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Introduction Towards the end of 1991, the Sydney Medieval and Renaissance Group decided to hold a conference to be entided Columbus 500: retrospect and prospect. The Frederick M a y Foundation agreed to co-operate in the venture and the Mandelbaum Trust contributed to the funding. The appropriate date gave rise to some debate. Columbus reached land on the twelfth day of October, 1492, but the subsequent change from the Julian calendar arguably affects the precise quincentennary date. In the end, for more pragmatic reasons, the weekend of 17-18 October was chosen. The reasons for the conference were both simple and subtle. Unquestionably, Columbus's voyage marked a moment of change in Western society. As such, it seemed appropriate that a society devoted to a study of the period should consider what m o d e m scholarship couldtellus about the event itself and its setting. At the same time, the effects of the colonization which followed both in terms of culture and economy are clearly with us still, even in areas not opened to exploitation until three hundred years later,tikeAustralasia. The U.S.A. was reviewing its past sins; Australia might perhaps profitably do likewise. This was not to burden Columbus himself with more than his own sins but to understand, if possible, the culture which drove him and was to drive many others in anticipation or imitation of his actions. A s some of the papers here show, Columbus was almost certainly not thefirstEuropean to find the American continent and his approachtothe existing inhabitants was not without precedent either. If the Bristol traders did not, in any case, reach the more northerly shores of the continent a decade or so before him, circumstances in Europe would in all probability have led to some similar expedition soon after with similar profoundly political implications. In the event, the conference remained largely and successfully an academic historical and literary event. Australians do not readily turn to the long perspective in understanding their present position. Australian scholarship, however, can make its contribution to an international discourse on Columbus and his world. Inevitably, not all the papers read at the conference have been made available for this volume. The absence of John Pryor's stimulating demonstration of the distance w e still have to go in order to solve the enigma of Columbus's sailing and navigating techniques is particularly to PARERGON nsl2.2 (January 1995) 8 5. M. Jack be regretted. The role of hull shape, sail configuration, wind, tide, and current on the homeward leg will clearly be solved only when detailed simulation exercises can be undertaken. The papers included fall into three categories: those which explore the earlier history of European westward exploration; those which are concerned with Columbus himself, the society from which he came, and the resources available to him; and those which look at Columbus and Australia—the possibility that one at least of his early imitators came in the direction of Australia and the way in which he was perceive in Australia a hundred years ago. Sybil M . Jack Department of History University of Sydney ...

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