European Cartography Research Articles

Қазақ даласы мен Орта Азияның еуропалық карталары

The article is devoted to the study of the information about the Kazakh steppe and Central Asia, given on European maps, and consists of an introduction and three parts, each accompanied by cartographic visual material and tables. The first part thoroughly examines the various names of the Kazakh Khanate and the countries of Central Asia from the middle of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century. Examples of the use of such names as Kosaky Orda, Cassakia, Kasaky Tartar, KirgisKaisak, Kalmuk, Nogay, Naiman and others are analyzed in detail. The second part of the article considers various terms denoting the Kazakh Khanate and the countries of Central Asia on the maps by Anthony Jenkinson (1529–1611). While making his map, he used not only his own observations, but also the maps of his predecessors. On his map, he showed the borders of the Kazakh Khanate as an independent state and highlighted its territory with color. Lake Kitay (Kitaia Lacus) on his map is, apparently, Lake Teletskoye. The article identifies all the seven rulers depicted on the Asian part of the map. The third part of the article considers the Kazakh Khanate and the cities of Central Asia on the world map of Matteo Ricci (1602), where the Kazakhs are designated as Ge’ermo (=Ge’erheishi = Kirgessi). The influence of European cartography on Ricci’s map is demonstrated, and the sinicized names of Astrakhan, Turkestan, Chagatai, Nogai, Volga, etc. are given. Ricci mainly used the names and toponyms from Ptolemy, but in a distorted or sinicized form, and changed them in accordance with new materials.

Getting the Message of Abraham Ortelius’ Heart-Shaped Map and Atlas

In 1564, the celebrated Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius published his first cartographic work: a world map in the shape of a heart. This map manifests a spiritual call toward world unity heavily influenced by the heterodox sect known as the Family of Love. Six years later, Ortelius published the first edition of his groundbreaking magnum opus, an atlas entitled Theatrum orbis terrarum. With this later work, the unorthodox message of his cordiform map was not erased but transmuted into the form of an atlas. Abraham Ortelius’ example demonstrates how the ways in which knowledge circulated within humanist networks ensured that spiritual concerns, particularly unorthodox ones, continued to influence European cartography long after the rediscovery and translation of Ptolemy in the early fifteenth century.

Safevi İmparatorluğu Tarihinin Bir Kaynağı Olarak Anthony Jenkinson’un Orijinal Haritası

This article examines the map called “Nova absolutaque Russiae, Moscoviae, et Tartariae descriptio” published in London in 1562 the author of which was a famous trader, diplomat and Queen Elizabeth I Tudor̓s official ambassador to the Safavid Empire Anthony Jenkinson. Although the original version of the map was found in 1987 and since that time a number of works concerning Anglo-Safavid relations was published, so far this map has not been the object of special study as the source of the Safavid Empire and particularly Anglo-Safavid relations in both domestic and western historiography. An attempt is being taken for the first time to study Jenkinsonʼs map as an historical source on the Safavid Empire. Jenkinson’s map is unique in that it is not only the most ancient and first visual representation of the Safavid Empire in English sources, but it also influenced the further development of the European cartography and became an integral part of the first modern geographical atlas in the world “Theatrum Orbis Terranum” by Abraham Ortelius (1570) and Gerardus Mercatorʼs world map (1572). The map is of exceptional value and importance for the history of cartography of Russia, Azerbaijan, England and the countries of Central Asia. Special attention was paid to the map’s issues of dating and authorship. Detailed analysis of the mapʼs southern segment revealed that this map may serve as the valuable source of military, historical, geopolitical, geographical, toponymical, religious, ethnographical and partly economical history of the Safavid Empire, as well as on the history of Anglo-Safavid relations.

