Barefooted Envoys

 I uploaded a new chapter of my book, "The Enchanting Encounters with the East." This paper is the first part of Unit VI, The Witness in the Den. It focuses on the Catholic missions to the Far East launched during the 13th and 14th centuries. These enterprises took advantage of the new world order initiated by the Mongols. View https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael

The article is available for Discussions during the nearest three weeks. You may address your remarks to my email address mikebis@yandex.com later. 

The paper has received a welcoming response from Avital Heyman, an art historian and an expert in medieval visual culture. 

I have made considerable progress with the draft paper on light galleys, covering Byzantine innovations, Latin achievements, Medieval Triremes & Centerline Rudder, Horse transports, and Purpose-built galleys. The last topic left is Displacement & Maintenance. If I don't find interesting data, I will drop it altogether. 

I am still translating materials for my Russian lecture of Unit IV of the same book, Mapping Marvels & Monsters: In the Shadow of the Iron Gate. The talk outlines multiple twists of the medieval legend of Alexander the Great and the Iron Gate and compares them against historical data. There is so much to say that I might divide the subject into two parts. 

My latest reading program included Lilia Campana's "Technical Experimentation in Ship Design during the Last Decades of the Serenissima." The author shows that the experiments with the galley design in Venice continued even through the 18th century. This evidence might be a significant contribution to my project.

Enchanting Encounter with the East

I have crossed a Rubicon meaning that my second book is complete. 

It includes 29 chapters, to say nothing about summing-ups at the end of each of its 6 units. 

The manuscript comprises over 90 K words,  hundreds of notes, and more than 30 images.

'The Enchanting Encounter with the East" tells a story of inter-cultural relations between Latin West and the Far East related from the European point of view. The scenario occurred in the Late Middle Ages when the actual dialog between the two opposite ends of the 'human planet' had become possible due to the opportunities of the Pax Mongolica. However, many European literati were still holding outdated views on the world beyond Islam and were fed by false rumors about the latest developments on the eastern rim of the known world. These legends are passed through generations until they eventually recede, giving up to the outlook based on personal experience of travelers and distinction between the sacred and the profane. 

Unit I focuses on different images that relate to the shape of the Earth, its circumference, and the length of the known world.

Unit II presents the three continents, defines the center, elaborates on the skin color and its implications, as well as recounts the story of the Antipodes.

Unit III narrates the Mongol invasion in eastern Europe and the attempts of the Apostolic See and Crusaders to break the ice with the new powerhouse.

Unit IV gives an account of the legend of the Iron Gates, combining Alexander the Great, Ezekiel, Apocalypses, nomadic tribes, the Ten Lost Tribes, and Gog and Magog. 
Unit V describes the legend of the Prester John in several versions relating to recent developments in Central Asia and Mongolia.
Unit VI records the collective experience of European travelers who came into contact with the Mongol Empire, India, and China. The new experience threw a great shade on the development of Western knowledge of the world. 

I wish you could read the book and discuss its ideas. Meanwhile, I need some rest before starting my third book.