The mystery of the medieval maps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More evidence that our ancestors were not stupid: Where and how did medieval mapmakers, apparently armed with no more than a compass, an hourglass and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The mystery of the medieval maps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More evidence that our ancestors were not stupid: Where and how did medieval mapmakers, apparently armed with no more than a compass, an hourglass and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-05-27T12:24:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.geneveith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/PH2010052104720.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/\",\"name\":\"The mystery of the medieval maps\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-27T12:24:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-05-27T12:24:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"More evidence that our ancestors were not stupid: Where and how did medieval mapmakers, apparently armed with no more than a compass, an hourglass and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/05\/the-mystery-of-the-medieval-maps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The mystery of the medieval maps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. 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Where and how did medieval mapmakers, apparently armed with no more than a compass, an hourglass and sets of sailing directions, develop stunningly accurate maps of southern Europe, the Black Sea and North African coastlines, as if they were looking down from a satellite, when no one had been higher than a treetop?<\/p>\n

The earliest known portolan (PORT-oh-lawn) chart, the Carta Pisana, just appears in about 1275 \u2014 with no known predecessors. It is perhaps the first modern scientific map and contrasted sharply to the \u201cmappamundi\u201d of the era, the colorful maps with unrecognizable geography and fantastic creatures and legends. It bears no resemblance to the methods of the mathematician Ptolemy and does not use measurements of longitude and latitude<\/p>\n

And yet, despite its stunning accuracy, the map \u201cseems to have emerged full-blown from the seas it describes,\u201d one reference journal notes. No one today knows who made the first maps, or how they calculated distance so accurately, or even how all the information came to be compiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real mystery is that if you took all the notebooks from the sailors used in making these charts, along with the coordinates and descriptions,\u201d Hessler says, tapping the glass that covers the ancient vellum, \u201cyou still couldn\u2019t make this map.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nvia Library of Congress holds conference on origins of portolan charts<\/a>.\n

The article reports on research using high-tech mapping technology that proves just how accurate these ancient maps were.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"