The Pirenne phenomenon (ca. 1875 - ca. 1975). A critical study of the construction of success and status

By tracing his egonetwork, we aim to deconstruct the apparently 'organic' way in which historian Henri Pirenne became an (inter)national phenomenon. Examing his Nachleben will prove how the 'myth' continued to be reproduced. With Pirenne as focal point, we will illuminate the processes of intellectual sociability and the influence of success and status on the historiographic production of his time.