Slide #205
TITLE: Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX
DATE: 1472 (7th century A.D.)
AUTHOR: St. Isidore of Seville, 600 - 636 A.D.
DESCRIPTION: This work was initially compiled in manuscript form on
vellum, with drawings in red and black. Measuring about 25.4 X 15.2 cm,
the Etymologiarum consists of 20 Books on 175 leaves, including a
mappamundi, and was meant to be an encyclopedia that summed up the
knowledge accumulated by early 7th century Europe. So significant was its
impact that during the following centuries it served as a model of style
and composition, as well as a primary source for many medieval writers.
While the original manuscript has not survived, many copies of it have,
reaching back to the 8th century. The title of Etymologiae, or simply
Origines as it is also known, refers to the fact that the author
always gives the etymology of everything that he describes or defines. Indeed,
the Xth Book contains only the etymological definition of words alphabetically
arranged. Of specific interest, however, are the XIIIth and XIVth Books
which deal with geographical topics and where Isidore attempts a survey
of the world in a brief, definitive and educational manner. The Xlllth Book
discusses the earth as a whole - the oceans, the seas, both open and enclosed,
the tides, rivers and winds - in other words, physical geography. In the
XlVth Book Isidore enumerates and briefly describes the political divisions
of the world.
The author, a 7th century Bishop of Seville (Spain), leaned heavily himself
on classical writers, as well as the teachings of the Church Fathers. For
the Xlllth and XlVth Books specifically, Isidore's sources were primarily
the Spanish presbyter Orosius and, secondarily, Solinus, who is quoted some
200 times, and Pomponius Mela. However, this is not to imply that Origines
is the compilation of a bestiary, or that his objects are those of the fabulist
in any shape. Rather, this work by Isidore is a "compilation of compilations"
that resulted in a major reference work of the Middle Ages.
In view of the extraordinary influence of this treatise, the following excepts
(the translation is taken from Kimble) reflects some of Isidore's geographical
concepts:
Concerning the earth we are told that it is named from its roundness (orbis)
which is like a wheel; whence the small wheel is called "orbiculus".
For the Ocean flows round it on all sides and encircles its boundaries.
As to size, Isidore accepts Eratosthenes' estimate (via Macrobius) of 252,000
stadia for the circumference of the earth. One stadia equalled
625 feet in Isidore's calculations, but by employing the more usual reckoning
of 8 stadia to the mile and 87.5 miles to the degree, he obtained
the grossly exaggerated figure of 31,500 miles for the circumference, vice
25,000 miles. With regards to the tripartite division of the world (Europe,
Africa and Asia):
The Ancients did not divide these three parts of the world equally, for
Asia stretches right from the south, through the east to the north, but
Europe stretches from the north to the west and thence Africa from the west
to the south. From this it is quite evident that the two parts, Europe and
Africa, occupy half of the world and that Asia alone occupies the other
half. The former were made into two parts because the Great Sea (called
the Mediterranean) enters from the Ocean between them and cuts them apart
. . .
By the way, Isidore was the first writer to clearly define the Mediterranean
by that proper name. Proceeding to a systematic description of the countries
of the world, of Asia Isidore says that it is bounded in the east by
Lake Maeotis [Sea of Azov] and the river Tanais [the river Don]
.
It contains many provinces and districts whose names and geographical situations
I will briefly describe, beginning from Paradise . . . Paradise is a place
Iying in the eastern parts whose name is translated out of the Greek into
Latin as hortus [i.e., garden]. It is called in the Hebrew tongue
Eden, which is translated as Delicate [i.e., place of luxury or delight].
Uniting these two gives us Garden of Delight; for it is planted with
every kind of wood and fruit-bearing tree, having also the tree of life.
There is neither cold nor heat but a continual spring temperature. From
the middle of the Garden a spring gushes forth to water the whole grove
and, dividing up, it provides the source of four rivers [see Slide #205C/Slide
#205Q ]. Approach to this place was barred to man after his sin, for now
it is hedged about on all sides by a sword-like flame [romphaea flamma],
that is to say that it is surrounded by a wall of fire that reaches almost
to the sky.
This obvious Biblical note coming so early in the topographical section
of the treatise might lead the reader to expect its continuance in subsequent
chapters; but apart from one or two entirely understandable references to
Biblical lore - Scythia and Gothia also are said to have been named by
Magog, son of Japhet and the River Ganges which sacred scripture calls Phison,
flows down from Paradise to the realms of India - only the most sparing
use of this source is made. By far the greatest percentage of Isidore's
material is culled from pagan sources; indeed much of his geography might
have been written by late classical writers such as Mela and Solinus. His
treatment of the habitable earth enables one to arrive fairly easily at
the scope of his knowledge.
