1 Medieval European conceptions of the world
When Europeans set out across the Atlantic they were equipped with ideas of what they would find, and those ideas were largely medieval. The medieval period in Europe lasted roughly 1000 years, beginning with the disintegration of the western Roman Empire, and ending as European exploration of the wider world gathered pace. While medieval Europe spanned a long period of time, a large geographic area, and a range of cultures, it was unified by a Christian worldview, by common political structures, and by a recognition of Europe as a meaningful entity. This worldview influenced how Europeans behaved in new places, and how they interpreted what they found there.
Medieval European understandings of the wider world can be traced in the maps produced in that period. Mappae mundi (world maps) of the period depict the important elements of the world, although they sought to explain the world rather than to serve as a basis for navigation. Other medieval maps engaged with physical geography, among them the Catalan Atlas (which followed the style of nautical charts). Both types of map offer insights into how Europeans viewed the world beyond Europe, and both indicate the limited extent of European knowledge. The mappae mundi are particularly fascinating as they offer insight into what Europeans believed, hoped, and feared about the wider world.
A variety of sources were consulted in the construction of mappae mundi. The Hereford mappa mundi is a large and elaborate world map that was produced in the British Isles in c.1290 and has been held by Hereford Cathedral since 1682. At the centre of this map is Jerusalem, and a large number of biblical sites (including the Tower of Babel) can be identified. The map provides insight into medieval European minds: the wealth of biblical sites indicates the significance of Christianity, while the presence of buildings the map-makers knew no longer existed indicates that such maps offered a view of the world that was about more than mere physical reality.
The significance of the Bible as a source of geographical knowledge was problematic, as its text is largely unconcerned with the physical structure of the world, although it contains sections that hint at it. Those hints, expanded and connected, indicate that the world is flat and stationary. Despite this, while some medieval Europeans might have lived on a flat earth, knowledge of Greek thought and mathematics permeated medieval Europe, and medieval kings grasped orbs to show their power over a spherical world. Even the disc shape of mappae mundi is misleading—those creating the maps sought to depict the interesting parts of a globe, while making good use of a flat surface. Including featureless ocean would have wasted map making materials.
Instead of being taken entirely literally, biblical influences on European understanding of geography were powerful but indirect. Christian logic is apparent in depictions and descriptio