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- Title
Albrecht Dürer and Early Modern Merchant ships. A reflection on the spread of ideas and transfer of technology.
- Authors
Ditta, Massimiliano; Auer, Jens; Maarleveld, Thijs
- Abstract
In this essay the authors present a reflection on the processes that surround the acceptance of new ideas and what is generally called ‘ transfer of technology'. They do so by linking the emerging archaeological understanding of continuity and change in shipbuilding practices in different parts of Europe at the beginning of Modern History, with long established and newly rewritten histories of intellectual, scientific and technological development. Albrecht Dürer is presented as a crucial actor in the developing Renaissance worldview in which beauty – and technological proficiency – is founded in a divine order that can be described in terms of mathematics. It is a worldview that inspired theory and experimentation in architecture and ship architecture alike, but not necessarily in a practicable or reliable way. The beautiful ellipse is pursued in English, French and Danish shipbuilding, notably the building of grand ships for the king's navy, but harmony and innovation are attained in quite different ways in the Dutch Republic. Archaeological data clearly demonstrate that the processes at work in that seething shipbuilding environment are almost completely immune to the (ship-) architectural theorizing that bestows other parts of Europe. The consequences of this for our interpretation of written sources – notably Witsen – are discussed, before some focus is put on Mathew Baker's England and the archaeological example of the Princes Channel wreck. The comparative approach of the essay leads to a critical assessment of unilinear explanations, and thus derides their usefulness in present day development thinking. Whereas the Early Modern period in Europe was typified by intellectual integration as well as an integration of labour markets that would seemingly foster unified development, the archaeological evidence clearly demonstrates that theory and practice are two different worlds that need to be approached separately, if fundamental – and continuous – misunderstanding is to be avoided.
- Subjects
EUROPE; DURER, Albrecht, 1471-1528; TECHNOLOGY transfer; SHIPBUILDING; MODERN history; NAVAL architecture; BAKER, Mathew
- Publication
Archeologia Postmedievale, 2014, Vol 18, p83
- ISSN
1592-5935
- Publication type
Article