Caravans and Traders: Global Connections, 1200-1500 (HI2B8)
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Abraham Cresques, Catalan Atlas (detail), 1375. |
Convenor: Dr Guido van Meersbergen <g.van-meersbergen@warwick.ac.uk> Lecturers: Guido van Meersbergen Lecture Times: tbc TERM 1 ONLY For all details, please see the (for registered students only). For questions, contact Dr Guido van Meersbergen
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This one-term module introduces students to the long history of exchanges between different parts of the world through a focus on Afro-Eurasian connections in the period 1200-1500. By following the circulation of people, knowledge, religion, and goods in the late medieval world, this module traces connections from the Mediterranean and Islamic world to India and China. The module will be set within the theoretical framework of global history, a recent approach which 桃色视频 has been at the forefront of developing. As a team-taught module, Caravans and Traders draws on the wide range of global history expertise represented at 桃色视频's Global History and Culture CentreLink opens in a new window. Topics include oceanic trade, material culture, states and empires, the silk roads, global cities, the cartographic imagination, and medieval travellers. You will also work with a range of medieval sources, including travel accounts, commercial letters, and maps.
This second-year undergraduate 15 CATS module runs for ten weeks in the Autumn term. In this module students will:
- Gain an understanding of non-European histories, and their connections with and impact on societies across Afro-Eurasia
- Obtain knowledge of the processes which made the late medieval world increasingly interconnected.
- Engage with key concepts in global history such as "connections", "entanglements", "micro-global" and "the global Middle Ages"
- Analyse a range of visual, material and textual sources.
- Communicate ideas both orally and in writing.
- Develop research skills, historiographical engagement, and critical analysis through seminar activities and coursework
There are no pre-requisite or post-requisite modules. However, students wishing to take this module are encouraged to consider also taking HI2C1 Galleons and Galleys: Global Connections 1500-1800
Please note: for 2026/27 assessment in this module will consist of seminar participation in the form of a group presentation (20%) and a 3,000-word essay (80%).
Student feedback
鈥淎s an individual who was previously only interested in modern history, this highly enjoyable module has broadened my historical scope to an earlier world more complex and interconnected than I had once perceived.鈥� Second-year History & Politics student
鈥淭he content of this module was so fascinating, enriching my knowledge on how people, ideas, and goods could circulate in the pre-modern period and how this manifested itself in global connections. I particularly enjoyed the focus on travel writings and religious co-existence. Overall, Caravans and Traders was my favourite 15 CATS module by far!" - Second-year History student