This is staggering if true. You don't just sit down and draw a map, you build on previous knowledge. I often wondered about Roman maps and how they perceived the shape of a country on foot or horseback. I thought triangulation was a fairly modern method!
I learned to create maps when I was in the Cub Scouts, using nothing but a pencil, a sighting compass, and a piece of paper. I needed no previous knowledge of the geography or topology of the areas I mapped. I used nothing but my eyes and hands and the tools just mentioned. No prior knowledge of the area required. A minor point? Perhaps, but a true one nonetheless.
Each time a discovery of this significance is made, I'll always wonder what is still to be rediscovered in forgotten/forbidden libraries. Books, music sheets, plays, etchings, maps, manuscripts, etc.
I find the depictions of Hy-Brasil on portolans to be fascinating, because of the consistency in size, shape and location. Examine a map of the seafloor s-w of Ireland. Right where portolans place Hy-Brasil are the Porcupine Banks. The similarities are close. The Porcupines were well above sea-level at the end of the last Ice Age, but not since...as far as we know.
Yeah, Hy-Brazil is an island and its hardly mythical, it just has a lot od.myths about it. It's just been underwater for 11,000 years. But it's there, and the right size and shape.
It could be a product from the sack of Constantinople in the 4th Crusade, which had much stuff from the Byzantine capital moved to Venice. Some of those people would speak Greek, so translating would be no big deal.
Oh hey I've seen this in person! There's an Antiquarian Book Fair in NYC every spring (that has lots of maps and other old stuff too, of course). I went this year and this map was at one of the setups. It was super cool to see.
I frequently saw the oldest map in the world; the Mappa Mundi when I was 10. As I was sent there as a punishment to wait for the choir master to finish playing his organ recital. To be honest listening to his playing and being engrossed in studying the map was hardly what I considered as punishment and time waiting for him to tell me off used to fly by. Oh happy days! Lol
Yep, portolan maps ... been around since the 1100s. Portolans used specific sightline locations being visible from those locations. They could be very accurate.
Ironic that the map describes the Norwegians as being unable to sail, when contemporaneously to this being painted they were already sailing the coast of North America.
This is not only a detective story, but an excellent example of how history undergoes valid change. What was understood about the history of maps and mapmaking was changed by the research of the current owners of the chart in question. Facts hitherto undiscovered about the chart changed what had been done, and when. This is instructive when we live in an age when the reinterpretation of history is being increasingly driven by ideology. Congratulations on an excellent video. “Because that’s history- not what happened, but what people make themselves believe must have happened.” - Alistair Cooke
The statement by Alistair Cooke is very apt. The current reinterpretation of history (which is, or should be, a continuing process at all times and in all places) is attempting to come to terms with the ideologies of the past, because the history we are taught in school in Century A in Country X will no doubt be very different from what will be taught in Century B in Country Y. One very simple example: I was taught to revere Sir Francis Drake as a true English hero - he defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, for example. But the Museum of Valparaiso in Chile describes him as the English pirate who sacked their city an two occasions, attempting to burn it to the ground. To the English, he was (and is) a hero. To the Spanish of the time, he was a bloodthirsty savage. Both views are correct in their own terms. Which means that they are both incorrect as well.
I am surprised the biggest flag in the map is not mentioned -Could it be another "Catalan atlas"? One of the most striking visual elements on this map is the giant "senyera," the emblematic Catalan flag, characterized by its three or four red stripes against a golden backdrop. This flag is prominently displayed over the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, reflecting the historical influence of Catalan seafarers in the Mediterranean. During this period, these islands were pivotal to the expansive maritime trade networks established by Catalonia, marking them as significant areas of Catalan commercial activity and presence.
Not a map guy, but the one thing that pops out at me is not mentioned. What are all the sunbursts of lines that seem to center on nothing of significance? Most of the points are in water, but one is centered on Calabria, the toe of the Italian boot. They almost look like (pardon me for using the term) ley lines. There is almost a grid of the points, like a latitude and longitude grid, but definitely not aligned with N-S or E-W. Any map folk know what they might represent?
If I have it right, the lines represent the 16 compass points (N, NNE, NE, ENE, E, and so on) as aligned with magnetic north for various points in the sea. Therefore, if you're near one of those points, and you want to sail to a particular port, you look at the line heading from that point which passes nearest that port, and that gives you the heading to use. On those charts it isn't practical to put a compass rose like that against every port, so they place a few across the map at places near a bunch of ports, so you can easily head to that location on the map and then choose your desired course. At least, I think that's how it works. Someone with more expertise is welcome to correct me.
