Order into Action: How Large-Scale Concepts of World Order Determine Practices in the Premodern World (Cursor Mundi, 40)

The construction and application of models that order complex phenomena such as ‘the world' is not a ‘neutral' activity : theoretical models and ideas help us to perceive and categorize the information conveyed by experience and tradition alike ; in turn, they also influence the behaviour and actions of individuals and groups. Collecting a global series of case studies on premodern societies, this volume proposes new approaches to research into premodern models of world-order and their effects. With its focus on the period between c. 1300 and 1600, it seeks to open up fresh perspectives for premodern Global History and the analysis of phenomena of transcultural contact and exchange. Focussing on religious, political, and geographical ideas and models, the contributions explore whether and how large-scale concepts influenced or even determined concrete actions. The examples include socio-religious concepts (Christianity, terra paganorum, d?r al-?arb), political concepts (empire) and geographical notions. A special section is dedicated to comparative insights into societies in Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and pre-Columbian America. Taken together, the contributions underline the importance and effects of historically shaped cultural traits in the long term.