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This lecture will be available to view until 6 July 2026

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OVERVIEW

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By the fourteenth century, the collapse of the Mongol Empire fundamentally reshaped the Silk Road, fragmenting a network that had once connected vast territories under a single political authority. 

In its wake, new powers emerged across Eurasia, redirecting the flow of trade and influence. In China, the Ming dynasty oversaw the production and circulation of highly prized goods such as celadon and blue-and-white porcelain, while in Central and Western Asia the Timurid dynasty transformed cities like Samarkand and Herat into major centres of craftsmanship and caravan exchange. As the Ottoman Empire expanded across Europe, Asia, and Africa, it controlled key trade routes, reshaping East-West connections. The Silk Road continued to transmit ideas, technologies, and cultural traditions, despite European efforts to bypass Ottoman routes. These pressures spurred the search for maritime access to Asia, initiating a new era of global exploration. 

In her second lecture on the Silk Road, Dr Lauren Mackay examines the great cities that defined this transformative Age of Empires and the enduring legacies of their interconnected worlds.

Lecturer

Biography

Dr Lauren Mackay is an historian, author, lecturer and consultant, with a B.Mus from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music/University of Sydney, Australia, a Masters of History from the University of New England, and a PhD from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research explores the interconnected worlds of the Early Modern period, from the courts of Tudor England and the famed Habsburgs, to the Ottoman Empire, and the global reach of European expansion into the New World. Lauren is also the author of three books, and her fourth, Thunder Through the Realms: Five Kingdoms and the Shaping of Early Modern Europe, is due out in 2025 with Bloomsbury Publishing. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she has lectured throughout the UK, at venues including Hampton Court, the Tower of London, Sudeley Castle, Hever Castle, Windsor Castle, Leeds Castle, The National Archives, Kew, The Portrait Gallery, London, and the BBC History weekends.

Dr Lauren Mackay

Historian