"Medieval Map Madness"

We should be so very thankful for the generation we live in! The mere fact that we know what we live on and where we live on it, is a blessing not to be forgotten! I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Mrs. Mitchell’s presentation on medieval maps and I can only say that it’s a miracle we made it this far with our knowledge of our world! Not only that, but it has been made widely known in present day, opposed to the sad fact that geography was NOT general knowledge in the Middle Ages. Another interesting reality discovered in studying medieval maps is the realization of where the people’s devotion and focus lie. This century of thinkers, however full of intellectuals, scholars, and scientists, was also infused with religious factors. Their very ways of travel were permeated with their personal religious beliefs. Consider the T-O maps shown to us in class…they held Jerusalem in the middle and contained the names of the sons of Noah. Not only that, but decorative maps were edged with biblical characters as well as the story of Christ depicted in the map and hung in cathedrals across Europe. Each map created had its own identity simply because they were constantly changing and being updated during this period; not only that, there was no printing press at this time, and therefore all maps were unique in some way. Another cause that played into the various styles was the fact that everyone had different views about the world around them, especially when one exited the settled boundaries where society thrived. Each cartographer believed what he wanted and thus expressed it on his personal map. One only had the choice of who they wanted to believe, and of course, most followed the crowd, accepting the most popular maps for traveling, etc. I have provided pictures of different types and genres of maps created during this period of time just to show their variation. One thought to keep in mind: “Aren’t you glad we don’t have to carry these around in our cars with us?! Aren’t you glad we’ve moved on?!”