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A ''mappa mundi'' (Latin ; plural = ''mappae mundi''; ; ) is any
medieval European In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...
map of the world. Such maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps or less across to elaborate wall maps, the largest of which to survive to modern times, the
Ebstorf map The Ebstorf Map was an example of a (a medieval European map of the world). It was made by Gervase of Ebstorf, who was possibly the same man as Gervase of Tilbury, some time between 1234 and 1240. Description The map was found in a convent i ...
, was around in diameter. The term derives from the
Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...
words (cloth or chart) and (world). Around 1,100 ''mappae mundi'' are known to have survived from the Middle Ages. Of these, some 900 are found illustrating manuscript books and the remainder exist as stand-alone documents.


Types of ''mappae mundi''

Extant ''mappae mundi'' come in several distinct varieties, including: * Zonal maps (sometimes called Macrobian maps) * Tripartite maps (including " T-O" and " V-in-◻" maps) * Quadripartite maps (including the
Beatus map The Beatus map or Beatine map is one of the most significant cartographic works of the European Early Middle Ages. It was originally drawn by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana, based on the accounts given by Isidore of Seville, Ptolemy and ...
s) * Complex maps Medieval world maps which share some characteristics of traditional ''mappae mundi'' but contain elements from other sources, including
Portolan charts 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 ''portolano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and w ...
and maps associated with
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
's ''
Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
'' are sometimes considered a fifth type, called "transitional mappae mundi".


Zonal maps

Zonal maps are pictures of the
Eastern Hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to p ...
. Their purpose was to illustrate the concept that the world is a sphere with latitudinal climate zones, most often the five Aristotelian
clime The climes (singular ''clime''; also ''clima'', plural ''climata'', from Greek κλίμα ''klima'', plural κλίματα ''klimata'', meaning "inclination" or "slope") in classical Greco-Roman geography and astronomy were the divisions of ...
s: * The northern frigid zone * the northern temperate zone * the equatorial tropical zone * the southern temperate zone * the southern frigid zone Of these, only the two temperate zones at middle latitudes were believed to be inhabitable, and the known world was contained entirely within the northern temperate zone's Eastern Hemisphere. As most surviving zonal maps are found illustrating
Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
' ''Commentary'' on
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
's ''
Dream of Scipio The ''Dream of Scipio'' (Latin: ''Somnium Scipionis''), written by Cicero, is the sixth book of ''De re publica'', and describes a (postulated fictional or real) dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before he overs ...
'' (an excerpt of Cicero's ''
De Re Publica ''De re publica'' (''On the Republic''; see below) is a dialogue on Roman politics by Cicero, written in six books between 54 and 51 BC. The work does not survive in a complete state, and large parts are missing. The surviving sections derive ...
''), this type of map is sometimes called "Macrobian". In their simplest and most common form, Zonal ''mappae mundi'' are merely circles divided into five parallel zones, but several larger zonal maps with much more detail have survived.


Tripartite maps

T-O maps, unlike zonal maps, illustrate only the habitable portion of the world known to medieval Europeans, limiting their perspective to a relatively small portion of the Earth's Northern Hemisphere. The landmass was illustrated as a circle (an "O") divided into three portions by a "T". These three divisions were the continents of
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. The popularity of the Macrobian maps and the combination of T-O style continents on some of the larger Macrobian spheres illustrate that Earth's sphericity continued to be understood among scholars during the Middle Ages. The
V-in-square map The V-in-square (or V-in-◻) map is a highly schematic type of ''mappa mundi'' (world map) in use in Europe during the Middle Ages. It is based on and usually found in conjunction with the ''Etymologiae'' of Isidore of Seville. Description The V ...
depicts the Earth divided between the
sons of Noah The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or ''Origines Gentium'', is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after Genesis flood narrative ...
.