In the extreme east of Asia the country of Seres is rich in fine leaves,
from which are cut fleeces which the natives who decline the merchandise
of other peoples sell for use as garments . . . beyond there is only the
Scythian Ocean flowing from the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Sea. To
the northward lies Scythia stretching from the Seric [i.e.,
Eastern] Ocean in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west. Several of the
districts are rich in gold and precious stones but are rarely approached
by man owing to the ferocity of the Griffens . . . The Griffens
[or 'Gryphes'] are so called because they are winged quadrapeds. This kind
of wild beast is found in the Hyperborean Mts. In every part of their body
they are lions, and in wings and head are like eagles, and they are fierce
enemies of horses. Moreover they tear men to pieces. . . The land of Hyrcania,
bordering Scythia to the west, has many tribes wandering far afield
on account of the unfruitfulness of their lands.
Europe, in the true classical fashion, is divided from Asia by the river
Tanais [Don] and is bordered on the north by the Northern Ocean.
Hard by it, and forming the ne plus ultra of the known world, is
the land of Barbaria, so called on account of the wild tribes inhabiting
it. Enumerated among these tribes are the Alani, the Dacians,
the Goths and the Suevi. "Thule is the furthest island
in the Ocean in the Northern and Western waters beyond Britain", according
to Isidore, ". . . having its name from the sun, because there the
sun makes its summer halt, and there is no day beyond it; whence the sea
is there sluggish and frozen." The western limit of the world is furnished
by the Fortunate Isles, so named because 'they are blessed with abundance
of produce; their woods yield apples naturally, their ranges of hills are
clad with unplanted vines and everywhere there are crops and vegetables
in place of pasture. Hence the false opinions of pagans, and the poems of
secular poets, claiming that these islands were Paradise. They are situated
in the Ocean off the coast of Mauretania.'
Concerning Africa, Isidore says little that enables one to put bounds on
it; 'it begins at the boundaries of Egypt, continuing to the south through
Ethiopia to Mount Atlas.' As to Ethiopia in particular, he avers that 'the
whole of it is under the southern pole [i.e., hemisphere]. Towards the west
it is mountainous; in the middle it is sandy; to the east a desert . . .
In the south it is bounded by the ocean, and in the north by the river Nile.
It contains very many tribes of different aspects, with strange forbidding
countenances.'
The southeastern horizons of the world are circumscribed by the coasts of
India 'containing many tribes and towns,' the island of Taprobane [Ceylon],
Chryse [Malay Peninsula ?], Argyra [ Cattigara ?], and Tyle,
'which is never without leaves on its trees.' Isidore states that Taprobane
stretches 875 miles in length and 625 miles in width. It is separated from
India by a river that flows between them. ' It is rich in pearls and precious
stones; part of it is, however, infested with wild animals, but part is
occupied by men. In this island they say that there are two summers and
two winters in one year and that flowers bloom twice.'
Again, for a professed theologian, Isidore shows a noteworthy breadth of
general ideas, even admitting the possible existence of Antipodean
lands (roughly translated):
Moreover beyond [these] three parts of the world, on the other side of the
ocean, is a fourth inland part in the south, which is unknown to us because
of the heat of the sun, within the bounds of which the Antipodes
are fabulously said to dwell.
This concession by Isidore as expressed in the brief quote above indicated
that he more than half believed in the sphericity of the earth and quite
fully in the doctrine of the Antipodes. While Isidore was not consistent
in the affirmation of his adherence to the theory, this particular passage
was repeated so often by his successors that it became the formula through
which those of the Middle Ages who accepted the existence of the Antipodes
or Antichthon expressed their belief. As can be seen in the many
examples of Isidorean maps included herein, there is no attempt to depict
this fourth continent graphically. However, the chief influence cartographically
at least, in keeping the theory alive during this period was the Beatus
group of maps (Slide #207). In this later map 'family'
or group, there appears a statement on the strip of land located south of
the Indian Ocean which is recognized as a quotation, with some curious errors,
of the essential passage from the Etymologiarum just translated above.
