Mapmaking in the Global Middle Ages

This Element considers maps and mapmaking across four medieval cultural traditions: Chinese, Islamicate, Latin Christian, and Jewish. It examines what each considered maps to be, what approaches each took to the challenges of mapping the world around them, what purposes they designed maps for, and how the maps' visual properties may have influenced their reception. The Element does not attempt comprehensive chronological coverage; it is thematic and episodic, revealing a few key facets of each cartographical tradition and demonstrating the value of crosscultural comparative work in the study of the Global Middle Ages.