Medieval world map, Mappa Mundi, what does it show? (We get close up to this national treasure)
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- čas přidán 8. 01. 2019
- How did the medieval person see the world?
Geography, mythology and religion are all intertwined in this work of medieval brilliance.
Credits:
Director, Camera, Sound, Editor Kasumi
Presenter Jason Kingsley OBE
with thanks to Hereford Cathedral and staff
Music licensed from PremiumBeat. - Zábava
This channel is the quality that tv used to be.
Totally agree. This channel reminds me so much of whatvi used to love about the history channel. A little bit of fun and some embellishment surrounding a strong core of facts and education. I hope they keep it going!
@Martin Luther Care to explain why? We could make a list of the reasons it sucked and nail it some network's door.
No wonder people see it as a tool to deliberately make its viewers stupid.
@Martin Luther Then you must be either you or watched the wrong channels.
Well put.
Your humble yet passionate approach to the medieval world makes it a huge loss for the BBC not to have you on their payroll. Thank you for your videos.
Jason doesn't need the BBC payroll, google him. We benefit hugely by him being able to do what he likes.
@@bcaye I did not say it was Jason's loss ;) but thanks for the hint, I wasn't aware of his professional background :)
The state of BBC and their goal of political correctness would ruin this show. I hope he stays independent for as long as he can
How would political correctness be an issue with these vids?
what station broadcasts him?
Can you just imagine tho? There you are, an illiterate peasant, never travelled more than a days walk away, and you make the big pilgrimage to Hereford. The grandeur, the wealth, the power. And here's the map. You look at the pictures and all the stories you've ever heard come flooding back and you UNDERSTAND how you and it all fits together. Incredible...
This channel is reminding me why I love medieval literature so much. Thank you.
Lovely framing of that experience.
and somehow, (not to get political or religious) we've been duped to believe we evolved billions of years from stardust and that life has no real meaning.
@@justinwayne445 Gimme a boody break! And keep your fairy tales to yourself!
I imagine Richard of Holdingham would get a kick out of knowing his map was still contributing to the cathedral's upkeep 700 years later!
What I found even more interesting is that at that time most artists didn't apply their names to their creations since they saw their skills as being a gift from God and didn't want to take credit for what they saw not as their skill, but as God's work through their hands. Maybe by this time that was no longer being done.
@Michelle I feel this comes down more to people not knowing how to read or write at the time. The writing we do have from the medieval period also tends to be quite difficult to read, perhaps because it wasn't commonly done so they didn't have as much practice doing it? Compare that to modern times where we have a pretty unified style of writing (beyond calligraphy) whilst signatures tend to be more unique to the individual. So I figure that if someone did sign something with a signature back then, it probably wouldn't be recognised as them "signing" it in the first place.
Artist's Marks are quite common in comparison, with quite a lot of viking-era swords having such marks on them and, of course, the wax-seal of letters that would often bear the mark of the writer.
The creator of the map asked that future generations say a prayer for him.
@@cindyknudson2715 And so I will. Because his map has Christ and Eden at the top I learned something about why the north is at the top of our modern maps. Who dictates that.
@@suzannehartmann946 Maybe the British Empire did.
I was born in Hereford and it was a weekend treat to be taken to the cathedral by my parents and I clearly remember the map hanging on the wall in an old wooden frame opposite the doorway to the chained library. I don't think we appreciated exactly what it was at that time.
I saw something recently about the creation of the modern map of the London Underground. Its genius of clarity was that it did not try to be accurate to every bend and angle, but instead communicated clearly the salient points: which line should I take, what's my connection, and where are my beginning and end points.
Likewise, this map wasn't trying to be accurate in the way we would want an atlas map to be. It had a different purpose.
Thank you, as always, for these excellent, informative videos.
I think you should take a look at the Tabula Peutingeriana. It has exactly the same idea as charts of all kinds of undergrounds (never seen other maps for undergrounds tbh) but with actual roads.
