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E. THOEN / E. VANHAUTE
not yet quote in his 'réflections', but had a major influence on the early
'Annales school' (Thompson, 2002, XIII). Another less striking change is
perhaps that Pirenne became more 'positivist' in the sense that he seems to
have made less use of psychological arguments, although he did not employ
many in his early period either (while he had shown some sympathy for the
method, for example, in his admiration for Lamprecht) (Pirenne, 1897).
Moreover, since Lamprecht had not wanted to be associated with extreme
positivism (Wils, 2005, 292), Pirenne was now distancing himself somewhat
from the 'historical school of economics'. In his 1928 article he went even
further when he argued that historical narrative was hypothetical and more
reflective of the historian's perception than of reality, paving the way for
post-modernism before its time (Pirenne, 1933). However, in the second part
of his career Pirenne's ideas were also more influenced by sociology than by
psychology.
Clearly further in-depth research is needed, especially into his surviving class
notes, which might be more instructive as he would refer more explicitly to
the ideas which influenced him
21
than in his work itself.
22
At this point, it
seems that the alleged change in his methodological thinking in the course of
his career did exist, but has been somewhat exaggerated. In his nuanced ideas
about the use of models and theory, he was a child of late 19th-century
economic tradition, and he largely retained this nuanced way of thinking.
While those who had inspired him originally moved in a different direction,
he retained his view that 'objective' historiography should not be dominated
by any single theory, even though he was conscious that he was aiming at an
illusory ideal. He believed that the highest degree of objectivity was attain-
able only through "comparative history", his chief focus during the latter part
of his career. His great achievement was to bring these ideas, born within the
field of economics and applied in the historical field, to the attention of most
of the western academic world, along with economic (and social) history. The
famous Annales school, which he inspired greatly, actually worked in the
same "pluralistic" tradition, as did many of the most important economic
historians of the second half of the 20th century.
21.
The Pirenne archives are stored in the archives of the University of Brussels (ULB). Lyon
(1974, 146) suggests that these class notes are available in the archives. A more systematic
classification of these archives is under construction and will make systematic research in
these archives possible in the near future. Currently, PhD research at the university of Ghent
by Sarah Keymeulen based on these archives will certainly reveal more about this matter.
22.
Indeed, according to the traditions of his time, Pirenne quoted others' theories sparsely. In
general, in many of his articles he made only a few footnotes.
PIRENNE AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL THEORY
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2. PIRENNE'S CAUSAL METHODOLOGY,
EXPLANATORY MODELS AND THE
APPLICATION AND RECEPTION OF HIS IDEAS
In the previous section, we argued that as an economic and social historian
Pirenne generally followed the principles of the German historical school of
economics, which he had adopted during the final decades of the 19th cen-
tury. He was therefore influenced by interdisciplinarity and theoretical con-
cepts and somewhat sceptical of general explanations and models, denying
that they had an absolute value and believing that they should be adapted
according to space and time. We will now examine the way in which Pirenne
explained economic and social change and the 'models' which influenced
him. This will include an overview of how different schools of historians
received his ideas, because this reception is linked with the position he is
alleged to have taken on explaining changes and trends. Following the path of
his masters in the field of economics, Pirenne dealt directly with the
evolution of capitalism, and the studies he published on this theme offer clear
evidence of his methodological, conceptual and ideological inspiration.
2.1. Pirenne's theory on the birth of capitalism:
Smithian, Marxist or an early use of the
'New Institutional Economics' approach?
Many discussions on the origins of capitalism referred, especially until the
1980s but today there is a certain revival as we will see, to the "Pirenne
thesis" – actually a compilation of two hypotheses – to the economic decay of
(Western) Europe because of the rise of Islam in the seventh and eighth
centuries (Mohammed and Charlemagne), and the rise of cities and a new
merchant class beginning in the 11th and 12th centuries. Showing his talents
as a comparative historian, in the first hypothesis Pirenne stressed the geo-
graphical presence or absence of capitalist-minded merchants bent on eco-
nomic development, and linked this to political events and institutions. This
theory was very influential until the 1970s/1980s, but lost much of its appeal
as new evidence (especially archaeological) came to light.
23
Pirenne's location of the birth of capitalism in the commercial renaissance
of European towns beginning in the 11th century is still widely accepted
23.
See e.g. Verhulst (2002, 2-5, 103 ff.); see also Hodges and Whitehouse (1983).