Commerce and Connection in the Global Middle Ages

 "We know that we live in a global age, but did medieval people? Historians typically reserve the concept of a 'globalized world' for the fifteenth century and beyond, following the rise of worldwide commercial shipping. But in recent years, medievalist scholars have begun to ask whether we can apply the idea of globalization to earlier centuries. This talk will focus on long-distance commerce as a way to consider whether the framework of a 'global Middle Ages' helps to better understand the period.”

Sarah Davis-Secord is a historian of the early medieval Mediterranean, particularly Sicily and the central Mediterranean region. Her interests include Muslim-Christian interactions and the globalization of trade and communication networks. At IAS, she is working on a book about Muslims and Christians in early medieval southern Italy.