Also, it would have been nearly impossible to have all the geographical aspects being somewhat accurate at least.
Because they didn't have printing press nor Internet. It's pretty remarkable how he got the cities and location at least.
The ones that could do the best maps where the ones who lived where a big huge library existed, like in Italy I guess.
Thanks
The Map Deception
czcams.com/video/wV_in-gg8Pg/video.html
Just about every subway I've been to has that kind of map. Why would it have accurate representation of bends and corners? You're on a train. It's just a sequence of stops in a fixed order.
I've discovered this channel a few days ago and I absolutely love it, it's marvellous! Thank you, Jason, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm for medieval period.
Man, this channel is a gem, I felt the same thing when I discovered Paul Harrell`s one.
Same here. I haven't managed to get very much done since!
@@ggerely i see you are also a man of culture
yes, i just recently found this channel, and i told my son whom is 17 yrs, that he should check it out. .and of course he says, "Mom, i have already watched that channel!"..lol
Sounds good to me.
Your passion for medieval history is so contagious.
QUAG Great choice of words for the times
@@dudpistachio4187 lhmomds
I love that he pointed out the "remember me" message left by the cartographer.
Good job, Richard of Holdingham, your Mappa Mundi is beautiful. & thank you for showing us it, Jason & the Modern History team.
In one of my studies, I just heard a historian call this a map of life, not just an attempted map of land. It encompasses pagan beliefs and emerging Christianity. Unlike you, he did not explore the importance of color. I know you were onto something. I studied Medieval painting in Italy, and yes, color is a message. Good questions.
I live in Hereford and I've visited that map so very many times. You never run out of things to notice or study with it, the level of detail and quality of the images are quite remarkable.
Do you know if the map used to be displayed in the public library on Broad Street? That would have been late 60s, early to mid 70s, when I used to stay in Hereford for Easter holidays every year.
@@fburton8 It may have been in the museum area upstairs at the library at some point, but that's just a little before my time so I couldn't say for sure. I know that by the 80s it was housed in the crypt at the cathedral and now it has it's own building next door. I hope Jason found a way of getting into the chained library in the cathedral whilst he was visiting the map, there are some beautiful old tomes up there.
EDIT:
Just remembered, there was a 1:1 copy of the map on display as you entered the library for many years (dunno if it's still there, not visited the place in over a decade!). The cathedral is only just across the street from there though, literally stone-throwing distance.
@@Veklim That's interesting, thanks. Yes, it could well have been a copy that was displayed in the museum area of the library. It was a long time ago and my memory is a bit hazy.
czcams.com/video/hE0NH5YvL8o/video.html
Wow, I'm fascinated. Such a historical nugget within your vicinity. I'm an American who's traveled little, within my own state. Good for you, I say!
I’m so glad that you’re channel is finally getting more attention! I remember when your channel first started off and I was so mad that such quality content wasn’t being enjoyed
Thanks, it’s been fun, and subs numbers are rising nicely now. Thanks for being there early!
I grew up in Shropshire and can remember the great excitement in the mid 70's, aged about 11, going to Hereford Cathedral especially to see the Mappa Mundi (quite a distance). Great presentation - thank you!
Me too! Used to stay with my grandparents in Hereford every Easter holiday in the 70s and would take the bus into the town centre to visit the Cathedral (where my grandfather tuned and repaired the organ), library, bookshops etc. My memory of the Mappa Mundi was that it was in a room somewhere inside the public library on Broad Street, but I could be completely wrong about that!
@@fburton8 Somebody else said the same thing, about it being there, in their long ago childhood, too.
This is hands down my favourite historical - reenactment channel. Fantastic production quality and solid content. This could easily be on Netflix as a documentary / experimental archeology series.
It has the same quality that time team had back in its day. I miss interesting programs like this. There isn't much interesting stuff on TV anymore. They show adverts in the middle of a program and loads of it is now reality TV from America and it just sucks. At least in Germany is the TV just awful.
