1 of 15

Catalan Atlas 1375

2 of 15

Maps:

The Catalan Atlas

3 of 15

4 of 15

WHERE’S

MARCO?

Can you find Marco Polo on this map?

Cathay/china

More Biblical figures appear on this map. The Queen of Sheba and The Adoration of Christ is depicted in the upper right grouping of figures.

The map of Southeast Asia and China includes all that was then known of Asia, including descriptions of customs and economic resources, notably from Marco Polo and Sir John de Mandeville's accounts of their travels. For the first time in medieval cartography this continent has a recognizable form and many Indian and Chinese cities, including Beijing, are present. In the interior, the main divisions of the Mongol Empire are drawn. The Bibliotheque Nationale's web site calls this "perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Catalan Atlas : to the east of the well-defined Mediterranean world lie immense regions whose economic importance is clearly understood, but which remain mysterious and unexplored." The mysteriousness no doubt gave rise to the fantastic stories illustrated alongside peoples include Pygmies battling storks in the mountains of Asia at the center of the map, a story refuted by Marco Polo. Another legend concerns dozens of islands drawn along the Chinese coastline which are described as being inhabited by naked savages who eat raw fish. In the Indian Ocean, the map reports the existence of an island tribe of giants, "who eat white men and strangers, if they can catch them" and mermaids are depicted in the waters. Over a century later, the Age of Exploration would begin with Christopher Columbus' attempt to reach these lands by sea.

Actual personages such as Kublai Khan are mixed in with some mythical peoples. In the upper left corner is a funeral procession for the cremation of an old man. To the procession's right is Alexander the Great, and to the right of that is a scene of the Adoration of Christ the King.

References:

"BN-OPALINE." 12 June 2005. Bibliothèque Nationale de France Cartes et Plans. (19 January 2006).

"Ciel & Terre: L'atlas Catalan." from "The Age of King Charles V." Bibliothèque Nationale de France. http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/texte/atx2_07.htm (18 January 2006).

Davis, Henry. "Slide #235: The Catalan Atlas." Index of Cartographic Images

Grojean, Georges Ed. Mapamundi, the Catalan atlas of the year 1375. Abaris Books, 1978.

Illustrating Maps of the Late Medieval Period: 1300 - 1500 A.D. 18 February 1998. http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/235mono.html (18 January 2006).

5 of 15

6 of 15

Why is this boat (and the whole top of the map) upside-down?

7 of 15

What do you think this part of the map is showing?

Cathay/china

Another legend concerns dozens of islands drawn along the Chinese coastline which are described as being inhabited by naked savages who eat raw fish. In the Indian Ocean, the map reports the existence of an island tribe of giants, "who eat white men and strangers, if they can catch them" and mermaids are depicted in the waters. Over a century later, the Age of Exploration would begin with Christopher Columbus' attempt to reach these lands by sea.

To the south of China lie 7,548 islands, Cresques tells us, though Marco Polo counted 100 less. Marco Polo had scored 7459. On November 14, 1492, Columbus said "these islands are those unnumbered that are located in the Eastern limits of the world map" and when he found the island of Cuba said: "I found it so large, I thought it could be the dry land in the province of Cathay. “

“On this island are people who are very different from the rest of mankind. In some of the mountain ranges. . . are people of great size, as much as 12 ells, like giants, with very dark skins and without intelligence. They eat white men and strangers, if they can catch them.”

Further south is the island of Trapobana already found on maps attributed to Ptolemy. For Pliny and classical authors it was evidently Ceylon, but it was later associated with Sumatra, as it is here, described as "the last island towards the east" and is called by the Tartars Great Caulij. Altogether, as mentioned above, we are told there are 7,548 islands in the Indian Ocean; they are rich in gold, silver, spices, and precious stones, so much so that“great ships of many different nations”

8 of 15

What do you think this part of the map is showing?

“Here are born men who are so small that they do not grow to above five spans in height, and although they are so short and incapable of hard work, they are strong enough and in a position to weave and herd cattle. And know that these people marry at the age of about 12 years and generally live to be 40 years old. But they are happy and defend themselves valiantly against the cranes, which they hunt and eat.”

9 of 15

What do you think this part of the map is showing?

10 of 15

What do you think the different flags mean?

11 of 15

These two images are related, what do you think they are?

12 of 15

This shows one of today’s largest cities. Do you know what it is?

<<This town [Beijing] has an extent of 24 miles, is surrounded by a very thick outer wall and has a square ground plan. Each side has a length of six miles, the wall is 20 paces high and lo paces thick, has 12 gateways and a large tower, in which hangs a great bell, which rings at the hour of first sleep or earlier. When it has finished ringing, no one may pass through the town, and at each gate a thousand men are on guard, not out of fear but in honor of the sovereign.>>

“The most powerful prince of all the Tartars is named Holubeim [i. e., Kublai Khan], which means Chief Khan. The emperor is far wealthier than any other monarch in the whole world. This emperor is guarded by 12,000 horsemen." The Catalan Atlas contains the names of various towns placed apparently at random, some of them mentioned twice; this reflects the fact that the map was evidently composed with the help of various sources.

13 of 15

What do you think this part of the map is showing?

14 of 15

What do you think this part of the map is showing?

“As they cannot get between the mountains where the diamonds are, they ingeniously throw lumps of meat to the place where the stones are lying, and the stones adhere to the meat and come away from their original site: then the diamonds that are attached to the pieces of meat are carried away by the birds and thus obtained by the men.” Alexander the Great, we are told, was already familiar with this method: it is illustrated on the map by two men cutting off pieces of meat and a bird flying over the mountains of Baldasia [Badakhstan], from which flows the stream that marks the eastern border of India (finis indie). Abraham Cresques has shown snakes in the crevices of the rock: Marco Polo, after all, tells us that the diamonds are found in deep valleys with “so many serpents" that "he who should go down there would be devoured immediately.”

15 of 15

What do you think this part of the map is showing?