Festival of Ideas 2017 - "Did they really believe that ?" - Medieval French Knowledge About India

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• Dr. Jane Gilbert (UCL) and Dr. Miranda Griffin (Cambridge)
• Tuesday 05 September 2017, 14:00-15:00
• Alliance Française, 60 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1AL.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Patricia Dalby.

A talk by Dr Miranda Grifin (Cambridge) and Dr Jane Gilbert (UCL)

We shall explore India and the Indian Ocean as medieval French people ‘knew’ them through images and texts: bestiaries (books of beasts), maps, stories about Alexander the Great, or travellers’ tales. According to these, in India elephants have no knees and symbolise Adam and Eve; ants dig for gold; Alexander makes a flying machine by harnessing griffins to a basket; indigenous Christians throw themselves under the wheels of the Juggernaut; Prester John guards the Holy Grail; and monstrous human races abound. Did people in the Middle Ages really believe such extraordinary things? We invite you to join us in asking what it means to ‘know’ about the world, then and now.

Date : Saturday 28th October 2017 Time : From 4pm to 5pm Venue: Alliance Française Cambridge, 60 Hills Road Price : Free No booking required

This talk is part of the Your personal list series.

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• Alliance Française, 60 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1AL

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