Objective
Uncharted Maritime Worlds transforms our understanding of early modern seaborne trade (16th–19th centuries) by uncovering the hidden transnational networks that connected Europe and shaped the modern world. It utilises AI to uncover the hidden European trade networks that crossed borders, and defied states. It overturns the old story of early modern seaborne trade (16th–19th centuries), revealing the hidden, transnational webs of exchange that shaped our world. Histories of European and global trade still rest on fragmented national narratives, constrained by the limits of surviving sources. They focus on state power, formal institutions, and empire-building as isolated, competitive ventures. This project reframes that picture, showing instead how overlapping commercial, political, and social networks spanned borders, often beyond the reach of state control. Combining historical research with computer science and geospatial analysis, it will harness cutting-edge AI to mine archives across Europe, building a vast, multilingual database containing millions of datapoints on ships, merchants, cargoes, and ports.
Three interlinked strands will test new questions:
1. Trade Systems – reconstructing cross-border routes and hubs to test the relative power of centralised entrepôts against decentralised translocal networks.
2. Power and Resistance – analysing state attempts to regulate trade through taxes, tariffs, and naval power, and the counter-strategies of smuggling and evasion.
3. People Behind the Trade – tracing the migration, kinship, and trust networks—often involving women—that sustained maritime economies and reshaped identities.
Beyond history, the findings will model resilience, integration, and governance in complex systems, reshaping debates in economics, politics, sociology, and climate studies. It asks a central question: were maritime networks mere trade routes—or the very currents that carried Europe, and the world, into modernity?
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
SO17 1BJ SOUTHAMPTON
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.