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The Medieval World View: Contemplating the Mappamundi
Author(s) -
Edson Evelyn
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2010.00676.x
Subject(s) - ignorance , sign (mathematics) , space (punctuation) , history , middle ages , geography , epistemology , ancient history , philosophy , linguistics , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Abstract Looking at a medieval mappamundi (or world map ) is a disorienting experience. Oriented to the east, displaying unfamiliar geographical forms and blanketed with images of strange animals and monstrous humans , it does not correspond to our modern concept of a world map. In the late 19 th century scholars of the history of cartography dismissed medieval maps as a sign of ignorance. More recent studies have cast new light on these complex symbolic constructions, and scholars are searching for insights into medieval concepts of time and space , as well as clues to the ways in which knowledge of ancient geography was transmitted to the medieval intellectual world.