XI Kingdom's Renaissance & Reformation

[Jerusha]

Or perhaps the Duchies of Cassan or Claibourne set off on their own northern explorations as did the Vikings.  Fishing fleets pressing onwards may have found new lands.

[Alkari]

The other possibility is that the discoveries are made by sailors from Howicce or Bremagne, or even perhaps the Anvillers.  Obviously, the geography of the Eleven Kingdoms has no direct equivalent to the Mediterranean - the eastern end of the Great Southern Sea is the Twin Rivers, not straits like the Dardanelles / Bosporus leading to the Black Sea.  

However if Bremagne is very roughly equated to Spain / Portugal, then are we also looking at voyages similar to those of Vasco da Gama going south and east, as well as Columbus going west?  

The maps in Codex2 don't show the full sea-route to Byzantyum, yet the implications in KKB are that Teymuraz fled there by sea, having been helped along the way south by Thorne Hagen, who lived in Autun.    The important free port of Kharthat is along that coast of Alver / the Anvil of the Lord, and - from the TKJ reference to Azim taking a fast ship from there - it's obvious that there is a strong maritime tradition in that area.   So how far south does that coast go, and where does it turn north towards the Grand Canal and Byzantyum?

[tenworld]

Kelson's unlikely to explore the seas on his own account, but how about an analagous Deryni Sir Francis Drake?  Or a Christopher Columbus?

Melissa

Corwin seems to have both ship technology and adventurous Dukes so they would be a likely source for funding.  A Deryni navigator would be more lilely to find his way too.  And there is enough mystery about Columbus' origins that could fuel an interesting Deryni analog.

[Elkhound]

I still like the idea of a Chinese fleet sailing into Rhemuth or Coroth.

[Alkari]

A Deryni navigator would be more lilely to find his way too.  

Now there IS an interesting thought and possible application for Deryni magic/ technology.   The biggest problem for navigators and map makers until the late 18th century was establishing accurate longitude.   There were very complex methods of estimating longitude using the angles of planets and the moon, but it wasn't until reliable marine chronometers were invented (around 1770) and then became generally affordable a century or so later, that cartographers could make really accurate maps and ships' captains find their way more safely.

Imagine perhaps establishing some sort of regular system of Deryni marker beacons, which could be located by Deryni navigators or captains to help guide them.   

[Elkhound]

Those glasses are very similar to what Sean Connery's character in "The Name of the Rose" wore to read the books in the monastery's library.

Or something like a loringette (sp.?)

[Elkhound]

Those glasses are very similar to what Sean Connery's character in "The Name of the Rose" wore to read the books in the monastery's library.

[Evie]

Um, Elkhound? Were you meaning to add a comment to DF64's statement, or did you just like his observation so much you decided to repeat it for emphasis?   

[DesertRose]

I think Elkhound accidentally double posted, because he did post with an actual comment, above that. 

[Arilan s Fan]

A Deryni navigator would be more lilely to find his way too.  

Now there IS an interesting thought and possible application for Deryni magic/ technology.   The biggest problem for navigators and map makers until the late 18th century was establishing accurate longitude.   There were very complex methods of estimating longitude using the angles of planets and the moon, but it wasn't until reliable marine chronometers were invented (around 1770) and then became generally affordable a century or so later, that cartographers could make really accurate maps and ships' captains find their way more safely.

Imagine perhaps establishing some sort of regular system of Deryni marker beacons, which could be located by Deryni navigators or captains to help guide them.

The nearest locking magical "technology" would be Transfer Portals which require locations immovably fixed on earth.  Perhaps a Deryni navigator could have a semi-hypnotic way of accurately keeping absolute time.  I could see the development of Deryni magic operating in differing relationships with the development of scientific knowledge.  Having Healers certainly empowered the acquisition of the medical knowledge, even if the human surgeons later try to forget how they learned of the circulation of blood.

[the Bee]

Oooh, Ben Franklin as a time traveler...

I'd also like to see eyeglasses and a cure treatment for diabetes

The idea of eyeglasses in the Eleven Kingdoms isn't all that far-fetched.  In High Deryni at least one character (Warin or Nigel?) uses a spyglass, which hadn't been invented in our 12th Century; so it makes sense that other types of lenses might also have been invented earlier.