Dear Roger, Sara's message merits serious study!
We here in Europe weren't totally asleep in medieval times or even in the so-called dark ages following the Fall of Rome. [A fair proportion of Europe seems to be falling asleep just now but that's not the period you are referring to :-) ] There is a street in a town in Italy (probably Perugia but my memory may have failed me) where there are examples of architecture of every century from the first to the 20th. This is a very convincing way of seeing the continuity of design and craftsmanship. A quite different way of pondering continuity in Europe is to look at the complete list of Popes at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm There is a biography of each one. Things really were going on even at times that historians seem not to have popularised. Take Pope 33 for example, S. Sylvester. He may or may not have convened the Council of Nicea in 325 but he took part in it. This Council discussed how to determine the date of Easter which motivated much study of the length of the year. Pope 227, Gregory XIII, set up the commission which gave us the current calendar and led to the setting up of the Vatican Observatory which is one of the oldest astronomical research outfits in continuous existence. Pope 244, Clement XI, commissioned the great meridiana in the Basilica di S. Maria degli Angeli in Rome, again to study the length of the year. Now I need a nap. All the best Frank --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
