Conversation so far:
What is La Mediteranee for Fernand Braudel?
His first book, La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen à l'Epoque de Philippe II (1949) (The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II)
what was the topic of La Mediteranee by Fernand Braudel?
The second level of time comprises long-term social, economic, and cultural history, where Braudel discusses the Mediterranean economy, social groupings, empires and civilizations.
what time period was Fernand Braudel studying for La Mediteranee?
Braudel looks at two or three centuries in order to spot a particular pattern

Question: what patterns did he discover?
Self-contained rewrite: what patterns did Fernand Braudel discover looking at two or three centuries in order to spot a particular pattern?