The Emergence of Global Infrastructure in the Middle Ages

The globalized world of today, with its crises of orientation, requires a redefinition of the Middle Ages beyond Eurocentric narrowness. Michael Borgolte demonstrates in his masterful presentation that while Europe was always part of the largest world comprising three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—it only managed to free itself from its global marginal position and become an independent shaping power through a prolonged historical process. The significant medievalist presents nothing less than the first global history of the medieval world.

Unlike today, the medieval world was not yet globally interconnected. It was characterized by numerous life worlds that were distributed like islands across the globe, from America to China, in the North Sea and the Pacific, with varying densities in Europe and Africa. However, these islands were not all isolated. Numerous economic, cultural, and religious connections emerged with an intensity and breadth that were unknown in antiquity. With astonishing scholarship, Michael Borgolte unfolds in his book a panorama of these medieval worlds and links them into a global history that has never been written internationally before.

The first global history of the medieval world
At its center is an interaction space of Europe, Asia, and Africa
By a top star of German medieval studies.