ABSTRACT
European history has always been a touchy subject. But few historians can match the stormy heights reached by the Belgian Henri Pirenne. At the heart of this enduring controversy are some of Pirenne’s ideas concerning the transition of Europe from classical antiquity to medieval civilization. A fascinating analytical sketch that shed some light on the questions was devised by the mathematician Alistair Mees. He analyzed the effect of increasing trade opportunities on urban and rural populations. The periodic peddling of goods by the oriental traders was slanted toward the silks of Constantinople and the spices of the Indies. This is hardly surprising since only goods of great rarity and profitability could withstand the burden of the high transportation costs and risks of loss that must have beset the early merchants. The Champagne fairs became the “embryonic clearinghouses” of the European economy. Four towns in the area developed a rotating system of six fairs each year.
