Geographical image of the world in the London Psalter Maps from the 13th century

Abstract

The subjects of this paper are two maps from the 13th century Psalter, found in London. These are the Psalter World Map and the Psalter List Map. Both maps are designed in the shape of a circular disk, modeled on medieval mappae mundi T-O type. The first is a pictorial map, the second is descriptive. The primary goal of these maps was not to objectively present geographical reality, but to express biblical symbolism and medieval Christian cosmology and thus serve as a reminder in devotional practice. By their deconstruction, we discover not only the religious Christian view of the world, but also the historical and cultural representations of medieval people projected on a geographical basis. Maps from the London Psalter have so far been viewed more as a "religious document" than as an objective "geographical image" and a "historical document". Therefore, they were rarely used as a historicalgeographical source. The aim of this paper is to deconstruct the text and context of the mentioned two maps and thus interpret their imaginative geography and geographical representations, the meaning of symbols and toponyms, which may be of interest to researchers dealing not only with historical cartography but also with historical and human geography.