(An intermittent series introducing well known maps)
Johannes Gutenberg’s movable type printing press is operating in Mainz.
The Vatican Library has been founded.
The English War of the Roses will begin in five years.
The Inca control Peru and more.
The Treaty of Lodi will be signed in 1454, ending for a time, the wars between Italian Cities.
Prince Henry the Navigator is actively sending out ships to explore.
Leonardo da Vinci will be born in two years.
Fra Mauro publishes an extremely detailed world map.
Imagine drawing a world map in the 15th century that is virtually identical to a satellite image in the 21st century!
{The images above are from NASA Landsat Science. They compare Fra Mauro’s map with Blue Marble satellite imagery.}
Video: Mappa Mundi: the greatest Map of the Medieval World (courtesy of the BBC)
Fra Mauro, an Italian monk, did just that.
Traveling around the Mediterranean and the Middle East with the large merchant fleet of Venice as a solder and merchant, Fra Mauro developed his interest in mapping as a young man. And although he never lost his curiosity about the world, he eventually joined the Monastery of Saint Michael on the island of Maurano in the Venetian lagoon as a lay brother. Beginning as an accountant / rent collector for the Monastery, Fra Mauro developed a mapping workshop. He eagerly awaited the return to Venice of the merchants, sailors and other travelers to intensely query them about the geography of their voyages. With this knowledge, over the course of several years, Fra Mauro and his assistants drew the most detailed world map of the time.
At the dawn of the Age of Exploration, nautical maps were very much in demand in the Mediterranean and beyond. However, only two portolan charts drawn by Fra Mauro are know to have survived to the present. One, currently in the Vatican, was published in 1944 by Roberto Almagia. The other map (a copy by cartographer Giorgio Callopoda dated 1541) is currently believed to be in a private collection in France.
The world map fuses ideas from the past with the most current information available. Surrounded by a gilt frame of 2.4 meters by 2.4 meters or just over 2 1/2 feet per side, the map was drawn on high quality vellum and used expensive inks. Fra Mauro has included nearly 3000 inscriptions, text and pictographs. Interestingly, he has used the local Venetian dialect rather than Latin. Clearly, this is intended to be a scholar’s map–not a sailing chart. And just as clearly, meant for wealthy patrons.
Unlike the earlier Hereford Mappa Mundi which shows religious based geography, Fra Mauro’s map placed the Garden of Eden outside the border of the map rather than inside at the far east. Fra Mauro appreciated Ptolemy, but he decided to remove Jerusalem from the center of the map for both latitude and longitudinal reasons. During this period, real world accuracy was taking precedent as the Europeans begin longer journeys in search of trade and knowledge.
The map itself is a circular planisphere. Outside of the circle, Fra Mauro has placed 4 more: 1. the Garden of Eden, 2. a Ptolemaic Solar System, 3. a diagram of the 4 elements (earth, water, fire, air) and 4. the Earth as a globe. Following the Arabic custom, south is oriented at the top of the map. It depicts Asia, Africa and Europe with the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In creating his map, Fra Mauro used existing maps, charts, manuscripts and detailed conversations with returning travelers like Niccolo di Conte.
Not surprisingly, the most accurate areas of the map are closest to Venice. The far reaches of Northern Europe are left to the much later Carta Marina, (please see the post “1539” September 2018) although he does mention Greenland. The Middle East and India are fairly accurate and Fra Mauro is one of the 1st to draw a European map that depicts Japan. With all of the exploration by the Portuguese sailors around Africa, that is depicted well. The Americas have not been formally discovered by the Europeans at this time. He did believe the Earth to be a sphere despite drawing the continents surrounded by water, and had a over 75% accurate guess as to the circumference.
As far as we know, only two maps were commissioned. Fra Mauro with his assistant Andrea Blanco, finished one map on April 26, 1459. It was sent to King Alfonso V of Portugal in Lisbon. Along with it went a letter to his uncle, Prince Henry the Navigator, from the Doge of Venice encouraging continued exploration. The map arrived at Sao Jorge Palace but disappeared sometime after 1494. The other map was drawn for the Signoria of Venice, rulers of the Republic of Venice. Their large merchant class was very interested in accurate and informative maps. For years, this map was assumed “Lost”, but rediscovered at the Monastery of St. Michael, and is currently in the Museo Correr in Venice. Over 300 years later, in 1804, British cartographer William Frazer created a facsimile of Fra Mauro’s map from the Museo Correr’s copy. His reproduction was also rendered on vellum and although suppose to be accurate rendition, there are minor differences. Frazer’s copy of the Fra Mauro map is currently on display at the British Library.
Fra Mauro’s World Map (courtesy of Museo Galileo)