Weltbild und empirie. Die erweiterung des kartographischen weltbilds durch die asienreisen des späten mittelalters

Bibliographic Data

ID11892991
AuthorsIngrid Baumgärtner (0000-0002-6887-5327, a Fachbereich 5, Gesellschaftswissenschaften, Universität Gesamthochschule Kassel, D-34109 Kassel, Germany, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume23
Issue3
Pages227-253
Publication date1997-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Medieval History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0304-4181 • E-ISSN: 1873-1279
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/s0304-4181(97)00006-7
OpenAlexW2070981789
LanguageDE
Citations received2
References cited15

This paper focuses on the multi-stage process through which medieval travel reports (written between the Mongolian invasion in 1240 and the closing of the Chinese border in 1368) influenced the image of Asia in cartography from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. This process—from the traditional world maps to the World Map of Fra Mauro—can be discussed on three levels. (1) It took a long time for the new experiences of the travellers to become part of the more traditional cartography. In both cartography and travellers' reports the world observed in situ, on the one hand, and a fixed representation of the world, on the other, were finally brought together, although inevitably in two different forms. In the course of this process the focus shifted from the representation of a mythical world to a more precise geographical knowledge. (2) This process can be divided into three phases. In the early fourteenth century map-makers began to insert single passages of text into traditional world maps, without changing the outlines. In the second half of the century the cartographic picture was altered, because the portolan charts introduced a new means of adding the extra information. Finally, in the fifteenth century cartographers corrected the picture of Asia on the basis of the earlier travellers' experiences, which played a major role in bringing together the rediscovered Ptolemaic image of the world with its traditional representation. (3) While the more or less personal travellers' reports mirrored the individual experience through the filter of the reporter, the perception of the Other in the cartography developed through another process of selection. The result was a limited selection, in which only a few major authors dominated the scene

Ancient history · Art · Art history · Cartography · Fifteenth · Geography · Humanities · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Historical, Literary, and Cultural Studies · History · Law · Philippine History and Culture

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