Quadripartite or Beatus maps

Quadripartite maps represent a sort of amalgam of the zonal and T-O maps by illustrating the three known continents separated by an equatorial ocean from a fourth unknown land, often called ''
Antipodes In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ea ...
''. Fourteen large quadripartite maps are found illustrating different manuscripts of
Beatus of Liébana Beatus of Liébana (; ) was a monk, theologian, and author of the '' Commentary on the Apocalypse'', mostly a compendium of previous authorities' views on the biblical '' Book of Revelation'' or ''Apocalypse of John''. This had a local influenc ...
's popular ''Commentary'' on the ''
Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
'' of
St John Saint John or St. John usually refers to either John the Baptist or John the Apostle. Saint John or St. John may also refer to: People Saints * John the Baptist ( – ), preacher, ascetic, and baptizer of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelis ...
. These "
Beatus map The Beatus map or Beatine map is one of the most significant cartographic works of the European Early Middle Ages. It was originally drawn by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana, based on the accounts given by Isidore of Seville, Ptolemy and ...
s" are believed to derive from a single (now lost) original which was used to illustrate the missions of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ.J. B. Harley (1987); Volume I' p. 357


Complex maps

The "complex" or "great" world maps are the most famous mappae mundi. Although most employ a modified T-O scheme, they are considerably more detailed than their smaller T-O cousins. These maps show coastal details, mountains, rivers, cities, towns and provinces. Some include figures and stories from history, the Bible and classical mythology. Also shown on some maps are exotic plants, beasts and races known to medieval scholars only through Roman and Greek texts. Prior to its destruction in World War II, the
Ebstorf map The Ebstorf Map was an example of a (a medieval European map of the world). It was made by Gervase of Ebstorf, who was possibly the same man as Gervase of Tilbury, some time between 1234 and 1240. Description The map was found in a convent i ...
at across was the largest surviving mappa mundi. Today that honour is held by the surviving centre portion of the
Hereford map The Hereford Mappa Mundi (, map of the world) is the largest medieval map still known to exist, depicting the known world. It is a religious rather than literal depiction, featuring heaven, hell and the path to salvation. Dating from AD, the m ...
which is 147 cm across and 175 cm top to bottom. Other important maps in this group are the
Cotton or Anglo-Saxon map The earliest known world maps date to classical antiquity, the oldest examples of the 6th to 5th centuries Common Era, BCE still based on the flat Earth paradigm. World maps assuming a spherical Earth first appear in the Hellenistic period. The ...
, the Psalter map and the Henry of Mainz map. The somewhat later mappae mundi that accompany the popular ''Polychronicon'' of
Ranulf Higden Ranulf Higden or Higdon (–1363 or 1364) was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk who wrote the ''Polychronicon'', a Late Medieval magnum opus. Higden resided at the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester after taking his monastic vow a ...
should probably be viewed as degenerate forms of the earlier complex maps. Complex mappae mundi include:


Purpose of ''mappae mundi''

To modern eyes, mappae mundi can look superficially primitive and inaccurate. However, mappae mundi were never meant to be used as navigational charts and they make no pretence of showing the relative areas of land and water. Rather, mappae mundi were schematic and were meant to illustrate different principles. The simplest mappae mundi were diagrams meant to preserve and illustrate classical learning easily. The zonal maps should be viewed as a kind of teaching aid – easily reproduced and designed to reinforce the idea of the Earth's sphericity and climate zones. T-O maps were designed to schematically illustrate the three land masses of the world as it was known to the Romans and their medieval European heirs. The larger mappae mundi have the space and detail to illustrate further concepts, such as the cardinal directions, distant lands, Bible stories, history, mythology, flora, fauna and exotic races. In their fullest form, such as the
Ebstorf Ebstorf is a municipality in the district of Uelzen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately northwest of Uelzen, and south of Lüneburg. Ebstorf was the seat of the former ''Samtgemeinde A (, ; plural: ''Samtgemeinden'' ...
and
Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...
maps, they become minor encyclopedias of medieval knowledge. In her study, Brigitte Englisch shows that the medieval world maps (the mappae mundi) both from their concept and in their concrete practice are founded on a systematically geometric projection of the known world. The basis of this projection, however, is not geographical surveying but the harmonious order of God’s creation. Using regular geometric forms like circles and triangles which are also regarded as religiously perfect, they created a coherent planispheric system. This quite basically presents the known world in its real geographic appearance which is visible in the so-called Vatican Map of Isidor (776), the world maps of Beatus of Liebana’s ''Commentary on the Apocalypse of St John'' (8th century), the Anglo-Saxon Map (ca. 1000), the Sawley map, the Psalter map, or the large mappae mundi of the 13th century (Hereford/Ebstorf).


