"Majorcan cartographic school" is the term coined by historians to refer to the collection of predominantly

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

cosmographer The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-scal ...

s and

navigational instrument Navigational instruments are instruments used by nautical navigators and pilots as tools of their trade. The purpose of navigation is to ascertain the present position and to determine the speed, direction, etc. to arrive at the port or point of d ...

-makers and some

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

associates that flourished in

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries until the expulsion of the Jews. The label is usually inclusive of those who worked in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. The Majorcan school is frequently contrasted with the contemporary

Italian cartography school Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Origins

The island of

, the largest of the

Balearic islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, had a long history of seafaring. Muslim and Jewish merchants participated in extensive trade across the Mediterranean Sea with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, and in the 14th century their commerce entered into the Atlantic, reaching as far as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. Ruled as an independent Muslim kingdom through much of the Early Middle Ages, Majorca only came under Christian rule in 1231, albeit retaining its independence as the

Kingdom of Majorca The Kingdom of Majorca ( ca, Regne de Mallorca, ; es, Reino de Mallorca; la, Regnum Maioricae; french: Royaume de Majorque) was a realm on the east coast of Spain, which included certain Mediterranean islands, and which was founded by James I o ...

until 1344, when it was permanently annexed to the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

. This coincided with a period of Aragonese expansionism across the Mediterranean to

Sardinia and Corsica The Province of Sardinia and Corsica ( la, Provincia Sardinia et Corsica) was an ancient Roman province including the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. Pre-Roman times The Nuragic civilization flourished in Sardinia from 1800 to 500 BC. The a ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and Greece (

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Neopatria The Duchy of Neopatras ( ca, Ducat de Neopàtria; scn, Ducatu di Neopatria; gr, Δουκάτο Νέων Πατρών; la, Ducatus Neopatriae) was a principality in southern Thessaly, established in 1319. Officially part of the Kingdom of Sici ...

), in which Majorcan nautical, cartographic and mercantile expertise was often called upon. Majorcan merchants and seafarers spearheaded the attempt by the Aragonese crown to seize the newly discovered

Canary Island 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 Morocco ...

s in the Atlantic from the 1340s to the 1360s. Majorcan cosmographers and cartographers experimented and developed their own cartographic techniques. According to some scholars (e.g. Nordenskiold), the Majorcans were responsible for the invention (c. 1300) of the "normal

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 ...

". The portolan was a realistic, detailed nautical chart, gridded by a

rhumbline network A rhumbline network, more properly called, a windrose network, or sometimes also called harbour-finding chart, compass chart, or rhumb chart, is a navigational aid drawn on early portolan charts dating from the medieval to early modern perio ...

with

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

lines that could be used to deduce exact sailing directions between any two points. Portolan charts, which appeared rather suddenly after 1300, constitute a sharp departure from all earlier maps. Unlike the circular ''

mappa mundi A ''mappa mundi'' (Latin ; plural = ''mappae mundi''; french: mappemonde; enm, mappemond) is any medieval European map of the world. Such maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps or less across to elaborate wall maps, the ...

'' of Christian academic tradition, the portolan was oriented towards the north, and focused on a realistic depiction of geographic distances with a degree of accuracy that is astounding, even by modern standards. Historians speculate that the portolan was constructed from the first-hand information of mariners and merchants, possibly assisted by

astronomers An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

, and were geared for navigational use, in particular the plotting by compass of navigational routes. Both Majorca and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

have laid claim for the invention of the portolan chart, and it is unlikely this will ever be resolved. Few charts have survived to the modern day. The ''

Carta Pisana The ''Carta Pisana'' or ''Carte Pisane'' is a map probably made at the end of the 13th century, about 1275–1300, currently conserved in the Département des cartes et plans at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. New research suggests that i ...

'' portolan chart, made at the end of the 13th century (1275–1300), is the oldest surviving

nautical chart A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

. The earliest extant ones, from the first half of the 14th century, seem to have been constructed by Genoese cartographers, with Majorcan charts making their appearance only in the latter half of the century. As a result, many historians have argued that the Majorcan cartography derived from the Genoese, citing the mysterious figure of

Angelino Dulcert Angelino Dulcert (floruit, fl. 1339), probably the same person known as Angelino de Dalorto (floruit, fl. 1320s), and whose real name was probably Angelino de Dulceto or Dulceti or possibly Angelí Dolcet, was an Italian people, Italian-Majorcan ca ...