The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East

The Invention of the Maghreb: Between Africa and the Middle East

Courtier and Seeing-Man: Differences in Europeans’ Roles in East Asian and Central American Societies as Reflected through Maps

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the maps of East Asia and Central America drawn by Europeans between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and illustrates the distinctions in the roles of Europeans in these two civilizations through the investigation of cartographic differences. In the initial stage of Europeans’ entry into East Asia and Central America, the local maps have both the characteristics and techniques of the outsiders and the insiders, reflecting the distinct scene of the encounter of civilizations. In the process of localization, the map system of East Asia deconstructed European cartography, the original purpose of early Europeans entering China was digested by Chinese society, and their role changed from missionary to royal courtier. European cartography deconstructed and colonized the traditional cartography of Central America, which corresponds to the history that Europeans gradually became the rulers of indigenous people in real life.

North in the head: spatial reference frame and map orientation

North in the head: spatial reference frame and map orientation

Maritime predation between the lines: charting the insular Caribbean in the sixteenth century

ABSTRACT European sixteenth-century cartography, narrative descriptions of the islands, and Spanish navigational manuals provide a framework to understand the Caribbean region as a geopolitical stronghold of European rivalries and antagonistic propaganda for European imperial and pre-imperial powers. The first part of the essay focuses on Spanish Peninsular cosmographers and sailors – such as Alonso de Santa Cruz, Juan López de Velasco, Juan Escalante de Mendoza, and Baltasar Vellerino de Villalobos – to reexamine how the notions of maritime predation in the Americas influenced their depictions of the islands and, by extension, that of the Indies. The second part of the essay centers on the works of non-Spanish Peninsular cartographical representations of the Caribbean zone – such as those of Giovanni Battista Boazio and Gerardus Mercator – to reassess the role of maritime predation in contemporary depictions and identify contra cartographies that disputed the Spanish Crown’s territorial order and projected areas for potential economic profit.

Nanban World Map Screens

The following paper investigates the ways in which European cartography blended with Japanese Buddhist cosmology and created a hybrid form of maps during the period of Japan’s first cultural encounter with Europeans in the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th century. The maps of Dutch cartographers heavily influenced these so-called nanban world-map screens created by Japanese artists. Nevertheless, their companion screens often depicted a local map of Japan in the gyoki tradition deeply embedded in the Buddhist faith system. With a focus on a seventeenth-century pair of folding screens, called the Nanban-Bunka-kan, the study argues, on the one hand, that Japanese artists used the European world map model to reinvent Japan’s global significance, which had been diminished by Buddhist cosmology. On the other hand, the companion screens express Japan’s desire to retain its traditions within the Buddhist realm, and they also emphasize its rejection of any possible foreign colonization. The placement of these seemingly two contrasting world views side-by-side supported the nationalistic ideals of Japanese war lords, who exploited these hybrid maps to validate their unification goals of the archipelago and conquests of foreign lands based on Japan’s newly acquired significance.

Cartographic image of Serbia and other neighboring countries on the Balkan Peninsula on the maps of Martin Waldseemüller from early 16th century

Martin Waldseemüller has a special place in the history of European cartography and geography, due to the original cartographic works that influenced the expansion of the geographical horizons of Europeans in the 16th century. In the introductory section, the author gives an overview of his most important works, which still attract the attention of researchers in the field of historical geography, historical cartography, toponomastics and related scientific disciplines. Author then analyzes the text and context of Waldzemiler's maps. The aim of this work is to shed new light on geographical knowledge of the Balkan Peninsula and Serbian countries in the age of Humanism and the Renaissance, based on an analysis of Martin Waldseemüller's geographic maps from the early 16th century. Special attention is paid to the contents of the map Tabula moderna Bossine, Servie, Gretiae et Sclavonie, from 1507.

Monograph 55: Cartography between Imperial Politics and National Movements: Nineteenth-Century Mapping of Croatia

The huge geopolitical changes that took place during the nineteenth century had a crucial impact on East-Central European cartography. The Croatian example is perhaps one of the most specific ones. Divided between the imperial interests of France, Britain, Italy, Hungary, and the Austrian Empire, nineteenth-century mapping of Croatia went through a long journey, from imperial mapping in the first half of the nineteenth century to the development of national cartography in the second half of the nineteenth century. The purpose of this research is to present how cartography worked under the turbulent conditions of constant geopolitical changes and local national movements.