@@maxfan1591 Thanks, that makes sense. Magnetic north back then was rather far south in western Canada. The recent rapid increase in movement north and now into the eastern hemisphere is a whole nuther matter.
@@maxfan1591 Professional cartographer here, and yes, prior to the invention and widespread adoption of latitude and longitude, that’s exactly how it worked. 👏👏👏
What a breathtaking chart. Great that its significance has been unearthed again. It looks awfully similar to the 1325 Dalorto chart held in Florence in the Corsini collection where this one came from. It grabbed my attention since my family have a n old facsimile of the 1325 chart which has always fascinated me. Makes me wonder if it was by the same mapmaker.
Mountains (maybe dunes?) The map is not "north up" but rather depends on area which side is to be set "up" and thus they're like "upside down" because the video keeps the modern "north up" convention, which doesn't really apply.
This is how sailors navigated in foreign places where they had no charts. By taking a series of bearings from their boat to various points on the land. As they continued they took revised bearings of old and new points and plotted both the coastal outline and their progress.
How do you rate the Gough Map held at the Bodliean Library, University of Oxford. It is a most extradorinary rendition of the island of Great Britain. more importantly, it shows highways and towns, even in the inland areas. The reputed date is 1360, and was likely based on an even earlier map. In qualitative measures, I would rank it at least as important as the featured map in your video - which was fascianting, by the way!
If the painter of this map had a good knowledge of Ptolemy's work, than he could draw a map as Mercator did, who copied the Ptolemaic cartography. And of course Ptolemy was not the first inventor of his maps. As a Greek from Macedonia, found the most of information in the Alexandrian Library and from the remaining Greek Philosophers living in Egypt. Centuries before him, there was another kind of maps, based on triangles, by the Greeks.
Many ancient Greek maps long before the Greek Ptolemy's reign surely exist in some hidden libraries,not just the Vatican or various Italian cities like Venice.Please let the world know and publish them,the time is ripe.The Chinese should speak up,they know.
@@georgianakopoulou6339 As far as we know, there is not a single map from the ancient Greek times due to some serious reasons, except of course if there is any hidden/uknown in Vatican or else. Hopefully we have the accurate descriptions from the texts of their creators or the references of others about their work.
You must keep in mind that there were giants in that time. There's three ice walls and we've never traveled outside the one; I believe the Earth is at least 80% bigger than we know!
Pardon my ignorance, but can anyone tell me what those points are on the map with the numerous lines radiating from their center? They seem like arbitrary points on the sea and land. What were they used for?
those are the measurements made, and recorded, by the mapmakers. when you look at your compass, or whatever instrument that would be used, you locate landmarks. you then, measure the distance between landmarks, and mark it in degrees, with your protractor (or whatever would be used) on the sheet. keep building, and checking to make sure that all of those intersecting lines are accurate, from various points, as you travel, and you can be sure that your map will keep you from getting lost. why they are red and green, I have no idea. A studied cartographer would have a more concise, and probably simpler way of explaining it to you, but that is the basic idea.
The Saint Marcellus's flood happened on January 16 1362 which destroys many coastlines of Germany and other countries in the north. Rungholt which was one of the biggest trading towns in Northern Germany was lost. Maybe this flood is a good indicator for the age of the map.
Depicted as a king, also signifying mastery of his subject. No person educated and skilled in map making, would confuse the Roman and the Ptolemaic dynasty. This is the Mediterranean. Greek and Roman history is known and literally is part of their DNA.
IF it is genuine, it points, obviously, to an world older than ~1360 by at least a decade or two. I would say, for a first "guess", at a first glance at the map, that it hints at cca 1320-1330. there are clues, a lot of them, for someone who is familiar with Easter European medieval history that point towards this date. Not to mention the rivalries the portolan alludes to. However, the ottoman progress in Europe, pour les connoisseurs, points clearly to a date after 1360. Conclusion: although drawn after the fall of Gallipoli and Adrianople, it describes a Mediterranean world with new and old data, mixing info from 1320 with that of 1360-1390.
Does it mean anything if an inland area has a “generic” red or blue flag? Because it looks like those flags might not necessarily be representing the actual coat of arms of the monarch of that state.