, possibly a Genoese immigrant working in Majorca in the 1330s, as the key intermediary in the transmission. On the other hand, some scholars have embraced the hypothesis first forwarded by A.E. Nordenskiöld, that the surviving charts are misleading, that the earliest Genoese maps were just faithful copies of a conjectured prototype (now lost), composed around 1300 by an unknown

n cosmographer, possibly with the involvement of

Ramon Llull Ramon Llull (; c. 1232 – c. 1315/16) was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, and Christian apologist from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art'', conceived as a type of universal logic to pro ...

. An intermediary position acknowledges Genoese priority, but insists the Majorcan school had an autonomous origin, at best "inspired" (but not derived) from the Genoese. Recent research tends to lean towards the first interpretation, but at the same time curbing some of the more extreme Italian claims and recognizing distinctively Majorcan development.

Majorcan style

Regardless of the exact origin, historians agree that the Majorcans developed their own distinctive style or "school" of portolan cartography, which can be distinguished from the "Italian school". Both Italian and Majorcan portolan charts focus on the same geographic area, what is sometimes called the "Normal Portolan": the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

coast up to the environs of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

- in short, the area frequently travelled by contemporary Mediterranean merchants and sailors. As time and knowledge progressed, some cartographers would stretch the geographic boundaries of the normal portolan to include a larger swathe of Atlantic ocean, including many

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. ...

(real and mythical), a longer stretch of the

west Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n coast to the south, the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

in the north and the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

in the east. Nonetheless, the central focus on the Mediterranean remained throughout and the scale rarely changed. The distinction between the Majorcan and Italian school is one of style rather than range. Italian portolan charts were sparse and restrained, strictly focused on coastal detail, with the inland areas left largely or wholly empty, and the charts largely bereft of illustrations. The Majorcan style, its beginnings already decipherable in the 1339 chart of

, and finding its epitome in the

Catalan Atlas The Catalan Atlas ( ca, Atles català, ) is a medieval world map, or mappamundi, created in 1375 that has been described as the most important map of the Middle Ages in the Catalan language, and as "the zenith of medieval map-work". It was pro ...

of 1375 (attributed to Majorcan cartographer

Abraham Cresques Abraham Cresques (, 1325–1387), whose real name was Cresques (son of) Abraham, was a 14th-century Jewish cartographer from Palma, Majorca (then part of the Crown of Aragon). In collaboration with his son, Jehuda Cresques, Cresques is credite ...

), contained a lot more inland detail and was replete with rich colorful illustrations, depicting cities, mountain ranges, rivers and some miniature people. Among the quintessential features replicated in almost all Majorcan charts: * scattered notes and labels in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

* the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

painted red * the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...

depicted as a palm tree * the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

as a chicken's foot * the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

as a shepherd's crook, with the curve wrapping around Toledo. * the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

as a chain of links or hillocks. *

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

as a horseshoe * the Canary island of

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 ...

colored with a Genoese shield (red cross on white). * the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

also colored with a shield with a cross. * the striped shield of the

replicated as often as possible, including covering the island of

itself. * a

compass rose A compass rose, sometimes called a wind rose, rose of the winds or compass star, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their int ...

somewhere on the map, with the

Pole Star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...

set on the north.Later Italian school maps began to include a compass rose, but placed a

circumflex The circumflex () is a diacritic in the Latin and Greek scripts that is also used in the written forms of many languages and in various romanization and transcription schemes. It received its English name from la, circumflexus "bent around"a ...

"hat" (^) as the northmark. Portuguese maps (from 1504) used a

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

as the northmark. See Winter (1947:p.25) Among the miniature people routinely found in many Majorcan maps are depictions of the traders on the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

and the trans-Saharan route, the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

seated on a gold mine and the ship of

Jaume Ferrer Jaume Ferrer (, fl. 1346) was a Majorcan sailor and explorer. He sailed from Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of Palma, ...

. Although the Italian school largely adhered to its sparse style, some later Italian cartographers, such as the

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 ...

and

Battista Beccario Battista Beccario, also known as Baptista Beccharius (name also sometimes given as "Beccaria", "Beccari" or "Bedrazio"), was a 15th-century Genoese cartographer. Virtually nothing is known of his life. Battista is probably a relative (perhaps a ...

toyed with Majorcan themes, and introduced some of their features into their own maps. Although some historians like to distinguish the Italian maps as "nautical" and the Majorcan maps as "nautico-geographic", it is important to note that the Majorcan portolans did not sacrifice the essential nautical function of their portolans. Lift the entertaining illustrations, and the Majorcan maps are as nautically detailed and serviceable as the Italian.