As far as his own graphic expression of the world's geography, one of the
map designs frequently associated with Isidore of Seville is actually a
survival of the ancient Greek tripartite division of the world into Asia,
Africa and Europe, surrounded by the Ocean Sea. As can be seen, this simple
design by no means reflects the breadth of knowledge and ideas that can
be found in the text. Probably conceived as early as the 5th century B.C.
by Ionic philosophers, this popular scheme of dividing the world into the
three known major land masses is effected by using a T-shaped partition,
a T within an O. Variously labelled Imago Mundi Rotunda, Noachid
maps, T-in-O [Orbis Terrarum ] and/or wheel-maps, this
simplistic, diagrammatic plan formed the basis for one of the major design
features of most subsequent "learned" medieval cartography and
survived as a cartographic form long after more direct information made
it difficult to accommodate such an artificial scheme.
The T within the O produced a world image divided into half (by the cross
of the T) and two quarters. The half segment (east) at the top of the map
represents Asia, the lower left Europe, and the lower right Africa. These
segments also represented, according to Isidore, the divisions of the earth
apportioned to the three sons of Noah: Shem, Japhet and Ham, respectively
(hence the term Noachic maps). The T separating the boundaries between the
three continents also represented three of the principal waterways of the
world. The upright stem of the letter T running east and west, to the center
of the world was the Mediterranean Sea. The northern (left) half of the
cross bar represented the river Tanais [Don], and the southern (right)
half of the cross bar represented the river Nile.
Place-names for the three continents varied considerably in the various
editions and derivatives of Isidore; some maps bore the Biblical names only;
others had explanatory inscriptions stating, for instance, that Asia was
named after a Queen Asia, "of the posterity of Shem, and is
inhabited by 27 peoples; that Africa is derived from Afer, a descendent
of Abraham, and has 30 races in 360 towns"; and that Europe, named
from the Europa of mythology, "is inhabited by the 15 tribes
of the sons of Japhet and has 120 cities" (Slide #205B ). Other maps
give definite localities for the Twelve Tribes of Isreal and the abiding
places of the Twelve Apostles.
Regardless of experience and all knowledge to the contrary, the most important
city regionally was located in the center of the habitable world. In ancient
Greece, Ionic philosophers placed Greece in the center of their world map
and Delphi in the middle of Greece. The Hindus had their Meru, the
Persians their Kangdiz, the Arabs their Aryne [Aren, Arim, or
Arin]. It was therefore inevitable that a Christian map maker like Isidore
should place Jerusalem in the geographic center of the world: "This
is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that
are round about her" (Ezekiel V:5 ). The Holy City, named or
illustrated, and located at the intersection of the stem and cross bar of
the T, appeared most regularly especially in the center of the world maps
called Sallust maps (T-O designs from about 1110 A.D.). There it
remained in the center of European world maps until about 1450 when many
map makers were forced to shift the center to the east. The discoveries
of Marco Polo and other explorers made it necessary to enlarge Asia, to
move Jerusalem or to ignore the discoveries.
In addition to the usual tripartite circular map of the world, some manuscripts
of the Etymologiarum feature other map designs as well. One rather
similar diagrammatic design also associated with Isidore uses a square instead
of a circle and a V instead of a T for partitioning the continents (Slides
#205L and #205I ). Another map, attributed to Isidore, represents a combination
of the T-O scheme and the climate-zone plan employed by writers like Macrobius
(Slide #205M ). Being one of the earliest surviving Isidorean maps it also
hints at the existence of the mysterious fourth continent with the legend
Temperata incognita. Still others represent only a slight detour
from the strict T-O pattern, adding the four sacred rivers, and/or more
names, etc. (Slides #205C, Q, S and W ). Two of these, Slides #205W and
#205AA, are sometimes labelled as Y-O designs.
Sallust Maps. The most closely related or influenced maps of the
T-O's are those that accompany manuscripts of Sallust's works and may have
originally been drawn to illustrate a passage from Sallust's De bello
Jugurthino which, like Isidore's treatise, also attempted to briefly
describe the countries of the world. While the T-O format is carefully followed,
the Sallust maps add the legends and pictures or vignettes that increased
their aesthetic appeal. The religious theme is predominant, Jerusalem being
emphasized with the inclusion of an immense church or castle (see Slides
#205F , H, and O ).
Another variation of the basic design was called the Byzantine-Oxford, or
B-O T-O maps. These designs differed from the traditional divisions
by showing political boundaries. As portrayed in Slide
#205BB the domain of Europe is extended across the Mediterranean to
the southern and eastern coasts where the Crusaders made inroads. Correspondingly,
Kartago Magna [greater Carthage], an extension of Muslim North Africa,
controls southern Spain.
