HISTORIANS from Belgium

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Belgian Historians of all time. This list of famous Belgian Historians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Henri Pirenne (1862 - 1935)

With an HPI of 65.26, Henri Pirenne is the most famous Belgian Historian.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages on wikipedia.

Henri Pirenne (French: [piʁɛn]; 23 December 1862 – 24 October 1935) was a Belgian historian. A medievalist of Walloon descent, he wrote a multivolume history of Belgium in French and became a prominent public intellectual. Pirenne made a lasting contribution to the study of cities that was a controversial interpretation of the end of Roman civilization and the rebirth of medieval urban culture. He also became prominent in the nonviolent resistance to the Germans who occupied Belgium in World War I. Henri Pirenne's reputation today rests on three contributions to European history: for what has become known as the Pirenne Thesis, concerning origins of the Middle Ages in reactive state formation and shifts in trade; for a distinctive view of Belgium's medieval history; and for his model of the development of the medieval city. Pirenne argued that profound social, economic, cultural, and religious movements in the long term resulted from equally profound underlying causes, and this attitude influenced Marc Bloch and the outlook of the French Annales School of social history. Though Pirenne had his opponents, notably Alfons Dopsch who disagreed on essential points, several recent historians of the Middle Ages have taken Pirenne's main theses, however much they are modified, as starting points.

2. Julien Ries (1920 - 2013)

With an HPI of 50.47, Julien Ries is the 2nd most famous Belgian Historian.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Julien Ries (19 April 1920 – 23 February 2013) was a Belgian religious historian, titular archbishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Prior to his death, Ries was described as "the greatest living religious scholar".

3. Henri Grégoire (1881 - 1964)

With an HPI of 49.47, Henri Grégoire is the 3rd most famous Belgian Historian.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Henri Grégoire (French: [ɑ̃ʁi ɡʁeɡwaʁ]; Huy, Belgium, 21 March 1881 – 28 September 1964, Brussels, Belgium) was an eminent scholar of the Byzantine Empire, virtually the founder of Byzantine studies in Belgium. Grégoire spent most of his teaching career at the Université libre de Bruxelles. In 1938, he taught at the New School for Social Research and during the Second World War, joined the École libre des hautes études at the New School. He was the editor of four journals—Byzantion, Nouvelle Clio, Annuaire de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales et Slaves, and Flambeau—and published prolifically: by 1953 he had 575 titles in his bibliography. Grégoire is especially remembered for his work on medieval epic poetry, notably Digenis Akritas.