Introduction

What has been labelled the age of the first globalization (also known from the European perspective as the age of great discoveries, or else cultural encounters) witnessed the establishment or strengthening of an unprecedented degree of interconnections between individuals and communities from different parts of the world. Encounters did not occur in a vacuum but were deeply affected by cultural biases and specific agendas. Although eventually they produced the colonial domination of the globe by a handful of European powers, the timing of this course of events should not be retrospectively anticipated, and the early modern scene still saw a fragile balance of power between multiple geographical centres, accompanied by processes of mutual understanding and misunderstanding.