Maritime politics changed over time, and so did local perceptions and activities. People involved in maritime commerce had to react to changes in government decrees or instructions. This volume introduces political decisions and their background, agents involved into maritime trade – from private merchants over pirates to government institutions, including military – and practical questions of seafaring (diets, navigation maps, etc.) and diplomacy, but also looks into archaeological evidence and local perceptions of the maritime world, covering the period from ca. 900 to 1800.

Contributors are: Leonard Blussé, Cai Ellen Xiangyu, Patrizia Carioti, John Chaffee, Cheng Weichung, Wim De Winter, Ubaldo Iaccarino, Kimura Jun, Li Man, Ma Guang, Elke Papelitzky, Angela Schottenhammer, Mark Staniforth, Mathieu Torck, and Xu Zhexin.

Author Biography

Angela Schottenhammer, Ph.D. (1993), KU Leuven, is Full Professor of Chinese Middle Period and early modern world history. Her publications include China and the Silk Roads (ca. 100 BCE to 1800 CE). Role and Content of its Historical Access to the Outside World (Brill, 2023).

Mathieu Torck, Ph.D. (2006), KU Leuven/Ghent University, is postdoctoral researcher of Early Modern Chinese and world maritime history at KU Leuven and lecturer at Ghent University. His publications include “Surgeons and Physicians on the Move in the Asian Waters (15th to 18th Centuries)” (2022).

Wim De Winter, Ph.D. (2021), KU Leuven, is postdoctoral researcher of Early Modern Asian, world-, and maritime history on the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. His publications include “Merchants, Sailors and Privateers: Maritime Affairs between Spain and England during Wartime as Revealed by the Prize Papers“ (Routledge, 2024).

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