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1 " L'Islam a rompu l'unité méditerranéenne que les invasions germaniques avaient laissé subsister.C'est là le fait le plus essentiel qui se soit passé dans l'histoire européenne depuis les guerres puniques. C'est la fin de la tradition antique. C'est le commencement du Moyen Age, au moment même où l'Europe était en voie de se byzantiniser. "
― Henri Pirenne
2 " One thing is certain—that there was an active circulation of money. We must repudiate the idea that the people of the Merovingian epoch lived under a system of natural economy. "
― Henri Pirenne , Mohammed and Charlemagne
3 " Pirenne was quite right that the ancient trading economy continued after the first invasions and the establishment of the mixed Romano-barbarian successor kingdoms. Some kind of connectivity by sea endured continuously, even if at very low levels (Horden and Purcell 2000). "
― Henri Pirenne , Medieval Cities: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade
4 " The economic basis of the State did not correspond with the administrative character which Charlemagne had endeavoured to preserve. The economy of the State was based upon the great domain without commercial outlets. The landowners had no need of security, since they did not engage in commerce. Such a form of property is perfectly consistent with anarchy. Those who owned the soil had no need of the king. "
5 " If I were an antiquarian, I would have eyes only for old stuff, but I am a historian. Therefore, I love life. "
