The Mapmakers' Quest Depicting New Worlds in Renaissance Europe

by Buisseret, David

• ISBN13: 9780192100535
• ISBN10: 019210053X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In 1400 Europe was behind large parts of the world in its understanding ofthe use of maps. For instance, the people of China and of Japan wereconsiderably more advanced in this respect. And yet, by 1600 the Europeans hadcome to use maps for a huge variety of tasks, and were far ahead of the rest ofthe world in their appreciation of the power and use of cartography. TheMapmakers' Quest seeks to understand this development - not only to tease outthe strands of thought and practice which led to the use of maps, but also toassess the ways in which such use affected European societies and economies.Taking as a starting point the question of why there were so few maps in Europein 1400 and so many by 1650, the book explores the reasons for this and itsimplications for European history. It examines, inter al, how mapping andmilitary technology advanced in tandem, how modern states' territories weremapped and borders drawn up, the role of maps in shaping the urban environment,and cartography's links to the new sciences.

Author Biography

David Buisseret is Garrett Professor of History at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	p. XVII
List of Figures	p. XVIII
Introduction: Mapping during the Middle Ages	p. 1
The influence of ancient Greece and Rome	p. 10
The painterly origins of some European mapping, 1420-1650	p. 29
Cartography among the ruling European elites, 1450-1650	p. 49
Mapping in the expansion of Europe, 1400-1700	p. 71
The maps drawn during the Military Revolution, 1500-1800	p. 113
Mapping countryside and town in the new economies, 1570-1800	p. 152
Conclusion: The accelerating use of maps	p. 176
Notes	p. 189
Bibliography	p. 201
Index	p. 217
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