Encounters between European navigators, explorers, conquerors, colonizers, merchants, missionaries and "other" peoples and cultures over the course of 4 centuries. At an immediate and practical level, conquest, colonization and trade led to modes of domination or coexistence and multi-faceted transcultural relationships. In Europe, such encounters with "otherness" led to attempts to explain and interpret the origins and nature of racial and cultural (linguistic, religious and social) diversity. At the same time, observation of alien societies, cultures and religious practices broadened the debate on human social forms, leading to a critical reappraisal of European Christian civilization.