Members

Major members of the Majorcan school of cartography include: *

(fl. 1339) - possibly a Genoese immigrant. *

(fl. 1375) *

Jehuda Cresques Jehudà Cresques (, 1360-1410), also known as Jafudà Cresques, Jaume Riba, and Cresques lo Juheu ("Cresques the Jew"), was a converso cartographer in the early 15th century. Son of Abraham Cresques, a famous Jewish cartographer, he was born in ...

("Jaume Riba"/"Jacobus Ribes") *

Haym ibn Risch Haym is part of the name of the following people: Surname *Nicola Francesco Haym (1678–1729), Italian opera librettist, composer, theatre manager, performer, numismatist * Rudolf Haym (1821–1901), German philosopher Given name *Haym Solomon ...

("Joan de Vallsecha") *

Guillem Soler Guillem Soler ( fl. 1380s), sometimes given as Guillelmus Soleri, Guillermo Soler and Guglielmo Soleri, was a Majorcan cartographer of the 14th century. Little is known of Guillem Soler. Documents establish his existence in Majorca in 1368, and th ...

(fl. 1380s) * Mecia de Viladestes (fl. 1410s) * Jacomé of Majorca (1420s?) - moved to Portugal *

Gabriel de Vallseca Gabriel de Vallseca, also referred to as Gabriel de Valseca and Gabriel de Valsequa (Barcelona, before 1408 - Palma, after 1467) was a cartographer of Jewish descent connected to the Majorcan cartographic school. His most notable map is the portol ...

(fl.1430s-40s) * Pere Rosell (fl.1460s) * Jaume Bertran (fl. 1480s). Unlike in Italy, where the crafts of instrument-making and cartography were distinct, most of the Majorcan cartographers also worked as makers of nautical instruments - often appearing in civic records, as both master map-maker and ''bruixoler'' ("compass-maker"). Some were also amateur or professional

s, with expertise in

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, frequently inserting astronomical

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

s in their atlases. Most members of the Majorcan school (with the exception of Soler) were

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, whether practicing or

conversos A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian po ...

. As a result, the school suffered heavily and eventually expired with the extension of force-conversion, expulsions and the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

into the realms of the Crown of Aragon in the late 15th century. The production of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

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 can be divided in two major schools: the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and the Catalan. Italian medieval cartographers came mostly from

and

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 ...

Catalan chart Catalan charts or Catalan portolans are portolan charts in Catalan language. Portolan charts are a type of medieval and early modern map that focuses on maritime geography and includes a network of rhumb lines.Maps and their Makers, J.C.C Crone, Hu ...

s were made in Majorca and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Beside these two major schools, some maps were made in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, but no examples survive. The inhabitants of Majorca were great navigators and cartographers. Their geographical knowledge was earned from their own experience and developed in a multicultural atmosphere. Muslim and Jewish merchants participated in extensive trade with Egypt and Tunisia, and in the 14th century they started doing business with

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. These groups were not limited by the rules imposed by the Christian framework, and their maps were way ahead of their time. Professor Gerald Crone, who wrote books on medieval mapping, said of these cartographers, they "...threw off the bounds of tradition and anticipated the achievements of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

". The maps they made were prized by the princes and rulers of the Spanish mainland and other countries. The maps made in Majorca were easy to recognize by their brightly colored illustrations of significant geographical features and portraits of foreign rulers. The first known Majorcan map was made by

in 1339. Even in this early work, all the distinguishing features of the Majorcan Cartographic School were present. Dulcert made precise, colorful drawings that showed all the topographical details including rivers, lakes, mountains, etc. The notes written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

described the map. The most famous cartographers from the Majorcan school were Jews.

Catalan Atlas and Abraham and Jehuda Cresques

also known as, Cresques the Jew, was appointed as a Master of Maps and

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

es by

John I of Aragon John I (27 December 1350 – 19 May 1396), called by posterity the Hunter or the Lover of Elegance, but the Abandoned in his lifetime, was the King of Aragon from 1387 until his death. Biography John was the eldest son of Peter IV and his third ...

. The money he got for his appointment was used to build baths for Jews in Palma. In 1374 and 1375 Abraham and his son Jehuda worked on a special order. John I of Aragon advised the authorities that he needed to get a map, which would show the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

, the Atlantic coast and the ocean itself. The map they made got the name

, and it is the most important

map of the medieval period. The first two leaves, forming the oriental portion of the Catalan Atlas, illustrate numerous religious references as well as a synthesis of medieval mappae mundi (Jerusalem located close to the center) and the travel literature of the time, notably

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

's '' Book of Marvels and the Travels'', and ''Voyage of

Sir John Mandeville Sir John Mandeville is the supposed author of ''The Travels of Sir John Mandeville'', a travel memoir which first circulated between 1357 and 1371. The earliest-surviving text is in French. By aid of translations into many other languages, the ...