The Map of Tlacotalpa by Francisco Gali, 1580: An Early Example of a Local Coastal Chart in Spanish America

ABSTRACTIn the last third of the sixteenth century, the Spanish Crown launched a project to create a map of the New World. Regional maps would be obtained, which, referenced through a system of meridians and parallel arcs, would comprise a complete map of the continent. The mechanism devised for this purpose was that of surveys, known as the Relaciones Geográficas (Geographic Relations). Each town would be sent a questionnaire with more than 50 questions that should also be completed with a map of the region. The majority of these maps, known as pinturas, lacked field measurements, and therefore also lacked both scale and geographical coordinates. Only a few cases were created following the standards of European cartography. Among these are the maps made by Francisco Gali. In this paper, we study the map of Tlacotalpa, one of the first examples of local nautical charting in Latin America.

Curricularer Anspruch und unterrichtliche Wirklichkeit: Die Verortung lateinischer Texte des Mittelalters in Lehrplänen und Lehrwerken sowie Möglichkeiten im Schulunterricht

AbstractThe following article examines the position of medieval Latin literature within German school curricula and school books. It stresses the importance of reading and studying medieval Latin texts as a way to a more complete as well as interdisciplinary school and university education. In this respect, two possible topics for school lessons are discussed: first, medieval Latin letters as an example of continuity and reception of a literary genre; second, the comparative analysis of medieval European cartography and corresponding texts as an interdisciplinary approach to the study of medieval worldviews.

The Sixteenth-Century Muhit Atlası: From a Venetian Globe to an Ottoman Atlas?

ABSTRACTA virtually unknown Ottoman manuscript atlas provides new indications about the flow of cartographical and geographical information between Italy and the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the sixteenth century. Internal evidence suggests that the prototype of the Muhit Atlası was a Venetian set of globe gores, in some way associated with Giacomo Gastaldi’s world map of 1561. This globe appears to have been lost, but the atlas enables a reconstruction of its main features. At the same time, the maps in the Muhit Atlası offer an insight into the reception and re-elaboration of European cartography in the Ottoman Empire.

The Matteo Ricci 1602 Chinese World Map: the Ptolemaean echoes

ABSTRACTThe World Map in Chinese, by Matteo Ricci (1602 version) is of great importance for both the Chinese and the European cartographic heritage – not only for its cartographic contexts but also as an example of the cultural impact a map could have in the interaction of the European cartography with other civilisations. In this paper, the multichannel echoing of Ptolemaean cartography in the Ricci’s map is underlined with respect to fundamental map-elements. The Ptolemy’s echoing in Ricci’s map and the meta-Ptolemy advances in the ‘Euro-Mediterranean’ school of cartography embrace the Ricci Chinese map in its legacy. The established belief on the influence of the ‘Euro-Atlantic’ counterpart on Ricci’s map seems a rather weak standpoint.

Fantastic histories: The Battles of Coxinga and the preservation of Ming in Japan

People in Japan reacted to the bewilderment they felt at the fall of Ming by creating a bifurcated view of China, evident in encyclopedias and gazeteers: On the one hand, there was the traditional China represented by the Ming; on the other, there was the new China ruled by the Dattan or the Tatars. Such was the power of the Ming as an image that it endured in Japanese literature and theater for centuries after its fall. This article explores the preservation in popular discourse of the Ming as the most natural representation of China, focusing on Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s hit jōruri play The Battles of Coxinga (Kokusen’ya kassen), first staged in 1715 and produced many times after that, showing how the political turmoil was filtered through both misunderstandings and creative fabrications. It shows that The Battles of Coxinga creates a fantastic image of China, as opposed to the barbaric Dattan, by drawing on historical memories internal to Japan and readily available images of foreignness. I argue that the preservation of the Ming in popular theater offered audiences a means of rethinking Japan’s position as the inheritor of a “universal” Chinese essence in an age when knowledge of the world was being dramatically expanded by imported European cartography, complicating earlier views of a world centered on the Three Realms or the Sinocentric world order.

