Henri Pirenne (1862-1935) et Georges Espinas (1869-1948). Les villes de Flandre et du Nord de la France au cœur de réseaux historiographiques franco-belges

Warland, Geneviève [UCL]

The article analyses the scientific and friendly relationship between the renowned Belgian historian Henri Pirenne and the somewhat forgotten French historian Georges Espinas. The Recueil de documents relatifs à l’histoire de l’industrie drapière en Flandre (4 vols., 1906-1929) was the result of their fruitful collaboration. It is based on mutual esteem and influence through the reading of each other’s work, their correspondence and their regular meetings. The relationship of master and pupil between Pirenne and Espinas, which were separated by seven years, was characterized by the latter’s autonomy in relation to the former, which did not prevent the recognition of an intellectual filiation: already in his first publication on the town of Douai, Espinas applied Pirenne’s comparative method in urban history. The networks of historians form a second aspect of the study: Pirenne met Espinas through Maurice Prou, a friend of Pirenne and Espinas’ teacher at the École des Chartes. On the basis of his publications in urban history, whose comparative and multidisciplinary perspective corresponded to the expectations of Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch, Espinas was designated by them as responsible for the urban history bulletin in the Annales d’histoire économique et sociale. Pirenne supported both the new journal project and the choice of Espinas as a collaborator. A third circle emerged with the Belgian historians who were students of Pirenne and appointed at the universities of Ghent, Brussels or Liège and their own disciples. The greatest proximity occurred with the medievalist François-Louis Ganshof, who became a close friend of Espinas. Finally, the article examines the role of scientific intermediary, not so much that of Pirenne between Germany and France as that played by Espinas between Belgium and France. His activity as a mediator is particularly evident in the writing of numerous reviews and critical bulletins, but also in his books and editions of sources. In this way, Espinas contributed to making primary sources on the cities of the Northern France known and to disseminating Pirenne’s economic theory on the origin of urban constitutions as well as his comparative method and his art of synthesis.