The Japan Academy elects foreign scholars who have made a special contribution to the development of scholarship in Japan to be its Honorary Member. In commemoration of Prof. Chris Wickham's appointment as an Honorary Member, the Japan Academy will hold a lecture meeting as follows.

Title: The Donkey and the Indian Ocean: Maritime Trade and Regional Economies, 900-1600

• Prof. Chris Wickham
• Fellow of the British Academy, Chichele Professor of Medieval History Emeritus, University of Oxford, Honorary Member of the Japan Academy
• Specialty: Early Medieval History of Europe
• Moderator: Osamu Saito, Member of the Japan Academy

Abstract:
The years around 1000 showed a substantial increase in maritime commercial exchange all around Eurasia, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, and in the seas around China and its neighbours. This increase continued everywhere in later centuries as well. It was particularly important because it concerned, not just luxuries, but also bulk goods such as linen and iron, which are the bases of really complex economic connections. But how much did this impact on regional economies? Here the answer is: not so much. Regional economies did not anywhere depend on international commerce, which was only a small part of the economic system, taken as a whole. This paper will look at this issue through case studies, from the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Rim, in which the balance between maritime and internal exchange will be discussed in more detail.

Prof. Chris Wickham