Terra X

Ways out of darkness - Europe in the Middle Ages (4): Of cities and cathedrals (2004x15)

Air date: Apr 25, 2004

His passion is exploring and describing the world. Heinrich Schuder is a cosmographer on a secret mission: in Venice, he is supposed to copy nautical charts for the city of Nuremberg, because the council wants to enter the Indian trade together with the Portuguese. But he should also find out what's new on the Rialto. But scientific curiosity is not a safe enterprise. The world of the Middle Ages is in a revolutionary upheaval: Big cities are springing up like mushrooms, long-distance trade is picking up, seafaring is setting out on new continents. You need information and knowledge. Heinrich Schuder explores why the Venetian merchants do not need cash for their business: They invented the current account and invented bills of exchange. It is no coincidence that terms such as current account, agio, disagio, balance, cancellation and manco are Italian.