"Majorcan cartographic school" is the term coined by historians to refer to the collection of predominantly

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish cartographers,

cosmographer The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-scal ...

s and

navigational instrument Navigational instruments are instruments used by nautical navigators and pilots as tools of their trade. The purpose of navigation is to ascertain the present position and to determine the speed, direction, etc. to arrive at the port or point o ...

-makers and some Christian associates that flourished in Majorca in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries until the expulsion of the Jews. The label is usually inclusive of those who worked in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

. The Majorcan school is frequently contrasted with the contemporary

Italian cartography school Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Origins

The island of Majorca, the largest of the Balearic islands in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, had a long history of seafaring. Muslim and Jewish merchants participated in extensive trade across the Mediterranean Sea with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, and in the 14th century their commerce entered into the Atlantic, reaching as far as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. Ruled as an independent Muslim kingdom through much of the Early Middle Ages, Majorca only came under Christian rule in 1231, albeit retaining its independence as the Kingdom of Majorca until 1344, when it was permanently annexed to the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...

. This coincided with a period of Aragonese expansionism across the Mediterranean to

Sardinia and Corsica The Province of Sardinia and Corsica ( la, Provincia Sardinia et Corsica) was an ancient Roman province including the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. Pre-Roman times The Nuragic civilization flourished in Sardinia from 1800 to 500 BC. The ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and Greece (

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Neopatria The Duchy of Neopatras ( ca, Ducat de Neopàtria; scn, Ducatu di Neopatria; gr, Δουκάτο Νέων Πατρών; la, Ducatus Neopatriae) was a principality in southern Thessaly, established in 1319. Officially part of the Kingdom of Sici ...

), in which Majorcan nautical, cartographic and mercantile expertise was often called upon. Majorcan merchants and seafarers spearheaded the attempt by the Aragonese crown to seize the newly discovered

Canary Island The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocco ...

s in the Atlantic from the 1340s to the 1360s. Majorcan cosmographers and cartographers experimented and developed their own cartographic techniques. According to some scholars (e.g. Nordenskiold), the Majorcans were responsible for the invention (c. 1300) of the "normal

portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portulano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and wh ...

". The portolan was a realistic, detailed nautical chart, gridded by a

rhumbline network A rhumbline network, more properly called, a windrose network, or sometimes also called harbour-finding chart, compass chart, or rhumb chart, is a navigational aid drawn on early portolan charts dating from the medieval to early modern perio ...

with

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...

lines that could be used to deduce exact sailing directions between any two points. Portolan charts, which appeared rather suddenly after 1300, constitute a sharp departure from all earlier maps. Unlike the circular ''

mappa mundi A ''mappa mundi'' (Latin ; plural = ''mappae mundi''; french: mappemonde; enm, mappemond) is any medieval European map of the world. Such maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps or less across to elaborate wall maps, th ...

'' of Christian academic tradition, the portolan was oriented towards the north, and focused on a realistic depiction of geographic distances with a degree of accuracy that is astounding, even by modern standards. Historians speculate that the portolan was constructed from the first-hand information of mariners and merchants, possibly assisted by

astronomers An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either obse ...

, and were geared for navigational use, in particular the plotting by compass of navigational routes. Both Majorca and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

have laid claim for the invention of the portolan chart, and it is unlikely this will ever be resolved. Few charts have survived to the modern day. The ''

Carta Pisana The ''Carta Pisana'' or ''Carte Pisane'' is a map probably made at the end of the 13th century, about 1275–1300, currently conserved in the Département des cartes et plans at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. New research suggests that it ...

'' portolan chart, made at the end of the 13th century (1275–1300), is the oldest surviving

nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land ( topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the co ...

. The earliest extant ones, from the first half of the 14th century, seem to have been constructed by Genoese cartographers, with Majorcan charts making their appearance only in the latter half of the century. As a result, many historians have argued that the Majorcan cartography derived from the Genoese, citing the mysterious figure of Angelino Dulcert, possibly a Genoese immigrant working in Majorca in the 1330s, as the key intermediary in the transmission. On the other hand, some scholars have embraced the hypothesis first forwarded by A.E. Nordenskiöld, that the surviving charts are misleading, that the earliest Genoese maps were just faithful copies of a conjectured prototype (now lost), composed around 1300 by an unknown Majorcan cosmographer, possibly with the involvement of Ramon Llull. An intermediary position acknowledges Genoese priority, but insists the Majorcan school had an autonomous origin, at best "inspired" (but not derived) from the Genoese. Recent research tends to lean towards the first interpretation, but at the same time curbing some of the more extreme Italian claims and recognizing distinctively Majorcan development.

