The Voyages of Copper
Tracing the copper from the wreck of the Bom Jesus
A singular look into the history of copper mining and metallurgy from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period. The story begins on the coast of Namibia, where diamond mining uncovered the remarkable find of a five-hundred-year-old Portuguese shipwreck. Alongside gold coins and other valuables, an enormous quantity of copper was found there.
Establishing where that copper came from produced a story of its own, set against the historical contest to satisfy people’s craving for spices — goods they were willing to pay for in gold and to pursue on perilous voyages.
The first part looks at how copper was mined, what was made from it and why it became such a sought-after commodity, as well as where the world’s first banks appeared and what gave rise to the Renaissance.
When and where Europe’s oldest continuously operating mint was founded, where the richest man in the world came from, and what the first copper syndicate in history meant — these are the subjects of the second part.
The third part tells the story of the world’s first capitalist enterprise: where it arose, who founded it and what made it exceptional. The film also shows the consequences of Ottoman expansion, when we can begin to speak of the proto-globalisation of the world, and what that actually meant.
How trade worked and how commercial information travelled, why Lisbon became Europe’s most important port, who invented the astrolabe and what it was used for, what news Vasco da Gama brought back from the first voyage of discovery to India, what a chemical fingerprint of copper is, and where the 22 tonnes of copper found in the Portuguese wreck off the Namibian coast really came from — all this is told in the fourth part.
Credits
- Story
- Stanislav Manca
- Script editor
- Martin Peterich
- Music
- MAOK
- Proofreading
- Andreja Vidová
- Narration
- Přemysl Boublík, Monika Masicová, Miroslav Masica
- Make-up artist
- Martin Blizniak
- Costumes
- Nataša Štefunková
- Animation
- Martin Haľama
- Sound engineer
- Miroslav Masica
- Editing
- Milan Cmarko
- Cinematography
- Stanislav Manca
- Cinematography, dramatised scenes
- Laco Gažo
- Producer
- ARS ARETE
- Produced in collaboration with
- štúdio SLADECEK s.r.o., štúdio Dolina, Imagenation
- Written and directed by
- Stanislav Manca
Academic supervisors
- Lead academic supervisor
- Mgr. Miroslav Lacko, PhD., Ostravská univerzita, Česká republika, Lesser-Kolleg für Ostmitteleuropa Jena, Nemecko
- Academic supervisors
- Mgr. Lucia Krchnáková, PhD., NBS – Múzeum mincí a medailí
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Hauptman, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Nemecko
- Dr. Maximilian Kalus, Fugger und Welser Erlebnismuseum, Nemecko
- Franz Karg M. A., Fürstlich und Gräflich Fuggersches, Familien und Stiftungsarchiv, Nemecko
- Henry N Nakale, National Museum of Namibia
- Prof. dr hab. Stanisław A. Sroka, Uniwersytet Jagiellońskiego, Poľsko
- Bruno Gonçalves Neves, Museu de Marinha, Portugalsko
- Alexandra Pelúcia, FCSH – Universidade NOVA, Portugalsko
- Dr. Andrej Sitár, Múzeum medi, Špania Dolina
- Ing. Richard Kaňa, Banský skanzen, Hodruša – Hámre
- Ing. Marián Jančura, CSc., Banský skanzen, Spišská Nová Ves
- Mgr. Jozef Tihanyi, SNM – hrad Červený Kameň
- Academic collaboration
- Mgr. Marek Budaj, PhD., Mgr. Peter Konečný, PhD., Mgr. Zuzana Denková, PhD., Mgr. Martin Kvietok
With thanks for help during filming
- Múzeum medi, Špania Dolina
- Banský skanzen, Hodruša-Hámre
- Banský skanzen, Ľubietová
- Banský skanzen, Hnilčík
- Vodný hrad, Hronsek
- SNM – Hrad Červený kameň
- Hámor Šúgov, Medzev
- Banský gápeľ, Čučma
- Heimstube, Smolnícka Huta
- Slovenské banské múzeum, Banská Štiavnica
- NBS – Múzeum mincí a medailí, Kremnica
- Múzeum kultúry karpatských Nemcov, Bratislava
- Banícke múzeum, Rožňava
- MV SR, Štátny archív, Trnava
- Pohronské múzeum, Nová Baňa
- Farnosť nanebovzatia Panny Márie, Banská Bystrica
- Kostol Evanjelickej cirkvi a.v., Kraskovo
- Muzeum Historycznego Miasta Krakowa, Poľsko
- Zlatokopecký skanzen, Zlaté Hory, Česká republika
- Klášter Bratří Minoritů Matky Boží, Jihlava, Česká republika
- Národní památkový ústav, Telč, Česká republika
- Tritri, Myslenice, Poľsko
- Förderverein Historische Hansekogge Kiel e.V., Nemecko
- Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, Nemecko
- Fugger und Welser Erlebnismuseum, Nemecko
- Fürstlich und Gräflich Fuggersches Familien- und Stiftungsarchiv, Dillingen, Nemecko
- National Museum of Namibia, Windhoek, Namíbia
- Namdeb Diamond Corporation, Windhoek, Namíbia
- Museu de Marinha, Lisabon, Portugalsko
Featuring
- Skupina historického šermu Tostabur, Slovensko
- Augsburger Geschlechtertanz e.V, Nemecko
- Förderverein Historische Hansekogge Kiel e.V., Nemecko
- Jozef Dráb, Peter Dráb, Andrej Ruman, Peter Kováč, Branislav Nemček, Matúš Grexa, Denisa Iľašová, Martin Hronský, Ondrej Krasňanský, Ondrej Šaling, Veronika Štarková, Katarína Franková, Anna Kučková, rodina Samuela Straku: Eva, Sára, Alžbeta a Juraj, Miroslav Čiaš, Lukáš Hiadlovský , Peter Majer, Stanislav Cicoň, Patrik Kmínek, Štefánia Gedeonová, Richard Griga, Nela Rakacká, Ján Tarhanič, Vojtech Píš, Richard Kaňa a ďalší
Screenings
- Preview screening, Film Europe cinema, Bratislava, 31 Mar 2019
- Slovak premiere, SNP Museum cinema hall, Banská Bystrica
- Spiš premiere, Mier cinema, Spišská Nová Ves, 7 May 2019
- 15th Night of Museums and Galleries, Červený Kameň castle, 18 May 2019
- School screening, Krompachy grammar school, 28 May 2019
- Screening at the XIX Festival Internacional de Cine Arqueológico del Bidasoa, 2019
- Broadcast on RTVS, 2019 – 2022
- On the US streaming platform heritagetac.org since 2020
- Screening at the Bergbaukongress, Schwaz, Austria
