Public evening lecture by Professor Dr. Marcus Popplow (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Technology Futures)

The assumption that the Middle Ages were hostile to innovation has been refuted for decades. Countless findings from disciplines ranging from medieval archaeology to environmental history show that the technical inventory of European societies at the end of the Middle Ages differed significantly from that of late antiquity. However, how medieval contemporaries themselves thematized technical creativity in text and image has still not been systematically researched.
Against this backdrop, how suitable are modern buzzwords such as "innovation" for getting to the heart of changes in the material culture of the Middle Ages? Which narratives are appropriate for the technical creativity of this era, especially from a global historical perspective or in comparison to modernity? The lecture argues that such questions are just as relevant for historical research as they are for broader scholarly communication.

Marcus Popplow is head of the Department of History at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His areas of interest include the history of technology in the pre-modern era, the history of mobility, the future of technology and discourses on technology, as well as the history of technology in teaching and the public sphere. His book Technology in the Middle Ages in the Beck Wissen series was awarded the VDI's Conrad Matschoß Prize.

Moderation: Professor Dr. Cornelia Linde