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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.
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- Map of Britain by Matthew Paris – 13th Century
- Portolan Chart by Pietro Visconte – C. 1325
- England with The Adjoining Kingdom, Scotland by Sebastian Munster – 1554
- Anglia and Hibernia Nova by Girolamo Ruscelli – 1561
- Anglia Regnum by Gerard Mercator – 1595
Paris was a Benedictine monk who was well known in 13th century England for writing and illustrating several manuscripts including a number of maps. This particular image of Britain features around 250 named towns.
Portolan charts were key to maritime navigation in the medieval world. This representation of Britain comes from a larger navigational chart covering the whole of Western Europe.
Produced in 1554 for his translation of Ptolomey’s Geographica, this map shows a significant improvement from Munster’s 1550 map of the island.
Ruscelli was an Italian cartographer who published extensively throughout the first part of the 16th century.
Now probably the most famous cartographer of the late medieval period, Gerard Mercartor was the first person to use the term ‘atlas’ to describe a collection of maps. This map of Britain is taken from one of Mercator’s early Atlases.
- Alex Collin
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: GENERAL MAPS. ©. For the location of major monuments, see maps included on their individual pages. Unless otherwise noted, all maps in this section are from: Shepherd, William R. Historical Atlas, (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1929). ENGLAND. Physical map : Shepherd, p. 49. Roman Britain : Shepherd, p. 51.
- 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.
Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from soon after the end of Roman Britain until the Norman Conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan (r. 927–939).
Britain in the Middle Ages. During most of the Middle Ages (c. 410–1485 AD ), the island of Great Britain was divided into several kingdoms. While the Roman and Norman Conquests influenced the island of Great Britain, the Irish history differs - the Romans never sat foot on Ireland.
