Week 2: Ancient and Medieval Worlds, Readings: Glacken and Scafi Flashcards
When was the Ancient period of mapping?
Ancient - 600BC-150AD
When was the Medieval period of mapping?
Medieval - 1000-1400
What are two ways of looking at maps in ancient and medieval times?
Through the kosmos and Christ.
How do you view maps through the kosmos?
Understanding the world through a series of laws and nature.
How do you view maps through Christ?
Understanding the world through Christianity.
What does ecumene mean?
In Greek thought, it refers to the ‘The inhabited world’. Outside of the ecumene lie uncharted regions.
What is the Apollonian Gaze?
A Greek viewpoint that’s emphasis is multiple reflecting ideal political, economic, environmental and social systems.
What is Greek mapping (kosmos) characterised by?
- geocentric (society as central, and any ‘other’ at a distance)
- placed emphasis on divinity.
What was Aristotle’s perspective on cosmology and the Earth?
- Aristotle posited that the Earth is distinct from the heavens. Proposed the Earth is spherical, reflective of a divine being. He observed stars take circular paths.
How can mappaemundi be interpreted?
- an indicator of medieval mindsight (based in cosmological, beliefs, geographical knowledge and cultural biases)
- Rich in religious symbolism and allegorieS
How did the Church adopt Aristotle thoughts?
The Church adopted Aristotle’s idea, understanding that souls travel to God, who is far away.
What does the term mappaemundi refer to?
A ‘cloth of the world’, written by monks and scholars to help interpret the psalms of the Bible.
How did the renaissance contribute to images of the earth?
The renaissance was a rediscovery of Greek scientific ideas. Rooted in scholars like Copernicus, it rejected Aristotle’s geocentric view. Instead favoured heliocentric models (around the sun).
When was the rennaisance?
1450-1550.
What was the print revolution, and how did it impact renaissance mapping projects?
The print revolution around 1450 marked a revolution in paper technology. It enabled the distribution of texts for people to critique and analyse.
What contributions were made to mapping during the renaissance?
- Chris Columbus recognised flaws in Greek models, challenging the idea of infinite space and a geocentric cosmos.
- The Church supressed views that contradicted the geocentric model.
- Galileo confirmed the existence of orbits, looking at Jupiter and sunspots
Who disseminated accounts of the new renaissance world? and what did they do?
Mercator, Ortelius. A domestication of the apollonian dream - looking down at the Earth’s surface, understanding it through coordinates and numbers, categorising places. They also initiated many of the early gendered and sexualised views of the earth through imagery, and iconography (e.g., front cover of Ortelius’ Atlas)
What does Glacken (1967) argue?
Glacken argues that historical perceptions of the natural environment have deeply influenced Western thought, from ancient Greek notions of a harmonious Kosmos, to medieval Christian theology.
What does Alessandro Scafi (1999) argue, and what thought does it connect to?
Scafi argues that medieval maps depicting Paradise were not mere geographical representations, but were intertwined with theological beliefs and the understanding of the world at the time. It connects to renaissance era critique of medieval maps, who initiated a shift in marking maps with paradise to those defined by Euclidean geometry.
