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Bezig met laden... Geography, Technology, and War: Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterranean, 649-1571door John H. Pryor
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When maritime transport and communication depended on muscle and wind-power, the Mediterranean Sea functioned as a symbiotic force between the civilisations which surrounded it, at once the major dividing barrier and the major connecting element. In this study, the technological limitations of maritime traffic are considered in conjunction with the peculiar geographical conditions within which it operated, and which led to the establishment of major sea lanes on trunk routes along which traffic could move safely, efficiently, and economically. These trunk routes remained virtually unchanged from antiquity to the sixteenth century, and eventually constituted economic and strategic maritime frontiers between civilisations. At the same time, the technological limitations of the oared galley meant that coasts and islands along the trunk routes had also to be held, a necessity which favoured geographically the Christian West over the world of Byzantium and Islam. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)387.5Social sciences Commerce, Communications, Transportation Rivers, Oceans, and Flight Maritime HistoryLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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After a general introduction to relevant technical and hydrographical conditions, successive chapters then argue that Arab marine hegemony during the early Middle Ages was possible only because of their seizure of islands such as Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, and the Balearics; that their (re)conquest led to an overwhelming Christian predominance at sea during the High Middle Ages; and that the partial reversal of this during the 15-16th centuries was made possible by Ottoman control of Aegean and Adriatic coasts.
A brief yet far-ranging book, I found it highly interesting and largely persuasive. If I'd wish for anything, it's a look forward into the 17th century, when the constraints were more-or-less lifted, and how that upset time-honoured patterns.
I was led to get this book from its being a constant reference in Stanton's Norman naval operations in the Mediterranean which I wrote on here earlier this year. The next step will have to be Guilmartin's Gunpowder and Galleys, which both Pryor and Stanton constantly reference.