Maps of Medievals Thought

by Kline, Naomi Reed

• ISBN13: 9780851159379
• ISBN10: 0851159370
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-25
• Publisher: Boydell Pr

Summary

Filled with information and lore, mappae mundi present an encyclopaedic panorama of the conceptual 'landscape' of the middle ages. Previously objects of study for cartographers and geographers, the value of medieval maps to scholars in other fields is now recognised and this book, written from an art historical perspective, illuminates the medieval view of the world represented in a group of maps of c.1300. Naomi Kline's detailed examination of the literary, visual, oral and textual evidence of the Hereford mappa mundi and others like it, such as the Psalter Maps, the 'Sawley Map', and the Ebstorf Map, places them within the larger context of medieval art and intellectual history.The mappa mundi in Hereford cathedral is at the heart of this study: it has more than one thousand texts and images of geographical subjects, monuments, animals, plants, peoples, biblical sites and incidents, legendary material, historical information and much more; distinctions between 'real' and 'fantastic' are fluid; time and space are telescoped, presenting past, present, and future. Naomi Kline provides, for the first time, a full and detailed analysis of the images and texts of the Hereford map which, thus deciphered, allow comparison with related mappae mundi as well as with other texts and images.Contents: I. Hereford map as conceptual device: Cosmological wheel, Frame as time, Medieval audience II. Hereford map and worlds: Animals, Strange and monstrous races, Bible and crusades, Alexander III. Cartographic context.NAOMI REED KLINE is Professor of Art History at Plymouth State College.

Author Biography

Naomi Reed Kline is Professor of Art History at Plymouth State College

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vi
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
Part I The Circle as a Conceptual Device
The Cosmological Wheel	7	(42)
Part II The Hereford Map as a Conceptual Device
The Frame as Time	49	(36)
The Medieval Audience	85	(8)
Part III The Hereford Map and its Worlds
The World of Animals	93	(48)
The World of Strange and Monstrous Races	141	(24)
The World of Alexander	165	(26)
The World of the Bible and the Crusades	191	(28)
Part IV The Hereford Map in Cartographic Context
A Comparison of Frameworks	219	(22)
Conclusion	241	(2)
Bibliography	243	(14)
Index	257