Why would you say that ? It's too good for Netflix.
I agree!
Pedoflix doesnt deserve this.
@@MissMoyer5678 American tv is probably the world's worst. It's the worst I've seen for sure, unless you spend $200 to $300 a month for premium channels of dubious quality. The only really good channel is Tuner Classic Movies, or TCM. It's great! But it's on the 3rd tier, so you can't get it without first paying for the tiers, then paying for it, so like I said, you pay 2 to 300$ a month for that here in Western Canada. And you recieve very few good channels for that! Just a lot of crap.
Seriously dude, you have some of the most amazing perspectives on the world. I've seen a lot of discussions on old maps, but I've never seen anyone think about the calf that gave its life to make the map. Even more, you actually displayed emotion about it! Thank you for enriching the topic.
👍👍from your oldphart fan in Bangkok
I thought about that quite a bit! But then I've had friends who were calfs. Seriously.
Thank you Richard the Scribe. We all appreciate your epic map. We will remember you.
This is so fascinating........ to have the wisdom of restrospect in 2019... it would be incredibly easy to laugh at stuff like this... but I find this beautiful and fascinating and wonderful as a representation of a time that has always been my favourite.
Thank you Jason and co who produce such wonderful and free videos that are better than most things found on television today!
Ally Smith
Something isn’t right with you if you at least didn’t laugh at the creature who farted on hunters to kill them! :)
@@anti-ethniccleansing465 try to think like those people did in those times it may sound funny now but they were serious about it. they thought the plague was caused by tiny devils, thats not that far away from the truth if you see corona nowadays ;-)
Absolutely love your work, very thorough and well focused. Good to see there's still a desire for content that's not reality TV garbage.
Thanks.
Amen to that Dann Daniel.
You are an incredible teacher. Thank you for these videos and your knowledge. I wonder if you are a time traveller and you have lived in the medieval world. 🙂🌠
Jennifer Deharte Jason is no doubt a time traveller 😊😊
Mapi were not maps as we think of them. They were visual encyclopedia of history
Its more like an Info-graphic
Mappae mundi
Precisely. The symbols represented ideas, not a literal representation of what resided in that region per se, i.e., mythical beasts.
@@zeddez1005 Beware of what you say. When we say mythical, we automatically assume something that doesn't exist. But back then, it was a different story: they really believed those monsters existed. This can be seen in works like encyclopedias back then: explanation from the real world were mixed with mythical information. Real creatures were shown alongside mythical ones, and treated in the same manner. And real animals would sometimes get mythical characteristics.
This is because people barely travelled, didn't have pictures or the internet to see the real thing. Hearsay was incredibly important: monks who wrote those books heard stories from sailors and travellers that had seen exotic animals, but they themselves never actually saw them themselves - but if you hear stories about similar creatures quite often, you will belief those stories to be true - and sailors would belief sea-monsters to be real and would see them when encountered with unexplained situations. Combine that with a really traditionalistic society and you understand why that map, in the mind of people, represented a world that was real in their minds. You could compare it to UFO sightings today: those people really belief they have seen UFO's, but in most cases it's easily disproven so the idea that it really was an alien doesn't spread. However, that last part was difficult back then.
czcams.com/video/hE0NH5YvL8o/video.html
A creature that farts and kills men doesnt exist? Clearly you have never met my uncle tony! Informative video man.
Clearly he's never been to Washington DC.
@@howtubeable The farting cows of AOC?
@@Mr_Right Must be those terrifying sea cows (manatees).
I believe that the creature depicted on the map is an ancestor of my dog. He’s definitely inherited that trait.
I was thinking somebody ran into a skunk and talked it up a bit.
This gives me inspiration for a dnd campaign.
Do it!
awesome!
What is dnd?
