Presentation and conversation

Welcome to an exciting and complex program that explores how people have navigated the world – both geographically and socially. Through panel discussions, introductions and lectures, hospitality, trade and mapping are explored in a historical perspective.

Erika Søfting gives an introduction to Jektefartsmuseet and sets the framework for the rest of the program. She highlights how hospitality has been crucial in meetings and contact during the era of the jetty, especially at northern Norwegian trading posts and jetty owners.

The introduction addresses questions such as:

• How were "strangers" met when they traveled north?

• What contact did northerners have southward and out into the world?

• How was Northern Norway connected to Europe through trade and shipping?

Maps and navigation at sea in Querini's time

The systematic mapping of the world gained momentum relatively late, and took off especially in the second half of the 15th century – after Querini’s fateful voyage. This lecture examines cartography in Querini’s time, a period when maps intended for practical use were still in their early stages of development. It also examines what European mapmakers knew and believed about Norway, and especially Northern Norway, in the century that followed.

Welcome to a lecture about storms and maelstroms, stockfish – and sea monsters!

Speaker: Benedicte Gamborg Briså

Panel discussion: What is hospitality?

An international panel consisting of Tone Bringa, Claire Judde de Larivière and Stefania Montemezzo explores the concept of hospitality from a historical and societal perspective. The conversation sheds light on how encounters between people – through travel, cultural contact and everyday life – shape understandings of community, care and communication across time and place.

Panelists:

• Claire Judde de Larivière – French historian at the University of Toulouse and member of the Via Querinissima scientific committee. She will talk about the experiences of others, hospitality and communication in the expedition of Pietro Querini and his sailors.

• Stefania Montemezzo – Italian historian at the University of Padova and member of the Via Querinissima scientific committee. She will share insights from her research on merchants abroad: hospitality, trade and cultural interaction in medieval ports.

• Tone Bringa – Norwegian social anthropologist at the University of Bergen. She will present her experiences from fieldwork in Bosnia and Norway, focusing on community and ethnic complexity.

Moderated by Stefano Agnoletto.