he Haifa Center of Mediterranean History (HCMH) at the University of Haifa is pleased to host Dr. Georg Christ from the University of Manchester. Christ is a distinguished scholar of the history of the Eastern Mediterranean, with interests in trade embargoes, trading diasporas, knowledge management and climate change and processes of adaption in the late Middle Ages.
Title of seminar: The Agency of Climatic and Environmental Factors in Mediterranean History
Seminar abstracts can be found at: http://hcmh.haifa.ac.il/index.php/news-events/future-events/2-uncategorised/173-abstracts-the-agency-of-climatic-and-environmental-factors-in-mediterranean-history-january-7-2020
Title of lecture: Portuguese ships in India and rotting pepper in Alexandria: A self-fulfilling news crisis? (1503–1505)
Abstract of Lecture:
This talk explores Venice’s first reaction on the news of the Portuguese discoveries, in particular the return of the 4th Armada in September 1503. Sardella in his seminal thesis argued that the reaction on the news was dependent on whether the stocks of pepper of the merchants receiving the messages were plentiful or less thus somewhat glossing over how the particulars of this news, the novelty of it and the dramatic descriptions shaped Venetian reactions. I argue that the Venetians overall significantly overreacted to this essentially public news and assumed that no pepper would come to Venice any longer. They stopped the galleys to Alexandria although they were informed about robust, although less public, official intelligence from Alexandria clearly stating that pepper was abundant. This produced some sort of a self-fullfilling news crisis as the recalling of the galleys, naturally, reduced the pepper supply in Venice. The over-all effect of this crisis ought not to be overstated: The Venetian engagement in the Italian wars and wars with the Ottomans and other factors stifled Venetian seaborne trade perhaps much more and despite all adversities, it did recover markedly in the second half of the 16th century. Nevertheless, this news crisis might have had a role in setting a new tone, giving rise to a new perception of the world and Venice therein at a crucial point in time.
Date: January 7th, 2020
Title of seminar: The Agency of Climatic and Environmental Factors in Mediterranean History
At: 10:00-15:30
Chaired by: Dr. Georg Christ
Presentations will be given by: Renard Gluzman, Georg Christ, Shlomit Bechar, Meir Edrey, Dana Katz and Gil Gordon
Title of lecture: Portuguese ships in India and rotting pepper in Alexandria: A self-fulfilling news crisis? (1503–1505)
At: 16:00-18:00
By: Dr. Georg Christ
http://hcmh.haifa.ac.il/index.php/news-events/future-events