More prominently than in any other example of the biblical school, the Holy
Land dominates the center of the map. This area is divided first into the
lands of Judea, Galilee, and Palestine, and further by the names of seven
of the Twelve Tribes. The Jordan flows southward, starting southwest of
Nazareth and passing east of Jerusalem. The dividing line between Asia and
Europe-Africa is replaced by Jerusalem. The Holy City is flanked on the
south by Jericho, and the site of the Crucifixion is identified just north
of center. Mt. Zion is in the exact center.
Inscriptions confirm the idea that the map was composed in the Byzantine
world. The directions of the compass are given in Greek as well as Latin.
Several notes identify the regions in which various Disciples preached.
Paul is located at Athens, John in Ephesus, Peter in Caesarea,
and Andrew in Achaia. In Ephesus, the Byzantine emperor Justinian
(482-565) built a temple to St. John the Divine, one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. At Caesarea Philippi, Peter received his commission
and the "keys" of the Church. Achaia is the Roman and Byzantine
name for the Greek province where Andrew is said to have preached.
The map was brought back to England or Ireland after the First Crusade,
which conquered Jerusalem in 1099. The copyist or a later hand has added
Britannia, Hibernia, and the northern island Thule in the
margin, but the remainder is apparently a faithful Latin version, dating
from 1110, of the Greek original. Above all, the map applies the Crusaders'
guiding doctrinal notion of Jerusalem as the most important place on earth.
Christian scholars adopted the T-O map for its simplicity, as had the classical
writers who first employed it. The Byzantine-Oxford T-O map treats this
expedient diagram as an emblem of conquest. Jerusalem was the focus of that
Conquest for more than two centuries of Crusaders, and it would remain the
center of attention on maps until the invention of printing and the publication
of Ptolemy in the 1470's.
These T-O maps, whether actually contained in the Etymologiarum of
Isidore, in later editions of the same, as modified derivatives thereof
(Sallusts, B-O T-O), or as maps that were merely influenced by the basic
design format (Hereford, Ebstorf, et.al.), were all very popular
and numerous during the Middle Ages in Europe. This can be evidenced by
the relatively large survival rate. At least eighty manuscripts, reaching
from the 8th (the Albi map, Slide #206) to
the 15th centuries, contain designs developed on the T-O pattern with surprisingly
similar characteristics. In fact, so influential and popular was Isidore's
treatise that it continued to be read right into the Renaissance period.
Isidore is quoted time and time again by such 15th century writers as Pierre
d'Ailly and even Christopher Columbus (Slide #238 ). In 1472 the Origines
was printed in an edition published by Gunther Zainer who displayed Isidore's
tripartite world-picture traditionally just as it had been handed down in
the manuscripts; this being so even though more accurate geographical knowledge
was obviously available at this time. Measuring just 2.5 inches in diameter,
this little woodcut diagram map has the added distinction of being the first
known map printed in Europe.
The T-O maps received their classical explanation in a 15th century poem
by the Italian historian, Leonardo Dati (1365 - 1424), in his La Sfera
(c.1420)
Un T denttro adun O monstra ildisegno
chome inttre partti fu diviso ilmondo
elasuperiore emagor rengno
chequasi pigla lameta delmondo
asia chiamatta elgrenbo ritto segno
chepartte iltterzo nome dalsechondo
africho dicho daleuropia elm
are mediteraneo traese imezzo apare.
[A T in an O gives us the division of the world into three parts.
The upper part and the greatest empire take nearly the half of the world.
It is Asia; the vertical bar is the limit dividing the third from the second,
Africa,
I say, from Europe; between them appear the Mediterranean Sea. ]
The T-O map tradition did not die out as a cartographic form of expression
until as late as the 17th century, as may be seen from a book such as the
Variae Orbis Universi, by Petrus Bertius, 1628.
REFERENCES:
*Beazley, C., The Dawn of Modern Geography, volume II, pp. 577-578; 628-632.
*Bricker, C., Landmarks in Mapmaking, p. 45.
*Brown, L., The Story of Maps, pp. 96-97.
*Brown, L.A., TheWorld Encompassed, numbers 9, 10, and 11.
*Destombes, M., Mappemondes, A.D. 1200-1500, 29-34, 54-64.
*Harley, J.B., The History of Cartography, Volume One, pp. 255, 301-303,
320, 343.
*Harvey, P.D.A., Medieval Maps, Plate 16 (color).
*Kimble, G., Geography of the Middle Ages, p. 23.
*Nebenzahl, K., Maps of the Holy Land, p. 33, Plates 3, 8, 9, 10 (color).
*Needham, J., Science and Civilisation in China, volume 3, pp. 529-531.
*Wright, J., Geographical Lore at the Time of the Crusades, pp. 66-67; 123.
* illustrated