This map is interesting. Obviously drawn off other maps in existence of much older heritage. This presentation is unfortunately lacking in many aspects but I attribute that to its brevity. If you look about there is much more information available on older maps in greater depth.
Research that can only be done by whoever's got the biggest pile of cash seems like a bad idea. And I don't mean covering expenses, just being allowed access to material we already have.
We're finding out now that all myths came from truth! I can't believe we've come this far to find out how well over the years each story is oppiniated differently and they call it progress!
There's a Genoese flag at Constantinople and they still thought it was from around 1500? The Genoese quarter there, along with the rest of the city, were conquered by the Ottomans in 1453!
It is surprises me that people insist in classing Ireland as the British Isles, we are not British and it is a affront given our history to refer to us this way. Otherwise the video is very interesting.
Italians did millions of maps but the fact is that they did not made part of those discoveries. They financed them time to time specially Veneze or Genova
@@davidtydeman1434there was no Italy but there were italians. Matter of fact there was Italia the peninsula since forever just Not as a Unified Country. Like Imagine 50 years from now Eu become a Single Country Like USA doesn’t mean that just because it wasn’t united it didn’t exist before
Clearly this level of mapmaking indicates that worldwide seafaring is not an impossibility and should open new doors for research into even more ancient maps.Thank you.
With respect, not necessarily. There's a big difference between sailing in the Mediterranean Sea and sailing in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Having said that, I certainly have no problem with the idea that West European fishermen may have sighted North America by accident in the decades prior to Columbus sailing to America. Hearing sailors' tales about land across the Atlantic would explain why Columbus was so convinced he could reach Asia by sailing west, even though cartographers at the time had a very good handle on both the size of the Earth and the size of Eurasia.
@@maxfan1591 Let me ask you this one. Let's say you were a sailor/merchant/explorer/ intel agent/// who travelled the seas with a few trusted, adventurous friends buying a shipload of something that is cheap and plentiful in one place, rare and exotic somewhere else, shipping it to the place it is much more valuable, be received as a hero for bringing all that fantastic stuff, traded for every luxury they had, including companionship until you had depleted the vast wealth you quickly accumulated when you landed, having only enough to restock your vessel with what is cheap and abundant there, and having worn out your welcome and lusting for novel conquest, you weigh anchor again. Would you tell everybody else everything you knew or would you only divulge bits and peices when the price was right? Think of what kind of competitive advantage such a chart would have been at the moment the final edit was added to the document. Posessing that chart, at that time could be likened to having the entire archive of GE, Sony or Google today. I have no doubt whatsoever that there were a few people who had seen every inch of shoreline in the new world thousands of years earlier than most people now believe, but they kept their mouths shut, it was a trade secret. There were plenty who clearly understood the world was a sphere and most of them would happily perpetuate the stories of sea monsters and falling of the edge if they thought it might dissuade competition. Olmec Statues and Nasca lines are interesting to think about. Chahokia, El Dorado, Cibola?
I'm always amused by how people ignore all the obvious evidence in favor of their own biased conclusions. And sometimes it worries me for the future of humanity. But mostly it's just smh.
Why, when people seek to explain some document from antiquity, they seem to immediately find fault in some aspect. They do a 'oh I'm sure that's not what they meant', and grant some modern day explaination and rationale for what is depicted? Dang.
Clearly Mercator projection raises a big question on how this map is exactly fitting our own way of looking at the world. And completeness as well supposes all parts have been collected using same exact projection. Good job by the Greeks. Copied then from Much older sources.
@5:42 Christophoro Colón was born in Barcelona, not Genoa. (There is no evidence that he ever spoke Italian, and he never wrote either to his brothers or to his Genoese bankers in Italian-not something a native-Italian speaker would ever do, as anyone who knows an Italian will testify to! [And his Spanish contains mistakes tying him to being a native Catalan speaker, not an Italian speaker, mistakes which would be expected of someone who supposedly left Genoa in his twenties.])
To be fair, the "myth" that the Nile rises from two lakes is only a half myth. Interesting to think the truth was known but the details around it were embellished.
Remember we're comparing this to WHAT WE'VE BEEN TOLD/TAUGHT in "shool"! Who really knows what is a lie and what is accurate. The presumption that the map maker is wrong about who Rex is a bit pompous if you ask me.
