The Corbitis Atlas (sometimes called the Corbizzi or Combitis) is a late 14th-century atlas of four

portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portulano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and whi ...

s, composed by an anonymous

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

cartographer, and currently held by the

Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark ( it, italic=no, Biblioteca Marciana, but in historical documents commonly referred to as ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositorie ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, Italy.

Background

The atlas was made by an anonymous

cartographer, possibly by the same author of the

Pinelli–Walckenaer Atlas The Pinelli–Walckenaer Atlas is a late 14th-century atlas of portolan charts, explicitly dated 1384, primarily composed by an anonymous Republic of Venice, Venetian cartographer, and held by the British Library. Background image:Pinelli-Walcken ...

. The Corbitis atlas was once believed to be dated 1368 (on account of a misreading of the label ''y(sole) 368'' on the fifth folio). More recent readings suggest it was made between 1384 and 1410, with possible later emendations. The map has the simple inscription "''hec tabula ex testamento d mij nicholaj de co itis deuenit monast ri cart usianoflore tino'",Atlante Corbizzi presentation, at GeoWeb, Biblioteca Marciana, Venic
online
/ref> implying the Corbitis atlas must have belonged to a certain Corbizzi family of Florence in the 14th century, and was held by the monastery of

Certosa del Galluzzo Certosa is an Italian word meaning Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse. It may refer to: * Certosa di Bologna, a former monastery which was turned into a monumental cemetery * Certosa di Farneta, near Lucca in Tuscany * Certosa di Ferrara * Ce ...

. The inscription was previously misread as "Combitis", a name by which the atlas is sometimes referred to in older sources. The Corbitis Atlas is currently held (Ms. It. VI 213) by the

, Italy.

Features

The Corbitis atlas is composed of four

s, each measuring 31 × 19 cm, with each chart covering two folios: * P. 1 – covers the east Mediterranean and Black Sea. * P. 2 – covers the central Mediterranean * P. 3 – covers the west Mediterranean and the north Atlantic coast up to the British isles. * P. 4 – covers the south Atlantic islands and west African coast. The third sheet (North Atlantic) includes the mythical islands of ''y.fortunate'', ''y beate'', ''y.368'' and the ''montagna de sco brandan'' (

Saint Brendan's Island Saint Brendan's Island, also known as Saint Brendan's Isle, is a phantom island or mythical island, supposedly situated in the North Atlantic somewhere west of Northern Africa. It is named after Saint Brendan of Clonfert. He and his followers ar ...

). The fourth sheet (South Atlantic) covers the west African coast down to (

Cape Bojador Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...

) and several

Atlantic islands This is a list of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the largest of which is Greenland. Note that the definition of the ocean used by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) excludes the seas, gulfs, bays, etc., bordering the ocean itself. ...

, using the same labels found already in earlier charts (e.g. the 1351

Medici Atlas The Medici-Laurentian Atlas, also known simply as the Medici Atlas (and other variants, e.g. "Laurenziano Gaddiano", "Laurentian Portolano", "Atlante Mediceo" or "Laurentian Atlas"), is an anonymous 14th-century set of maps, probably composed by a ...

, the 1367

Pizzigani brothers Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano, known as the Pizzigani brothers, were 14th-century Venetian cartographers. Their surname is sometimes given as Pizigano (only one 'z') in older sources. 1367 Chart ] The Pizzigani brothers are principally kno ...

chart, etc.). As laid out in the Corbitis atlas, the islands are: * the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, laid out vertically from north to south, and named: ( Corvo), ''liconigi'' (

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

), ''sco zorzi'' ( São Jorge), ''y la uentura'' ( Faial), ''li colonbi'' (

Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribei ...

), ''y de brazil'' (

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately . It is the location ...

), ''caprara'' ( São Miguel) and ( Santa Maria). * the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

archipelago, with the names ''y de legname'' (

), ''porto santo'' (

Porto Santo Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and Africa. The muni ...

), ''desertas'' (

Desertas The Desertas Islands ( pt, Ilhas Desertas, , "Deserted Islands") are a small archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the larger Portuguese Madeira Archipelago. The archipelago is located off the coast of Morocco. Deserta Grande Island is loca ...

) and further south, (

Savage Islands The Savage Islands or Selvagens Islands ( pt, Ilhas Selvagens ; also known as the Salvage Islands) are a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Madeira, and north of the Canary Islands.

). * the

Canary islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, only the central and eastern clusters are depicted, and include ''y de rinferno'' (

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

), ''y de canaria'' (

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

), ''y de uegi marini'' (

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...

), ''forte uentura'' (

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

), ''Grazioxa'' (

Graciosa Graciosa Island () (literally "graceful" or "enchanting" in Portuguese) is referred to as the ''White Island'', the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores. The ovular Portuguese island has an area of , a length of and a width ...

) and ''y de lanzaroto maloxeli'' (

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

). Image:Corbitis Atlas (p.1).jpg, Corbitis Atlas, p. 1 (East Mediterranean and Black Sea) Image:Corbitis Atlas (p. 2).jpg, Corbitis Atlas, p. 2 (Central Mediterranean) Image:Corbitis Atlas (p.3).jpg, Corbitis Atlas, p. 3 (West Mediterranean and north Atlantic) Image:Corbitis Atlas (p.4).jpg, Corbitis Atlas, p. 4 (South Atlantic and islands)

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* "l'atlante Corbitis"
note
an
exhibition
at GeoWeb, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana of Venice. * Campbell, T. (2011) "Anonymous works and the question of their attribution to individual chartmakers or to their supposed workshops",

accessed July 14, 2011) Atlases Historic maps of Europe