5 views

1 Answers

The Sawley map, formerly known as the 'Henry of Mainz' map, is the earliest surviving mappa mundi made in England. It was made between about 1180 and the early 13th century. The map is the frontispiece of a copy of the Imago mundi of Honorius of Autun. It is oriented with east at the top and the island of Delos at the centre.

The map takes up the second page of manuscript 66 at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The first folio is of thicker vellum than the rest of the manuscript. The manuscript was probably copied at Durham Priory before being given to Sawley Abbey in the early 13th century. The map is oval in shape, with winged figures decorating the four corners of the rectangular page. It measures about 30 by 20 centimetres. Across the top of the page is a faint ex libris in Latin: Liber sce Marie de Salleia, 'book of Saint Mary's of Sawley'.

The map depicts three continents—Asia, Africa and Europe—surrounded by a world ocean. It is in colour, with green representing the ocean and purple the rivers. Mountains are depicted as series of red lobes. Places are marked by circles, square and pictographic symbols, such as towers or, in the case of Jerusalem, a temple. Delos, at the centre, was noted for its pagan temples. It is depicted as a circle surrounded by smaller circles. The Orkneys are depicted in the same way.

The Sawley map is usually grouped with other encyclopaedic mappae mundi of the same period, such as the Hereford map and Ebstorf map. It contains much fanciful material and many pieces of information derived from the Bible and the classics. It may belong to a northern French tradition, if it was copied from the mappa mundi which Bishop Hugh of Le Puiset bequeathed to Durham Priory in 1195.

5 views

Related Questions

What is Sequence covering map?
1 Answers 9 Views
What is Queering the Map?
1 Answers 5 Views
What is Hénon map?
1 Answers 5 Views
What is Scale (map)?
1 Answers 5 Views
What is Map seed?
1 Answers 4 Views
What is Conformal map?
1 Answers 4 Views
What is Tent map?
1 Answers 5 Views