''. Many Indian and Chinese cities can be identified. The explanatory texts report customs described by

. Cresques, who knew

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, also used the travel narratives of Moroccan explorer

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

has a blue dome and shows Muslim prayer. The text next to the image is: While the areas under Muslim control were marked with domes, Jerusalem was surrounded by tales from Old and New Testaments like the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

, the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...

and others. The image of the caravan is accompanied by Marco Polo's travel account: A Catalan Atlas was requested by

Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...

, even though he expelled all the Jews from France in 1394. The Catalan Atlas is located now in

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

. A few other Cresques maps were mentioned in inventories from Spain and France in late 1387. Jehuda Cresques continued his father's traditions. He was forced to convert to Christianity in 1391. His new name was Jacobus Ribes. He was called "lo Jueu buscoler" (the map Jew), or "el jueu de les bruixoles" (the compass Jew). Jehuda was ordered to move to Barcelona, where he continued his work, as a court cartographer. Later, he was invited to Portugal by

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

, but his maps were still made in Catalan (Majorca) traditions, and that's why he was called "Mestre Jacome de Malhorca". He was the first director of famous Nautical observatory at Sagres at the age of discovery.

Other Jewish cartographers

Another famous Jewish cartographer was Haym ibn Risch. He was forced to convert to Christianity and took the name Juan de Vallsecha. He was probably the father of

, author of yet another famous mapamundi, one later used by Amerigo Vespucci. Gabriel also produced a very accurate maps of

and

. Another Jewish cartographer was Mecia de Vildestes. An outstanding map by Vildestes dated 1413 is proudly featured at the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris. Anti-Jewish persecutions brought the end to the famous school of cartography at Majorca.

Chronology of Majorcan cartographers

(Timeline derived from :ca:Llista cronològica de cartògrafs portolans mallorquins) Preset = TimeHorizontal_AutoPlaceBars_UnitYear ImageSize = width:760 Colors = id:offWhite value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:paleGray value:rgb(0.86,0.86,0.86) id:darkGray value:gray(0.6) id:baroqueBlue value:rgb(0.6,1,0.6) # id:mid value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0) legend: id:ren value:rgb(0.6,1,1) legend:Genoese_(?) id:bar value:rgb(0.6,1,0.6) legend:Christian id:rom value:rgb(1,0.75,0.75) legend:Jew_or_converso id:cla value:rgb(1,1,0.6) legend:Uncertain BackgroundColors = canvas:offWhite Period = from:1330 till:1500 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:20 start:1340 gridcolor:paleGray Legend = orientation:vertical left:49 top:100 LineData = at:1368 color:darkGray layer:back at:1433 color:darkGray layer:back Define $bold = fontsize:M shift:(10,-7) BarData= barset:Composers PlotData= # set defaults width:15 fontsize:S textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) color:baroqueBlue barset:Composers from:1330 till:1345 color:Ren text:" Angelí Dolcet" from:1353 till:1362 text:" Guillem Cantarelles" from:1350 till:1387 color:Rom text:"

Cresques Abraham Abraham Cresques (, 1325–1387), whose real name was Cresques (son of) Abraham, was a 14th-century Jewish cartographer from Palma, Majorca (then part of the Crown of Aragon). In collaboration with his son, Jehuda Cresques, Cresques is credi ...

" from:1368 till:1402 text:"

" from:1368 till:1374 color:Rom text:" Bonjua Moixini" from:1377 till:1410 color:Rom text:" Jafuda Cresques/Jaume Ribes" from:1390 till:1423 color:Rom text:" Samuel Corcos/Macià de Viladesters" from:1405 till:1409 text:" Joan Soler" from:1412 till:1412 color:cla text:"

Joan Esteve En Johan Esteve de Bezers, in modern orthography Joan Esteve ( fl. 1270–1288), was a troubadour from Béziers. The only chansonnier which contains his eleven works, also calls him Olier de Bezers, implying that he was perhaps a potter. All hi ...

" from:1420 till:1420 color:cla text:" Jacomé de Mallorca" from:1428 till:1428 color:Rom text:" Joan Viladesters" from:1433 till:1474 color:Rom text:"

Gabriel Vallseca Gabriel de Vallseca, also referred to as Gabriel de Valseca and Gabriel de Valsequa (Barcelona, before 1408 - Palma, Majorca, Palma, after 1467) was a Catalan chart, cartographer of Jewish descent connected to the Majorcan cartographic school. His ...