Dutch Printer and Publisher Joan Blaeu II (1650–1712) Identified as the Subject of a Portrait by Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705)

The most famous seventeenth-century European printing, publishing, and cartography firm was that of the Blaeu family of Amsterdam. Founded c. 1599 by Willem Jansz Blaeu (1571–1638), it was continued through three generations by his son, Joan Blaeu I (1596–1673), and his grandsons, including Joan Blaeu II (1650–1712). Joan Blaeu II, along with his brother Peter (1637–1706), led the firm after the dual disasters of a fire that destroyed the printing plant in 1672, and the death of their father in 1673. The family gradually liquidated inventory, finally selling the printing shop in 1678. Joan II later would hold a number of civic positions. Although images of Willem Jansz. Blaeu and his son Joan Blaeu I are known, no depictions of Joan Blaeu II have been identified. The Amsterdam portraitist Michiel van Musscher (1645–1705) had painted a number of members of the Blaeu family including posthumous portraits of Joan I and his wife, Gertrude Vermeulen. This report presents evidence that a Van Musscher portrait of a previously unknown gentleman now can be identified by the artistic imagery included in the painting as a portrait of Joan Blaeu II. This imagery reflects his work as a printer, his civic position, and his connection to the Blaeu firm through its printer’s mark. This mark, used for the duration of the firm, was a distinctive design adopted by Willem Jansz. Blaeu c. 1622, and it pays homage to his scientific mentor and astronomical genius of the day, Tyco Brahe (1546–1601).

The Symbolic Possession of the World: European Cartography in Mughal Allegory and History Painting

Abstract From their earliest contacts with Europeans, the Mughals sought to obtain maps, atlases, and globes. They were, however, concerned with cartography less as a scientific tool than as a means to convey messages of status and power. Both cartographically correct and cartographically manipulated globes feature prominently in the allegories of Emperor Jahāngīr. Emperor Shāh Jahān added another dimension: European cartographical devices were introduced into history painting, to structure the imperial landscape and to document the emperor’s conquests.

A Study on the Changes in Shape Types and Geographical Perception of the Korea Peninsula on the European Cartography

A Study on the Changes in Shape Types and Geographical Perception of the Korea Peninsula on the European Cartography

Vingboons, Trasmonte and Boot: European Cartography of Mexican Cities in the Early Seventeenth Century

Johannes Vingboons's much‐copied watercolours (c.1650s) of Mexico City, Acapulco and Veracruz, based on drawings by Juan Gómez de Trasmonte and Adrián (Adriaan) Boot made in New Spain before 1628, are considered accurate depictions of these cities in the early seventeenth century. No one has found the originals, however, nor has the route by which they reached the Netherlands at a time when the Spanish and the Dutch were at war been satisfactorily explained. We re‐examine these early European representations of New World cities and consider their sources, purpose and historical context. Our arguments are based on a fresh analysis of the topographical content of the watercolours themselves and of the secondary sources, and we take into consideration new historical evidence about Trasmonte, Boot and Vingboons as well as the cities depicted. We also describe a hitherto unknown set of the Vingboons manuscripts depicting the three Mexican cities.

Anthony Jenkinson’s unique wall map of Russia (1562) and its influence on European cartography

This paper deals with the only extant copy of the newly found map of Russia of 1562 purchased for the Wroclaw University Library cartographic collection and covering the eastern end of Europe. The map under consideration is the result of first travels of Englishmen searching for the route to China in the 16th century. The original Jenkinson map rediscovered in 1987 was exhibited for the first time in a poster session of the 13th International Conference on the History of Cartography in Amsterdam in 1989. The map in question portrays the area from the Gulf of Finland to the region of Tashkent and Bukhara. Rediscovery of Jenkinson’s original makes it possible to verify the fidelity of the Ortelius rendition only, not De Jode’s which is also considered. It allows us to exclude speculations entertained by scholars to whom the only renditions were known before this event.Several papers already published by the present and other authors have been written so far considering the subject from different points of view. In the later part of the paper, the present author proposes to analyze the influence of the rediscovered map on later cartography, i.e. whether Jenkinson’s map influenced the image portrayed by the post-Jenkinson cartographers of the 16th, 17th and 18thcenturies.