比利时史学家亨利皮朗以其在中世纪经济史领域取得的丰硕成果，成为20世纪初的史学大师之一。其学术思想从诞生之日便引起了国外学者的广泛关注，国内也翻译了他的几部主要著作。由于特殊的时代背景和教育经历，他受到法语史家和德国历史学派的双重影响。他早年的研究重点是中世纪的商业复兴与城市兴起，提出了“长途贸易论”与“商业移民社团”说。晚年将精力放在从晚期古代到中世纪的过渡问题上，提出著名的“皮朗学说”，引起了学术界的巨大争议。皮朗的学术思想在史学界引起了巨大反响，不仅对年鉴学派的学术观点与方法造成了直接的影响，还对马克思主义史家乃至后来的经济史“全球史观”产生了一定影响。他的地中海视角、比较研究方法值得借鉴。“皮朗命题”在国内中世纪史学界也需要给予足够的重视和探讨。

Henri Pirenne is honored as one of the greatest historians in the 20th century because of his achivements in the field of economic history of Western Middle Ages. His academic thoughts had attracted serious attetion from western historians since they were born. And his books were translated into Chinese since 1940s. The historical background and his educational experience shaped his distinctive methodology and unique ideas，which have profound effects on the following historians. In the early years，he concentrated on the role of long-distance trade played in the revival of Medieval commerce，and attributed the rise of cities to negotiatores. Whereas in his old age，he focused on the transition from Late Antique to Middle Ages，raised famous the Pirenne thesis. His academic thoughts had direct impact on Annales School and influenced the Maxism historians and the later global economics history. His Mediterranean perspective and comparative approach set an example of research. In additon，the core of his ideas the Pirenne thesis is supposed to be valued by the domestic reseachers.