Majorcan style

Regardless of the exact origin, historians agree that the Majorcans developed their own distinctive style or "school" of portolan cartography, which can be distinguished from the "Italian school". Both Italian and Majorcan portolan charts focus on the same geographic area, what is sometimes called the "Normal Portolan": the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast up to the environs of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

- in short, the area frequently travelled by contemporary Mediterranean merchants and sailors. As time and knowledge progressed, some cartographers would stretch the geographic boundaries of the normal portolan to include a larger swathe of Atlantic ocean, including many Atlantic islands (real and mythical), a longer stretch of the

west Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

n coast to the south, the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

in the north and the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

in the east. Nonetheless, the central focus on the Mediterranean remained throughout and the scale rarely changed. The distinction between the Majorcan and Italian school is one of style rather than range. Italian portolan charts were sparse and restrained, strictly focused on coastal detail, with the inland areas left largely or wholly empty, and the charts largely bereft of illustrations. The Majorcan style, its beginnings already decipherable in the 1339 chart of Angelino Dulcert, and finding its epitome in the Catalan Atlas of 1375 (attributed to Majorcan cartographer Abraham Cresques), contained a lot more inland detail and was replete with rich colorful illustrations, depicting cities, mountain ranges, rivers and some miniature people. Among the quintessential features replicated in almost all Majorcan charts: * scattered notes and labels in Catalan * the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

painted red * the Atlas Mountains depicted as a palm tree * the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

as a chicken's foot * the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...

as a shepherd's crook, with the curve wrapping around Toledo. * the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

as a chain of links or hillocks. * Bohemia as a horseshoe * the Canary island of Lanzarote colored with a Genoese shield (red cross on white). * the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

also colored with a shield with a cross. * the striped shield of the

replicated as often as possible, including covering the island of Majorca itself. * a

compass rose A compass rose, sometimes called a wind rose, rose of the winds or compass star, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their i ...

somewhere on the map, with the

Pole Star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...

set on the north.Later Italian school maps began to include a compass rose, but placed a circumflex "hat" (^) as the northmark. Portuguese maps (from 1504) used a

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

as the northmark. See Winter (1947:p.25) Among the miniature people routinely found in many Majorcan maps are depictions of the traders on the Silk Road and the trans-Saharan route, the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

seated on a gold mine and the ship of

Jaume Ferrer Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, Ma ...

. Although the Italian school largely adhered to its sparse style, some later Italian cartographers, such as the

Pizzigani brothers Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano, known as the Pizzigani brothers, were 14th-century Venetian cartographers. Their surname is sometimes given as Pizigano (only one 'z') in older sources. 1367 Chart ] The Pizzigani brothers are principally kn ...

and Battista Beccario toyed with Majorcan themes, and introduced some of their features into their own maps. Although some historians like to distinguish the Italian maps as "nautical" and the Majorcan maps as "nautico-geographic", it is important to note that the Majorcan portolans did not sacrifice the essential nautical function of their portolans. Lift the entertaining illustrations, and the Majorcan maps are as nautically detailed and serviceable as the Italian.

Members

Major members of the Majorcan school of cartography include: * Angelino Dulcert (fl. 1339) - possibly a Genoese immigrant. * Abraham Cresques (fl. 1375) *

Jehuda Cresques Jehudà Cresques (, 1360-1410), also known as Jafudà Cresques, Jaume Riba, and Cresques lo Juheu ("Cresques the Jew"), was a converso cartographer in the early 15th century. Son of Abraham Cresques, a famous Jewish cartographer, he was born in ...

("Jaume Riba"/"Jacobus Ribes") * Haym ibn Risch ("Joan de Vallsecha") *

Guillem Soler Guillem Soler ( fl. 1380s), sometimes given as Guillelmus Soleri, Guillermo Soler and Guglielmo Soleri, was a Majorcan cartographer of the 14th century. Little is known of Guillem Soler. Documents establish his existence in Majorca in 1368, and ...

