The Wittgenstein Project Team will host a virtual lecture and discussion with Lilia Campana, featuring her current work on “Byzantine Ship Design and Its Legacy in the West: Transmission and Application of Shipbuilding Knowledge in Venice and Beyond”. After a 45-minute lecture by Dr. Campana, there will be time for discussion, moderated by Prof. Dr. Claudia Rapp.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, the period spanning from the 7th to the 11th century was a time of considerable progress in the technology of ship construction. Archeological data from Byzantine shipwrecks document the transition from shell–first to skeleton–first construction, suggesting the use of whole–moulding methods, a new, revolutionary ship design process devised by Byzantine shipwrights based on Euclidean geometry to produce superior vessels. Fourteenth–century Venetian maritime manuscripts provide the earliest textual and visual evidence for Byzantine whole–moulding methods, implying that, by the Late Middle Ages, they were adopted by the shipyards of European maritime states. Completely revolutionizing ship construction concepts, Byzantine whole–moulding methods created sturdier ships, able to safely cross oceans, eventually launching Europe into the Age of Exploration. 

Dr. Lilia Campana is a maritime and naval historian of the medieval and early modern Mediterranean, specializing in the history of shipbuilding technology, with a focus on the application of ancient mathematics, geometry, and mechanical arts in ship design. Her research on Byzantine shipbuilding and ship design is supported by the Archaeological Institute of America, the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library &  Collections, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. She is currently an Affiliated Scholar at the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University.

Advance registration required.

This discussion explores the meteoric canonisation of Thomas Becket, his subsequent veneration and the destruction of his reputation during the Reformation of the Tudor period.

Join renowned historian of Christianity, Reverend Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch (University of Oxford), for a conversation with distinguished medievalist, Professor Nicholas Vincent (University of East Anglia). Both are Fellows of the British Academy. This lecture is hosted by the British Museum in conjunction with their exhibition ‘Thomas Becket: murder and the making of a saint’, on view from 20th May to 22nd August 2021.

The discussion is chaired by Dr Emily Guerry, Co-Director at the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent.

Register for free here.

About the Lecturers:

Reverend Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch Kt, FBA is Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University. Well known for his television work, he wrote the acclaimed History of Christianity: the first three thousand years and presented the related BBC TV series in 2009. In 2012, he wrote and presented How God Made the English for BBC Two. MacCulloch has written widely on English statesman Thomas Cromwell and the Reformation.

Professor Nicholas Vincent FBA is Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia. The author of many books, including Brief History of Britain 1066–1485, last year he published a six-volume edition of The Letters and Charters of Henry II, documenting Becket’s former patron and subsequent nemesis. His study of Becket’s Murderers won the 2005 William Urry Prize.

Dr Emily Guerry is Senior Lecturer in Medieval European History and Co-Director of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

This event is presented in partnership with the British Academy.