Is it a game where the players are using a royal church's map in search of something grand, and they can never find it because their gigantic map is so innacurate?
awesome, how was it?
you are really dedicated to your work and aid to bring history out of the academic cellars to the people outside. Thanks god it is far-off the garbage of the likes of "history channels". Go on!
I think the map itself is amazing, but the messege at the end from the guy who draw it touched me the most.
I thoroughly enjoy the way in which you do not interject your opinions into your accounts of the past, i.e., religion, mythology, as well as the plight of the animal which was sacrificed for this map. After sitting here and watching your channel, I subbed without further contemplation. You do an exceptional job on these presentations. Kudos, Ace.
This channel is pure gold. I wish more success to it, I m doing for sure my part in sharing it. This is the good side of youtube, finally. Also you speak very well and I have no problem at all, and as for english (uk) language this is not so common. Keep on the amazing work!!!
Three years later....still a great video. I appreciate the research you put into preparing your videos. Thank you.
Probably my favourite episode thus far. Hope you get more opportunities to take us through historical artefacts like this. I always love looking over maps in medieval fantasy novels to get a sense of where characters have come and gone. I’ve always noticed large resemblances between these maps and old, actual medieval maps in terms of how they visualise the world (vast, unexplored west ocean, disproportionally large western land, and mystically depicted eastern boarders)
You spelled favorite wrong
@@codyburk84 Hey, rumour has it that your behaviour is meant to be humorous, but honestly, the humour flies right over my head.
What the creator of the map says is an equivalent of modern "Put your thumbs up & subscribe!".
Im old enough to remember when the history channel used to be like this
Wonderful video. Beautiful piece of history to share. Thank you.
Interesting observation you made on Sicily. I think the medievals were aware of its shape because it was also known as Trinacria ('three caps' in English).
Recently reading about the Bayeux tapistry reminded me of this Mappa Mundi video. The tapistry (embroidery) is part History and part propaganda. As Jason explained so well, the Mappa Mundi is part Myth and part geographical representation. Both would seem to have been important to Medieval English viewers attempting to put themselves into historical and spiritual context. This video continues to be very informative and thought provoking.
This was fantastic! Thank you Jason! Thank you Richard!
Loving your channel. Only been a couple of days now and I've learned so much information about the daily lives of our ancestors. I can't do much with it. But I can be grateful for what I have now; grateful for what they left behind and grateful to you and everyone else that has help preserve and spread this information.
Jason is amazing. Soothing voice combined with a wealth of knowledge.
So excited for a new video! Found your channel recently but I'm loving the joy that comes from your presentation style. Keep on posting because you've for sure gained another fan.
Thank you so much for this. This is an amazing video on medieval maps. Great quality.
This video is fantastic! I believe you really understand the medieval way of looking at things and you have a great ability to convey this outlook to us modern viewers! The Mappa Mundi in Hereford is such a great way to understand the Medieval paradigm.
The Hereford Map is, like the author of the video states, more of a symbolic representation and a tool of education and propaganda, and it's purpose was to taught the common people about Christian cosmology and worldview. These kind of maps are called "T and O maps" and are commonly found in medieval European manuscripts.
Although these maps are found in greater number than other types, they don't give an accurate representation of medieval European cartography. Most surviving medieval literature is religious in nature because they were prestige pieces that were carefully stored by clergy and made with quality materials. Profane stories and practical literature did of course exist but wore out by everyday use and harsh conditions and were probably manufactured from cheaper materials.
Accurate graphical sea charts for sailors and merchants did exist (in Europe there were so called portolan charts from 13th century and beyond) and even more common were rutters, which were log books (with little drawings) of various ports, landmarks and travel instructions and distances between them. Rutters have been known since the ancient times and were used by sailors all around from China to Europe.
Thanks Jason for another fascinating video!
This is by far one of the most fascinating history videos on CZcams, or anywhere. I've had to come back and watch this video again. It's just a wonderful video!
Thanks it was wonderful to be close to it and film there.