End of the tradition

In the mid 13th century,a new type of map called Carta Pisana, developed as an aid to navigating the Mediterranean Sea. Now known as "
Portolan charts 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 ''portolano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and w ...
", these maps are characterized by extremely accurate coastlines with criss-crossing
rhumb line In navigation, a rhumb line, rhumb (), or loxodrome is an arc crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle, that is, a path with constant azimuth ( bearing as measured relative to true north). Navigation on a fixed course (i.e., s ...
s. A particularly famous example is the
Catalan Atlas The Catalan Atlas (, ) is a medieval world map, or mappa mundi, probably created in the late 1370s or the early 1380s (often conventionally dated 1375), that has been described as the most important map of the Middle Ages in the Catalan language, ...
attributed to
Abraham Cresques Cresques Abraham (, 1325–1387) was a 14th-century Jewish cartographer from Palma, Majorca, then part of the Crown of Aragon. In collaboration with his son, Jehuda Cresques, Cresques is credited with the authorship of the celebrated Catalan ...
in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
. During the late Middle Ages and with the coming of the Renaissance, western Europeans became reacquainted with the work of many ancient Greek scholars. In the field of geography and map-making, the coordinate system which
Claudius Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...
outlined in the ''
Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
'' became extremely influential. Over time maps influenced by these new ideas displaced the older traditions of mappae mundi. The last examples of the tradition, including the massive map of
Fra Mauro Fra Mauro, O.S.B. Cam., (c.1400–1464) was an Italian ( Venetian) cartographer who lived in the Republic of Venice. He created the most detailed and accurate map of the world up until that time, the Fra Mauro map. Mauro was a monk of the Ca ...
, may be seen as hybrids, incorporating Portolan-style coastlines into the frame of a traditional mappa mundi.


See also

*
Early world maps The earliest known world maps date to classical antiquity, the oldest examples of the 6th to 5th centuries Common Era, BCE still based on the flat Earth paradigm. World maps assuming a spherical Earth first appear in the Hellenistic period. The ...
*
Hereford Mappa Mundi The Hereford Mappa Mundi (, map of the world) is the largest medieval map still known to exist, depicting the known world. It is a religious rather than literal depiction, featuring heaven, hell and the path to salvation. Dating from AD, the m ...
*
Virtual Mappa Virtual Mappa (VM) (https://sims2.digitalmappa.org/36) is a collaborative digital humanities project that collects, annotates and networks medieval mappa mundi, ''mappamundi'' using the Digital Mappa resource. The project is open access, hosted an ...
*
Here be dragons "Here be dragons" () means dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of a medieval practice of putting illustrations of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures on uncharted areas of maps where potential dangers were though ...
*
Terra incognita ''Terra incognita'' or ''terra ignota'' (Latin "unknown land"; ''incognita'' is stressed on its second syllable in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in cartography for regions that have not been mapped or d ...
*
Portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...


Notes


References

* *


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links


Modern Medieval Map Myths: The Flat World, Ancient Sea-Kings, and Dragons
1459/60 at bottom of article
Ancient World Maps

1452 Mappamundi by Giovanni Leardo
held at the American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee
Mappa Mundi Hereford
Digital Mappa Mundi exploration * More information and Mappa mundi images can be found at th
Cornell University: Persuasive Cartography: The PJ Mode Collection
* Discussion by
Janina Ramirez Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; ' Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their h ...
and
Peter Frankopan Peter Frankopan (born 22 March 1971) is a British historian, writer, and hotelier. He is a professor of global history at Worcester College, Oxford, and the Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. He is a fellow of the Royal Asiati ...

Art Detective Podcast, 22 Mar 2017

Virtual Mappa
Digital Editions of Early Medieval Maps of the World, edit. Martin Foys, Heather Wacha, et al. (Philadelphia, PA: Schoenberg Institute of Manuscript Studies, 2018): https://sims2.digitalmappa.org/36. DOI: 10.21231/ef21-ev82. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mappa Mundi Map types Historic maps of the world