Muhammad, Charlemagne and the Origins of Europe - Softcover

Hodges, Richard; Whitehouse, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0715617036 ISBN 13: 9780715617038

Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, 1983

Synopsis

Henri Pirennewas a Belgian historian whose career was devoted to promoting the thesis since named after him. His claim (in Mohammed and Charlemagne, 1939) was that the classical world survived the Germanic invasions of the fourth and fifth centuries, that the Islamic conquests destroyed the classical world by putting an end to Mediterranean trade upon which the classical world relied, and that the Carolingian Renaissance was due entirely to domestic resources. This thesis was disputed from the start, but mainly on the terms of literary evidence. In this concise, well argued book, Richard Hodges and David Whitehouse use data from archaeology to challenge all of these claims.

About this title

Review:

"In this book, Richard Hodges and David Whitehouse review the Pirenne thesis and test hypotheses advanced by some of Pirenne's critics in the light of archaeological information from the Mediterranean, northern Europe, and western Asia. . . . The book succeeds extraordinarily well not only in integrating archaeology with traditionally researched history but also in interweaving European and Islamic history in the early medieval period." American Historical Review"

"Besides providing a splendid illustration of the potential for archaeological contributions to historical studies, this book offers a new model for early medieval Europe. . . . The book is profusely illustrated with well-selected photographs of representative objects and archaeological sites, site plans, and maps." Archaeology"

"A major contribution to the reinvestigation of the Pirenne thesis." Middle East Journal"

"In this book, Richard Hodges and David Whitehouse review the Pirenne thesis and test hypotheses advanced by some of Pirenne's critics in the light of archaeological information from the Mediterranean, northern Europe, and western Asia. . . . The book succeeds extraordinarily well not only in integrating archaeology with traditionally researched history but also in interweaving European and Islamic history in the early medieval period."--American Historical Review

"Besides providing a splendid illustration of the potential for archaeological contributions to historical studies, this book offers a new model for early medieval Europe. . . . The book is profusely illustrated with well-selected photographs of representative objects and archaeological sites, site plans, and maps."--Archaeology

"A major contribution to the reinvestigation of the Pirenne thesis."--Middle East Journal

About the Author:

Richard Hodges OBE, is President of The American University of Rome, Italy. He is the editor of the Debates in Archaeology series; and his publications include Dark Age Economics, The Anglo-Saxon Achievement, Towns and Trade in the Age of Charlemagne, Goodbye to the Vikings and (as co-author) Villa to Village, all published by Bloomsbury. He has previously been Director of Archaeology for the Butrint Foundation and Director of the Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, USA.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd
• Publication date: 1983
• ISBN 10: 0715617036
• ISBN 13: 9780715617038
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 182