athwart the great linguistic divide between French and Dutch. The unity of the country might appear accidental, something which Pirenne sought to disprove in his History of Belgium (1899–1932). His ideas here, promoting a kind of Belgian nationalism, have also proved controversial, with many historians preferring to stress the economic unity of the Low Countries as a whole. Henri Pirenne donated the majority of his personal library to the Academia Belgica in Rome. In 1933, he was awarded the Francqui Prize on Human Sciences.
Pirenne's Histoire de Belgique (7 vol., 1899–1932) stressed how traditional and economic forces had drawn Flemings and Walloons together. Pirenne, inspired by patriotic nationalism, presupposed a Belgian unity - social, political, and ethnic - which predated its 1830 independence by centuries. Although a liberal himself, he wrote his seven-volume history with such a masterly balance that Catholics, liberals and socialists could quote from it with equal respect in their newspapers or sometimes even in their political gatherings.
http://digitheque.ulb.ac.be/fr/digitheque-henri-pirenne/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Pirenne
by Henri Pirenne
Preface to the English Edition
This little book first saw the light in 1910. Since that date, no work has appeared which
has required me to reconsider the general ideas on which it is based. Nevertheless, this
English translation includes a certain number of detailed corrections which have here and
there improved the text.
The subject of this book deals with the Low Countries as a whole, using the term in
its old acceptation to designate the stretch of country now comprising the French departments
of the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais as well as the kingdoms of Belgium and Holland.
The only democracies known to those districts before our own days were the
urban democracies, and therefore no one will be surprised to find that towns are the sole
topic of this little book. Moreover, the scope of the work is in practice almost entirely
limited to the towns of the modern kingdom of Belgium. Nowhere in northern Europe did
democratic institutions grow up with more energy and result than in the towns on the
banks of the Scheldt and the Meuse. Quite apart from the historical interest which this
remarkable development offers, the study of the history of democracy in the Belgium of
the past is well worthy of the attention of those who wish to investigate the problems of
contemporary democracy. In this relation I cannot but express my profound conviction
that the vitality which the towns of Belgium have hitherto shewn in all stages of their
history is a certain proof that they will assuredly renew their strength, even after the
terrible disasters of which they have recently become the victims. May the English-speaking
public extend to their early history a little of the sympathy which it is lavishing on their
present misfortunes!
I am extremely grateful to the University of Manchester for doing this little book the
honour of inclusion among the historical series of its publications. I also wish to express
my indebtedness to Mr. J. V. Saunders, who undertook the task of translating this volume.
The present state of affairs has made it impossible for me to take much personal
share in the review of his translation, and has altogether prevented me from seeing the
6 / Henri Pirenne
book in proof. I must, therefore, tender my best thanks to my friend Professor T. F.
Tout, who has been good enough to make himself responsible for the revision of the
translation and for seeing the work through the press; and to Miss J. M. Potter, who has
given him considerable help in both these respects, and has compiled the index. To Mr.
H. M. McKechnie, the secretary of the Publications Committee of the University, I must
also acknowledge my obligations for much invaluable assistance.
H. Pirenne.
Ghent,
February, 1915.
Henri Pirenne:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Henry.Pirenne.Portrait.gif
Henri Pirenne (23 December 1862 – 25 October 1935) was a Belgian historian. A medievalist of Walloon descent, he wrote a multivolume history of Belgium in French and became a national hero. He also became prominent in the nonviolent resistance to the Germans who occupied Belgium in World War I.
Henri Pirenne's reputation today rests on three contributions to European history: for what has become known as the Pirenne Thesis, concerning origins of the Middle Ages in reactive state formation and shifts in trade; for a distinctive view of Belgium's medieval history; and for his model of the development of the medieval city.
Pirenne argued that profound social, economic, cultural, and religious movements in the long-term resulted from equally profound underlying causes, and this attitude influenced Marc Bloch and the outlook of the French Annales School of social history. Though Pirenne had his opponents, notably Alfons Dopsch who disagreed on essential points, recent historians of the Middle Ages usually take Pirenne's main theses, however much they are modified, as starting points.
Pirenne's other major idea concerned the nature of medieval Belgium. Belgium as an independent nation state had appeared only a generation before Pirenne's birth; throughout Western history, its fortunes had been tied up with the Low Countries, which now include the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of north-east France. Furthermore, Belgium lies athwart the great linguistic divide between French and Dutch. The unity of the country might appear accidental, something which Pirenne sought to disprove in his History of Belgium (1899–1932). His ideas here, promoting a kind of Belgian nationalism, have also proved controversial, with many historians preferring to stress the economic unity of the Low Countries as a whole. Henri Pirenne donated the majority of his personal library to the Academia Belgica in Rome. In 1933, he was awarded the Francqui Prize on Human Sciences.
Pirenne's Histoire de Belgique (7 vol., 1899–1932) stressed how traditional and economic forces had drawn Flemings and Walloons together. Pirenne, inspired by patriotic nationalism, presupposed a Belgian unity - social, political, and ethnic - which predated its 1830 independence by centuries. Although a liberal himself, he wrote his seven-volume history with such a masterly balance that Catholics, liberals and socialists could quote from it with equal respect in their newspapers or sometimes even in their political gatherings.
http://digitheque.ulb.ac.be/fr/digitheque-henri-pirenne/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Pirenne