(fl. 1380s) * Mecia de Viladestes (fl. 1410s) * Jacomé of Majorca (1420s?) - moved to Portugal * Gabriel de Vallseca (fl.1430s-40s) * Pere Rosell (fl.1460s) * Jaume Bertran (fl. 1480s). Unlike in Italy, where the crafts of instrument-making and cartography were distinct, most of the Majorcan cartographers also worked as makers of nautical instruments - often appearing in civic records, as both master map-maker and ''bruixoler'' ("compass-maker"). Some were also amateur or professional

s, with expertise in

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, frequently inserting astronomical calendars in their atlases. Most members of the Majorcan school (with the exception of Soler) were

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, whether practicing or

conversos A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian p ...

. As a result, the school suffered heavily and eventually expired with the extension of force-conversion, expulsions and the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

into the realms of the Crown of Aragon in the late 15th century. The production of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portulano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and wh ...

s can be divided in two major schools: the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and the Catalan. Italian medieval cartographers came mostly from

and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Catalan chart Catalan charts or Catalan portolans are portolan charts in Catalan language. Portolan charts are a type of medieval and early modern map that focuses on maritime geography and includes a network of rhumb lines.Maps and their Makers, J.C.C Crone, Hu ...

s were made in Majorca and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Beside these two major schools, some maps were made in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, but no examples survive. The inhabitants of Majorca were great navigators and cartographers. Their geographical knowledge was earned from their own experience and developed in a multicultural atmosphere. Muslim and Jewish merchants participated in extensive trade with Egypt and Tunisia, and in the 14th century they started doing business with

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. These groups were not limited by the rules imposed by the Christian framework, and their maps were way ahead of their time. Professor Gerald Crone, who wrote books on medieval mapping, said of these cartographers, they "...threw off the bounds of tradition and anticipated the achievements of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

". The maps they made were prized by the princes and rulers of the Spanish mainland and other countries. The maps made in Majorca were easy to recognize by their brightly colored illustrations of significant geographical features and portraits of foreign rulers. The first known Majorcan map was made by Angelino Dulcert in 1339. Even in this early work, all the distinguishing features of the Majorcan Cartographic School were present. Dulcert made precise, colorful drawings that showed all the topographical details including rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. The notes written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

described the map. The most famous cartographers from the Majorcan school were Jews.

Catalan Atlas and Abraham and Jehuda Cresques

Abraham Cresques also known as, Cresques the Jew, was appointed as a Master of Maps and

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...

es by

John I of Aragon John I (27 December 1350 – 19 May 1396), called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance, but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of Aragon from 1387 until his death. Biography John was the eldest son of Peter IV and his third ...

. The money he got for his appointment was used to build baths for Jews in Palma. In 1374 and 1375 Abraham and his son Jehuda worked on a special order. John I of Aragon advised the authorities that he needed to get a map, which would show the Strait of Gibraltar, the Atlantic coast and the ocean itself. The map they made got the name Catalan Atlas, and it is the most important Catalan map of the medieval period. The first two leaves, forming the oriental portion of the Catalan Atlas, illustrate numerous religious references as well as a synthesis of medieval mappae mundi (Jerusalem located close to the center) and the travel literature of the time, notably Marco Polo's '' Book of Marvels and the Travels'', and ''Voyage of

Sir John Mandeville Sir John Mandeville is the supposed author of ''The Travels of Sir John Mandeville'', a travel memoir which first circulated between 1357 and 1371. The earliest-surviving text is in French. By aid of translations into many other languages, the ...

''. Many Indian and Chinese cities can be identified. The explanatory texts report customs described by Marco Polo. Cresques, who knew

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, also used the travel narratives of Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta.

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

has a blue dome and shows Muslim prayer. The text next to the image is: While the areas under Muslim control were marked with domes, Jerusalem was surrounded by tales from Old and New Testaments like the Garden of Eden, the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in ...

and others. The image of the caravan is accompanied by Marco Polo's travel account: A Catalan Atlas was requested by

Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...