" from:1436 till:1442 text:" Rafel Lloret" from:1440 till:1446 text:" Rafel Soler" from:1446 till:1475 text:" Gabriel Soler" from:1446 till:1489 color:Rom text:" Pere Rossell" from:1450 till:1468 color:cla text:" Rafel Monells" from:1451 till:1451 color:cla text:" Antoni Bramona" from:1456 till:1456 color:Rom text:" Berenguer Ripoll" from:1456 till:1500 color:Rom text:" Jaume Bertran" from:1463 till:1463 color:cla text:" Antoni Píris" from:1484 till:1486 color:Rom text:" Arnau Domènech" barset:break

References

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{cite book, title= History of Cartography , author=

Leo Bagrow Leo Bagrow (1881 Saint Petersburg – 9 August 1957 The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre ...

, and R. A. Skelton , page=65,66 , publisher= Watts , year = 1964 , isbn= 9781412825184 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OBeB4tDmJv8C&q=arab+cartographers+of+majorca&pg=PA65 , accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite web, title= The Majorcan Cartographic School, year = 1964 , url= http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_10.htm#Majorcan , accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite book, title= The Jewish Contribution To Civilization , author= Cecil Roth , pages=69–72, year=1940, publisher =Harper, url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2EkvyjWlA4gC&q=The+Jewish+Contribution+To+Civilisation, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite book, title= The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal, 1300-1500: A Biographical Dictionary (The Great Cultural Eras of the Western World) , author= Clayton J. Drees, publisher =Greenwood, date = November 30, 2000 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8jDfydG6ReAC&q=Abraham+Cresques&pg=PA119, pages =119–120, accessdate=2010-04-28, isbn = 0-313-30588-9 {{cite book, title= Planets, Potions, and Parchments: Scientifica Hebraica from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Eighteenth Century , author= B. Barry Levy, publisher =McGill-Queen's University Press, year = 1990, url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YUxPTjLG3swC&pg=PA119, pages =119–120, accessdate=2010-04-28, isbn = 978-0-7735-0791-3 {{cite web, title=The Catalan Atlas, url = http://www.contemporarybalears.com/balears/index.php?section=blog&cmd=details&id=2&printview=1, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite web, title = Newberry Library, url = http://www.newberry.org/smith/slidesets/ss25.html, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite web, title = The Catalan Atlas, url = http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/235mono.html, accessdate=2010-04-28 {{cite book, title = Jewish topographies: visions of space, traditions of place , url =https://books.google.com/books?id=GGDDCm-4VKkC&q=%22Gabriel+Vallsecha%22&pg=PA185, accessdate=2010-04-28, page = 185, author1=Julia Brauch , author2=Anna Lipphardt , author3=Alexandra Nocke , year = 2008, isbn = 9780754671183

External links

www.cresquesproject.net
��Translation in English of the works of Riera i Sans and Gabriel Llompart on the Jewish Majorcan Map-makers of the Late Middle Ages
Portolan charts from S.XIII to S.XVI - Additions, Corrections, Updates

Sources

* Campbell, T. (1987) "Portolan Charts from the Late Thirteenth Century to 1500". ''The History of Cartography''. Volume 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 371–463. * Campbell, T. (2011) "A critical re-examination of early portolan charts with a reassessment of their replication and seaboard function"

* Caraci, G. (1959) ''Italiani e Catalani nella primitiva cartografia medievale'', Rome: 'Universita degli studi. * Magnaghi, A. (1909) "Sulle origini del portolano normale nel Medio Evo e della Cartografia dell'Europa occidentale", in ''Memorie geografiche'', vol. 4, no.8, p. 115-80. * Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik (1896) "Résumé of an Essay on the Early History of Charts and Sailing Directions", ''Report of the Sixth International Geographical Congress: held in London, 1895''. London: J. Murra
p.685-94
* Nordenskiöld, Adolf Erik (1897) ''Periplus: An Essay on the Early History of Charts and Sailing Directions'', tr. Frances A. Bather, Stockholm: Norstedt. * Pujades i Bataller, Ramon J. (2007) ''Les cartes portolanes: la representació medieval d'una mar solcada.'' Barcelona * Heinrich Winter (1947) "On the Real and the Pseudo-Pilestrina Maps and Other Early Portuguese Maps in Munich", ''Imago Mundi'', vol. 4,p. 25-27. * Winter, Heinrich (1958) "Catalan Portolan Maps and their place in the total view of cartographic development", ''Imago Mundi'', Vol.11, p. 1-12 History of cartography Medieval Majorcan Jews