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An essay on the age of discovery
An essay on the age of discovery
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Introduction
Cartography in the period between 1250 and 1550 is defined by the Age of Discovery, and most notably the discovery of the New World in 1492. This period begins with the Portuguese claiming of Madeira in 1419, and continues until the 16th to 17th century. This essay will argue that Eurocentrism is the imposition of European culture and perspective upon the other nations of the world, and that maps over this time period became more Eurocentric by aiding in this process. European world maps made early in this period are defined by their Christian symbolism, which has ties to but is distinct from Eurocentrism. In the period during and after the Age of Discovery, maps are defined by their attempt to accurately represent the world, and
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These maps integrated knowledge from both previous traditions, namely the symbolic mappae mundi and more accurate charts of sailors. Previously, almost all world maps followed the conventions of the T-O maps, placing Jerusalem at the centre and having the world within a ring. With the Age of Discovery and especially the discovery of the New World, these conventions shifted to represent a new view of the world.16 These maps show a natural inclination to place the continents of the New World on the left of previous maps, shifting the centre of the world from Jerusalem to Europe, either consciously or not. The rulers of European colonising countries used these maps, which contributed to their perception of themselves as the centre of the civilised …show more content…
Created in 1569, the defining feature of the Mercator map is it's introduction of a projection system that is still in use today. The Mercator projection was created by Gerardus Mercator for use in nautical navigation, and is characterised by its ability to represent straight courses through rhumb lines.19 This map became the standard for most nautical use, and subsequently the most popular type of world map, even until today. The original version of his map notably distorts the sizes of continents, with North America vastly larger than it should be and Europe being displayed as equal in size to Africa. Although more accurate renderings have been made, this distortion is still present in maps today and is an example of Eurocentric bias, whether conscious or
The Exploration Era was a time period when countries and people made journeys overseas to find “the New World.” With the help of the printing press, the discoveries of the Americas were known globally making people curious to explore it themselves. In the map “Distribution of Columbus’ Letter” (Document D), it shows where the letter was published and where it was translated to different. This is due to the printing press. Along with the many documents, the news of Christopher Columbus’ discoveries of “India” or the New World had sparked the curiosity of people all over the world. People became more interested in geography and seeing what’s out there along with the different resources. The New World discovery opened up a new trade route and different trade items. This would create pros and cons like economic growth and slavery. In addition the exploration of the Europeans helped us gain knowledge and get a picture of the Americas. In the “Henricus Martellus’ World Map, 1489” (Document E), it shows the world as they knew it with Europe, Africa, and Asia. The “Martin Waldseemuller's World Map, 1507” was an updated, more correct version of the world we see today. Waldseemuller’s map includes the Americas and was much bigger than Martellus’. The printing press had helped Waldseemuller use this new knowledge to create a map that would depict something
Until the 1950s, Atlases were mostly comprised of maps that simply show space and place. However in 1953, the World Geo-Graphic Atlas, published by Walter Paepcke’s Container Corporation of America (CCA) with Herbert Bayer, changed people’s notion of what maps look like and what information they contain. Bayer believed, that maps were “a record of time and perhaps even a tool of prognostication.” By the use of Isotypes (International System of Typographic Picture Education), Bayer created an atlas that is universal, therefore allowed viewers to understand complex data more clearly and easily.
Like the Arabs, the Europeans sometimes let their religion come between them and the truth. The best example of this is what Boorstin refers to as the “Great Interruption,” a time in the Middle Ages where theological, rather than geographical, accuracy was prioritized in mapmaking. Rather than continuing the work of Ptolemy and refining his rectangular coordinate system, cartographers “spent their energies embroidering a neat, theologically appealing picture of what was already known, or was supposed to be known.” (Boorstin, 100) Maps depicted the world as a circular disc divided into three parts, the three parts being the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe, separated by a T-shaped flow of water. Jerusalem was always in the center of the maps; the justification came from a verse in Ezekiel saying that God had placed Jerusalem in the midst of the nations, which was interpreted literally. Allowing Christian dogma to determine the shape of the earth was a major failing in Boorstin’s eyes; nevertheless, the episode was only an “interruption,” and Europe eventually resumed discovery. Firstly, Boorstin credits the west for the modern clock and calendar. Although earlier versions of clocks from other parts of the world are mentioned, the author focuses primarily on the contributions of westerners to its development. When missionary
In Alfred J. Crosby’s book, The Columbian Exchange, the author examines the impact of the New World on the Old World, but also the impact the Old World had on the New World. One key distinction Crosby notes is how the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus challenged the intellectual systems of Christianity and Aristotelianism. Most notably, the discovery of a world that was, in fact, “new” was so contradictory to scholarly work of the past, such as Aristotle or found in the Bible, that assumptions were made on where to fit the New World into a Christian and Aristotelian world. For example, previous findings under Aristotle, which were still utilized into the 15th Century, had “quite logically supposed the equatorial zone of
Following that, the map is supposed to symbolize Amanita 's travels. Amniata has lived in numerous places. She not only sailed from Africa to America,
The Age of Exploration in Europe developed along with the Renaissance. In Western history, both periods served as transitional movements between the early modern and Middle Ages periods. The evolution as well as advancement of abroad exploration was fueled by competition between growing European empires like England and Spain. The size as well as the influence of European empires expanded greatly during this time as it was motivated by profit, religion and power. The exploration’s effects were felt both abroad as well as in the geographical boundaries of Europe itself. The political, cultural and economical influences of Europe’s early stages of international exploration affected the continuing development of European society as well as the whole world.