, even though he expelled all the Jews from France in 1394. The Catalan Atlas is located now in Bibliothèque nationale de France. A few other Cresques maps were mentioned in inventories from Spain and France in late 1387. Jehuda Cresques continued his father's traditions. He was forced to convert to Christianity in 1391. His new name was Jacobus Ribes. He was called "lo Jueu buscoler" (the map Jew), or "el jueu de les bruixoles" (the compass Jew). Jehuda was ordered to move to Barcelona, where he continued his work, as a court cartographer. Later, he was invited to Portugal by Henry the Navigator, but his maps were still made in Catalan (Majorca) traditions, and that's why he was called "Mestre Jacome de Malhorca". He was the first director of famous Nautical observatory at Sagres at the age of discovery.

Other Jewish cartographers

Another famous Jewish cartographer was Haym ibn Risch. He was forced to convert to Christianity and took the name Juan de Vallsecha. He was probably the father of Gabriel de Vallseca, author of yet another famous mapamundi, one later used by Amerigo Vespucci. Gabriel also produced a very accurate maps of

and

. Another Jewish cartographer was Mecia de Vildestes. An outstanding map by Vildestes dated 1413 is proudly featured at the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris. Anti-Jewish persecutions brought the end to the famous school of cartography at Majorca.

Chronology of Majorcan cartographers

(Timeline derived from :ca:Llista cronològica de cartògrafs portolans mallorquins) Preset = TimeHorizontal_AutoPlaceBars_UnitYear ImageSize = width:760 Colors = id:offWhite value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:paleGray value:rgb(0.86,0.86,0.86) id:darkGray value:gray(0.6) id:baroqueBlue value:rgb(0.6,1,0.6) # id:mid value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0) legend: id:ren value:rgb(0.6,1,1) legend:Genoese_(?) id:bar value:rgb(0.6,1,0.6) legend:Christian id:rom value:rgb(1,0.75,0.75) legend:Jew_or_converso id:cla value:rgb(1,1,0.6) legend:Uncertain BackgroundColors = canvas:offWhite Period = from:1330 till:1500 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:20 start:1340 gridcolor:paleGray Legend = orientation:vertical left:49 top:100 LineData = at:1368 color:darkGray layer:back at:1433 color:darkGray layer:back Define $bold = fontsize:M shift:(10,-7) BarData= barset:Composers PlotData= # set defaults width:15 fontsize:S textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) color:baroqueBlue barset:Composers from:1330 till:1345 color:Ren text:" Angelí Dolcet" from:1353 till:1362 text:" Guillem Cantarelles" from:1350 till:1387 color:Rom text:"

Cresques Abraham Abraham Cresques (, 1325–1387), whose real name was Cresques (son of) Abraham, was a 14th-century Jews, Jewish Cartography, cartographer from Palma, Majorca, Palma, Majorca (then part of the Crown of Aragon). In collaboration with his son, Jeh ...

" from:1368 till:1402 text:"

" from:1368 till:1374 color:Rom text:" Bonjua Moixini" from:1377 till:1410 color:Rom text:" Jafuda Cresques/Jaume Ribes" from:1390 till:1423 color:Rom text:" Samuel Corcos/Macià de Viladesters" from:1405 till:1409 text:" Joan Soler" from:1412 till:1412 color:cla text:"

Joan Esteve En Johan Esteve de Bezers, in modern orthography Joan Esteve (fl. 1270–1288), was a troubadour from Béziers. The only chansonnier which contains his eleven works, also calls him Olier de Bezers, implying that he was perhaps a potter. All hi ...

" from:1420 till:1420 color:cla text:" Jacomé de Mallorca" from:1428 till:1428 color:Rom text:" Joan Viladesters" from:1433 till:1474 color:Rom text:" Gabriel Vallseca" from:1436 till:1442 text:" Rafel Lloret" from:1440 till:1446 text:" Rafel Soler" from:1446 till:1475 text:" Gabriel Soler" from:1446 till:1489 color:Rom text:" Pere Rossell" from:1450 till:1468 color:cla text:" Rafel Monells" from:1451 till:1451 color:cla text:" Antoni Bramona" from:1456 till:1456 color:Rom text:" Berenguer Ripoll" from:1456 till:1500 color:Rom text:" Jaume Bertran" from:1463 till:1463 color:cla text:" Antoni Píris" from:1484 till:1486 color:Rom text:" Arnau Domènech" barset:break

References

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{cite book, title= History of Cartography , author=

Leo Bagrow Leo Bagrow (1881 Saint Petersburg – 9 August 1957 The Hague), born Lev Solomonovich Bagrow, was a historian of cartography and the founder of the journal ''Imago Mundi ''Imago Mundi'', or in full ''Imago Mundi: International Journal for the His ...

