Ships, Oceans and Empire

English merchant shipping at the end of the Middle Ages - some East Coast evidence; manning the English merchant service in the 16th century; shipowning in the economy and politics of early modern England; European seamanship in the great age of discovery; the English in the Atlantic Islands, c 1450-1650; the sinews of war - manning and provisioning English fighting ships, c 1550-1650; European shipowning in the Estado da India, 1500-1700; European exiles, renegades and outlaws and the maritime economy of Asia, c 1500-1750; the new worlds and Europe in the 16th century; (Richard) Hakluyt and the economic thought of his time; indigenous assistance in the establishment of Portuguese power in Asia in the 16th century; the pillars of empire - indigenous assistance and the survival of the Estado da India, c 1600-1700; essay and reflection - on the discovery of the Americas and the spread of intolerance, absolutism and racism in early modern Europe; the Columbian legacy.