There were many important events in Spain that paved the way for the colonization of the New World. For example, Europeans craved the spices of the East, but due to warfare in Asia, they tried to find new trade routes . At the time, Europeans knew that the Earth was round, but they did not know how far the ocean stretched, let alone the existence of other continents beyond the Atlantic Ocean. The demand for such spices allowed for many expeditions to occur, including Christopher Columbus. In addition, the explorers of the time were considered “renaissance men” who used new navigation tools such as the globe and sextant, and also referred back to Greek and Latin maps . The Renaissance and its innovations and new ways of thinking are responsible for the expeditions and the ambitiousness of the explorers. As the explorers were traveling in all sorts of directions around the world, they gained more knowledge and improved the maps, which are key aspects of the Renaissance. Furthermore, after the re-conquest of Grenada, the men of Spain still had a frontier mentality that carried over to the New World . As Spain used the plantations on the Az...
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
In the mid 1400’s Spain and Portugal began to take separate routes of discovery. Prince Henry of Portugal, in reaction to the shortage of bullion in Western Europe, was interested in sending his captains to the African coast in search of gold. As a result, many Portuguese ports were established along the African coast and “The Portuguese were able to exploit at least a part of the African caravan trade they had sought.” (p.340) While Portugal was focused on expansion along the African coast; the Spanish were the first to discover the “new world” despite the lack of geographical knowledge the Spaniards and Columbus in particular possessed. This “new world” wasn’t quite what Columbus had though it was, however; as Columbus maintained to his death that he had reached Asia. He hadn’t, “He had landed at one of the Bahaman Islands, San Salvador.” (p. 342) Columbus’ distorted reality proved to...
Historical geographer JB Harley wrote an essay on Map Deconstruction in 1989, in which Harley argues that a map is more than just a geographical representation of an area, his theory is that we need to look at a map not just as a geographical image but in its entire context. Harley points out that by an examination of the social structures that have influenced map making, that we may gain more knowledge about the world. The maps social construction is made from debate about what it should show. Harley broke away from the traditional argument about maps and examined the biases that govern the map and the map makers, by looking at what the maps included or excluded. Harley’s “basic argument within this essay is that we should encourage an epistemological shift in the way we interpret the nature of cartography.” Therefore Harley’s aim within his essay on ‘Deconstructing the Map’ was to break down the assumed ideas of a map being a purely scientific creation.
Mignolo explained how America was incorporated into the continental triad cosmology created by the Christians. America was incorporated as a forth arm because the world was originally divided into three continents; Asia, Africa, and Europe (Mignolo, 2002, p. 23). The original map was called the “T-in-O” map compiled in the early seventh century (Mignolo, 2002, p. 24). America was not included in this map because the existence was still not heard of. This “T-in-O” map was created by Western Christians. The Western Christians drew their map as a circle and decided to divide the world in three parts. Only two parts of the circle were drawn equally. Asia covered the top half on the circle, which created a semi-circle. Europe then consisted of the bottom left quadrant in the circle, and then followed by Africa at the bottom right quadrant.
The Hereford World Map is the world’s oldest surviving map of the world; it was made in 1300, during the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe. There was a wider range of influences on mapping during the later medieval period. With an increase in exploration, Europe began to evolve into an international continent; widespread travel can be seen by the influences of the Islamic world on architecture. While map making in China had flourished in the 11th C, mapping was beginning to evolve in Europe. By around 1400 there was a peak in map making in Europe. There is evidence of the influence of Roman mapping on medieval maps in Europe. The Medieval world maps but together information from Roman sources to make the world maps in the middle ages known as the mappa mundi, meaning cloth of the world. These were cloth maps, and the name mappa mundi was widely used for them. These world maps were understood by historians as an attempt to show where countries were located, quite often they were not just geographical representations but they were also stories of the world. As knowledge of map making increased during the Renaissance, was a move for wider representations of information on maps. The map became a source of information on the animals and history of the different countries. This can be seen in The Hereford World Map, a map that gives a geometrical representation of the locations of the known countries of the world and also acted as an encyclopaedia of information on various types of animals and where in the world they came from.
In the years leading up to and including 1491 European explorers had been researching and studying the world, however they lacked a real understanding of the true size and geography of our planet. When explorers finally began setting out on their expeditions in the late 1400’s, the world began to experience serious change. Before Columbus is credited with the discovery of America in 1492, the Americas were untouched by Europeans, but within a few hundred years permanent settlements would be founded on American soil despite the presence of the native people.
Stott, Anne. "Europe 1700-1914: A Continent Transformed." europetransformed.blogspot.com. University of London, 7 March 2011. Web. 30 November 2013.
The claim being discussed here is that the only way a map or a way of representing things can be useful is if it simplifies the knowledge that the actual territory gives, that is, if it reduces the salient i...