, and R. A. Skelton , page=65,66 , publisher= Watts , year = 1964 , isbn= 9781412825184 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OBeB4tDmJv8C&q=arab+cartographers+of+majorca&pg=PA65 , accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite web, title= The Majorcan Cartographic School, year = 1964 , url= http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_10.htm#Majorcan , accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite book, title= The Jewish Contribution To Civilization , author= Cecil Roth , pages=69–72, year=1940, publisher =Harper, url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2EkvyjWlA4gC&q=The+Jewish+Contribution+To+Civilisation, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite book, title= The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal, 1300-1500: A Biographical Dictionary (The Great Cultural Eras of the Western World) , author= Clayton J. Drees, publisher =Greenwood, date = November 30, 2000 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8jDfydG6ReAC&q=Abraham+Cresques&pg=PA119, pages =119–120, accessdate=2010-04-28, isbn = 0-313-30588-9 {{cite book, title= Planets, Potions, and Parchments: Scientifica Hebraica from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Eighteenth Century , author= B. Barry Levy, publisher =McGill-Queen's University Press, year = 1990, url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YUxPTjLG3swC&pg=PA119, pages =119–120, accessdate=2010-04-28, isbn = 978-0-7735-0791-3 {{cite web, title=The Catalan Atlas, url = http://www.contemporarybalears.com/balears/index.php?section=blog&cmd=details&id=2&printview=1, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite web, title = Newberry Library, url = http://www.newberry.org/smith/slidesets/ss25.html, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite web, title = The Catalan Atlas, url = http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/235mono.html, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite book, title = Jewish topographies: visions of space, traditions of place , url =https://books.google.com/books?id=GGDDCm-4VKkC&q=%22Gabriel+Vallsecha%22&pg=PA185, accessdate=2010-04-28, page = 185, author1=Julia Brauch , author2=Anna Lipphardt , author3=Alexandra Nocke , year = 2008, isbn = 9780754671183

External links

www.cresquesproject.net
��Translation in English of the works of Riera i Sans and Gabriel Llompart on the Jewish Majorcan Map-makers of the Late Middle Ages
Portolan charts from S.XIII to S.XVI - Additions, Corrections, Updates

Sources

* Campbell, T. (1987) "Portolan Charts from the Late Thirteenth Century to 1500". ''The History of Cartography''. Volume 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 371–463. * Campbell, T. (2011) "A critical re-examination of early portolan charts with a reassessment of their replication and seaboard function"

* Caraci, G. (1959) ''Italiani e Catalani nella primitiva cartografia medievale'', Rome: 'Universita degli studi. * Magnaghi, A. (1909) "Sulle origini del portolano normale nel Medio Evo e della Cartografia dell'Europa occidentale", in ''Memorie geografiche'', vol. 4, no.8, p. 115-80. * Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik (1896) "Résumé of an Essay on the Early History of Charts and Sailing Directions", ''Report of the Sixth International Geographical Congress: held in London, 1895''. London: J. Murra
p.685-94
* Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik (1897) ''Periplus: An Essay on the Early History of Charts and Sailing Directions'', tr. Frances A. Bather, Stockholm: Norstedt. * Pujades i Bataller, Ramon J. (2007) ''Les cartes portolanes: la representació medieval d'una mar solcada.'' Barcelona * Heinrich Winter (1947) "On the Real and the Pseudo-Pilestrina Maps and Other Early Portuguese Maps in Munich", ''Imago Mundi'', vol. 4,p. 25-27. * Winter, Heinrich (1958) "Catalan Portolan Maps and their place in the total view of cartographic development", ''Imago Mundi'', Vol.11, p. 1-12 History of cartography Medieval Majorcan Jews