Geographical image of the world in the London Psalter Maps from the 13th century

Mirko Grčić

doi:10.5937/zrgfub2169025g

Abstract

The subjects of this paper are two maps from the 13th century Psalter, found in London. These are the Psalter World Map and the Psalter List Map. Both maps are designed in the shape of a circular disk, modeled on medieval mappae mundi T-O type. The first is a pictorial map, the second is descriptive. The primary goal of these maps was not to objectively present geographical reality, but to express biblical symbolism and medieval Christian cosmology and thus serve as a reminder in devotional practice. By their deconstruction, we discover not only the religious Christian view of the world, but also the historical and cultural representations of medieval people projected on a geographical basis. Maps from the London Psalter have so far been viewed more as a "religious document" than as an objective "geographical image" and a "historical document". Therefore, they were rarely used as a historicalgeographical source. The aim of this paper is to deconstruct the text and context of the mentioned two maps and thus interpret their imaginative geography and geographical representations, the meaning of symbols and toponyms, which may be of interest to researchers dealing not only with historical cartography but also with historical and human geography.

Highlights

In the London Psalter, or book of psalms from the 13th century, there are two unusual maps of the Old World on the obverse and reverse of the same paper. They are called the Psalter World Map and the Psalter List Map. Both maps are designed in the shape of a circular disk, modeled on medieval mappae mundi
The real geographical world is placed in the context of the belief in salvation and in the moral framework of the Christian imagination, emphasizing, for example, in the two maps of the world in the London Psalter, that the world is created but protected by God and perhaps even the body of God
Succeeding in combining so many different areas of study on such a small

Summary

Introduction

In the London Psalter, or book of psalms from the 13th century, there are two unusual maps of the Old World on the obverse and reverse of the same paper They are called the Psalter World Map and the Psalter List Map. They are called the Psalter World Map and the Psalter List Map Both maps are designed in the shape of a circular disk, modeled on medieval mappae mundi. This type of map was made mainly by monks in the monasteries of Western Christianity between the 5th and 15th century, called “monastery maps”, “monastic maps” or “radkarte” in German. T-O maps originate from the ancient conception of the Earth’s sphericity and zonal belts - climates (Talbert and Unger, 2008) The prototype of this type of map is the Picture of the World from the “Etymology” of St. Isidore of Seville from 623. Such maps did not have a grid, scale, and conventional legend (Woodward, 1987; Рајт, 1988; Орачев, 2005; Rana, 2008; Burke, 2016)

Objectives

Conclusion