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t. e. England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the economy was in tatters and many of the towns abandoned.
How did people depict England, Scotland and Wales in the Middle Ages? Here are 15 images of maps created between the 11th and 16th centuries, which shows how maps developed over history. Anglo-Saxon Mappa Mundi. Created in Canterbury between 1025 and 1050, this is the oldest surviving map of Britain.
- Overview
- The Middle Ages
Progress in cartography during the early Middle Ages was slight. The medieval mapmaker seems to have been dominated by the church, reflecting in his work the ecclesiastical dogmas and interpretations of Scripture. In fact, during the 6th century Constantine of Antioch created a “Christian topography” depicting the Earth as a flat disk. Thus the Roman map of the world, along with other concepts, continued as authoritative for many centuries. A contemporary Chinese map shows that country occupying most of the world, while the Roman Empire dominates most other maps produced during early Christian times.
Later medieval mapmakers were clearly aware of the Earth’s sphericity, but for the most part, maps remained small and schematic, as exemplified by the T and O renderings, so named from the stylized T-form of the major water bodies separating the continents and the O as the circumfluent ocean surrounding the world. The orientation with east at the top of the map was often used, as the word (orientation) suggests.
The earliest navigators coasted from headland to headland; they did not require charts until adoption of the magnetic compass made it possible to proceed directly from one port to another. The earliest record of the magnetic compass in Europe (1187) is followed within a century by the earliest record of a sea chart. This was shown to Louis IX, king of France, on the occasion of his participation in the Eighth Crusade in 1270. The earliest surviving chart dates from within a few years of this event. Found in Pisa and known as the Carta Pisana, it is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Thought to have been made about 1275, it is hand drawn on a sheepskin and depicts the entire Mediterranean Sea. Such charts, often known as portolans named for the portolano or pilot book, listing sailing courses, ports, and anchorages, were much in demand for the increasing trade and shipping. Genoa, Pisa, Venice, Majorca, and Barcelona, among others, cooperated in providing information garnered from their pilots and captains. From repeated revisions, and new surveys by compass, the portolan charts eventually surpassed all preceding maps in accuracy and reliability. The first portolans were hand drawn and very expensive. They were based entirely on magnetic directions and map projections that assumed a degree of longitude equal to a degree of latitude. The assumption did little harm in the Mediterranean but caused serious distortions in maps of higher latitudes. Development of line engraving and the availability, in the 16th century, of large sheets of smooth-surfaced paper facilitated mass production of charts, which soon replaced the manuscript portolans.
Many specimens of portolan charts have survived. Though primarily of areas of the Mediterranean and Black Sea, some covered the Atlantic as far as Ireland, and others the western coast of Africa. Their most striking feature is the system of compass roses, showing directions from various points, and lines showing shortest navigational routes.
Another phenomenon of the late Middle Ages was the great enthusiasm generated by the travels of Marco Polo in the 1270s and 1280s. New information about faraway places, and the stimulation of interest in world maps, promoted their sale and circulation. Marco Polo’s experiences also kindled the desire for travel and exploration in others and were, perhaps, a harbinger of the great age of discovery and exploration.
During Europe’s Dark Ages Islamic and Chinese cartography made progress. The Arabs translated Ptolemy’s treatises and carried on his tradition. Two Islamic scholars deserve special note. Ibn Haukal wrote a Book of Ways and Provinces illustrated with maps, and al-Idrīsī constructed a world map in 1154 for the Christian king Roger of Sicily, showing better information on Asian areas than had been available theretofore. In Baghdad astronomers used the compass long before Europeans, studied the obliquity of the ecliptic, and measured a part of the Earth’s meridian. Their sexagesimal (based on 60) system has dominated cartography since, in the concept of a 360-degree circle.
Progress in cartography during the early Middle Ages was slight. The medieval mapmaker seems to have been dominated by the church, reflecting in his work the ecclesiastical dogmas and interpretations of Scripture. In fact, during the 6th century Constantine of Antioch created a “Christian topography” depicting the Earth as a flat disk. Thus the Roman map of the world, along with other concepts, continued as authoritative for many centuries. A contemporary Chinese map shows that country occupying most of the world, while the Roman Empire dominates most other maps produced during early Christian times.
Later medieval mapmakers were clearly aware of the Earth’s sphericity, but for the most part, maps remained small and schematic, as exemplified by the T and O renderings, so named from the stylized T-form of the major water bodies separating the continents and the O as the circumfluent ocean surrounding the world. The orientation with east at the top of the map was often used, as the word (orientation) suggests.
The earliest navigators coasted from headland to headland; they did not require charts until adoption of the magnetic compass made it possible to proceed directly from one port to another. The earliest record of the magnetic compass in Europe (1187) is followed within a century by the earliest record of a sea chart. This was shown to Louis IX, king of France, on the occasion of his participation in the Eighth Crusade in 1270. The earliest surviving chart dates from within a few years of this event. Found in Pisa and known as the Carta Pisana, it is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Thought to have been made about 1275, it is hand drawn on a sheepskin and depicts the entire Mediterranean Sea. Such charts, often known as portolans named for the portolano or pilot book, listing sailing courses, ports, and anchorages, were much in demand for the increasing trade and shipping. Genoa, Pisa, Venice, Majorca, and Barcelona, among others, cooperated in providing information garnered from their pilots and captains. From repeated revisions, and new surveys by compass, the portolan charts eventually surpassed all preceding maps in accuracy and reliability. The first portolans were hand drawn and very expensive. They were based entirely on magnetic directions and map projections that assumed a degree of longitude equal to a degree of latitude. The assumption did little harm in the Mediterranean but caused serious distortions in maps of higher latitudes. Development of line engraving and the availability, in the 16th century, of large sheets of smooth-surfaced paper facilitated mass production of charts, which soon replaced the manuscript portolans.
Many specimens of portolan charts have survived. Though primarily of areas of the Mediterranean and Black Sea, some covered the Atlantic as far as Ireland, and others the western coast of Africa. Their most striking feature is the system of compass roses, showing directions from various points, and lines showing shortest navigational routes.
Another phenomenon of the late Middle Ages was the great enthusiasm generated by the travels of Marco Polo in the 1270s and 1280s. New information about faraway places, and the stimulation of interest in world maps, promoted their sale and circulation. Marco Polo’s experiences also kindled the desire for travel and exploration in others and were, perhaps, a harbinger of the great age of discovery and exploration.
During Europe’s Dark Ages Islamic and Chinese cartography made progress. The Arabs translated Ptolemy’s treatises and carried on his tradition. Two Islamic scholars deserve special note. Ibn Haukal wrote a Book of Ways and Provinces illustrated with maps, and al-Idrīsī constructed a world map in 1154 for the Christian king Roger of Sicily, showing better information on Asian areas than had been available theretofore. In Baghdad astronomers used the compass long before Europeans, studied the obliquity of the ecliptic, and measured a part of the Earth’s meridian. Their sexagesimal (based on 60) system has dominated cartography since, in the concept of a 360-degree circle.
People also ask
What was England in the Middle Ages?
Who created a map of medieval England?
Which maps were used in medieval times?
Which map gives a strong outline of England?
- The Gough Map of Great Britain. The Gough Map is one the most important medieval maps of Great Britain. Believed to have been created around the 1360s and now held at the Bodleian Library, it is the first very detailed view of the island, with over 600 placenames listed.
- The Open Domesday Map. Compiled in 1086, the Domesday Book is a detailed survey of most of England and parts of Wales made for King William I. It shows the various land holdings in this area, which is a huge benefit to historians focusing on economic and social conditions in medieval England.
- Matthew Paris’s Clickable Map. Matthew Paris, one of the most famous English chroniclers, also created several maps within his works. This includes one of Great Britain that dates to about 1250, and can be found in British Library Cotton MS Claudius D VI.
- Map Images from the National Library of Scotland. This impressive site offers viewers a wide range of maps related to Britain, some going back to the 16th century.
Learn. Story of England. Medieval. Warfare. Religion. Architecture. An Introduction to Medieval England (1066–1485) Duke William of Normandy’s resounding triumph over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the dawn of a new era.
People in the medieval world were remarkably well travelled and huge leaps were made in the extent and precision of cartography in the late Middle Ages. This article traces 500 years of development in maps of Britain from before the Norman Conquest to Gerard Mercator’s 16th century atlas.
Medieval Geography. People in medieval Europe had lost all the knowledge about the world that classical civilizations like the Greeks and Romans had discovered. They found their own ways of picturing the earth. The medieval map of the world on the right appears in a thirteenth-century work of philosophy by William of Conches.