This is a very high quality program and I wish there were many many more like you. The art of tasteful historical education is something you and your team have a great hand at. Thank you for this show.
This channel is absolutely amazing, Jason you are an amazing educator and you have an amazing channel.
Congrats for the Chanel...I'm a history teatcher from Brasil (Brazil) and love u vídeos, for the acuracy and "cientific" measure of history, with no fancy, no fantasy...great job, keep on going!
Oh Jason, that is so so wonderful ... thank you for sharing this ... stunning ...
Fantastic episode! So glad I found your channel Sir Jason!
wow.. this was a random video that came up. I love history like this. So much time and effort would have gone into that map. I bet he worked on it for years. Thank you for the sharing of world history.
The observation about the blending of myth, legend, and reality brings to mind the fact that C.S. Lewis -- who incorporated all these elements in his works -- was a Medieval scholar.
Thanks for this! Love your enthusiasm and personal touch when explaining things.
And thanks to Richard of Holdingham for his passion and contribution to posterity that he's blessed us with for many centuries!
Outstanding video. Thank you so much. Bless
Yes, Richard of Holdingham, we are remembering you and admiring your fascinating mappa mundi in the 21st century. Just discovered this channel today and of course subbed. Thank you for this informative video, Jason!
Politics of youtube aside, it can be such a wonderful place to learn from all sorts of passionate people willing to share their knowledge. This video and channel is an example of that.
I've never heard of this map and it's fascinating how it's not intended to be super accurate. Just accurate enough to get you where you want to go.
This map wouldn't be used for travelling. It was made to give people an image about what the world looks like, where places like Jerusalem and Rome are, showing some of the myths and legends that they have heard of (which were considered to be true by the way), and stuff like that, expanding their local minds a bit.
@@MasterBombadillo True, this wouldn't be a map you'd use for traveling purposes. But it would show you in the broadest of terms where you were starting from and where you wanted to go.
And then plan accordingly. :)
@@MJkatzTheWriter I don't think it would've been used for even that reason. People barely travelled back then, and if they did - even in the case of merchants - I doubt they would've needed a map of the whole world to go where they wanted to go. Pilgrims would take the pilgrim routes, merchants would follow their own markets in regions and sailors would travel based on coast lines. Information of where to go was readily available by just asking experienced people.
The moment sailors began to use the compass around the 12th century and thus required accurate maps, protolan charts were developed, and these were really accurate.
No, those T-O maps provided a symbolic purpose, not a practical one.
quickly becoming my favourite YT channel. what a legend and a pleasure he is to watch.
Love your videos, and I'm delighted that you did this one. I wish there had been more zoom ins in particular areas as you talked about them.
I love the empathy you have for the medieval people. Where so many "scholars" scoff at them and call them stupid, you wisely recognize that the medieval people often communicated truths and ideas through poetic and non literal means. To take a purely empirical approach short changes the depth of their work. It's the same mistake some people make reading, say, Genesis, which is Hebrew poetry, and yet they read it like science. They miss the depth when they do that. But you are wise enough to see things from their perspective and recognize the genius, the depth, the beauty, and, yes, the truths communicated in these medieval works. It's admirable, and I wish more historians were like you.
Thank you. I try to imagine what life was like back then whilst remembering we're basically just the same in most ways.
Indeed. It makes me think of the Scriptural phrase, "Nihil novi sub sole." There is nothing new under the sun. People are still people.
How beautiful! Thank you very much for sharing.
Beautifully presented. Thank you
Thank you ! I greatly enjoy your program . Amazing
WOW! that is beautiful! thank you for doing this!
“So, what do you want to watch tonight? Watch a group of truly irrelevant men, women and men/women, sitting in a “jungle camp” bitching about how much “hardship” they are going through (while collecting tens of thousands of pounds in doing so), or learn something really amazing and fascinating?”
Simon I agree 100%. You’d comment Is so poignant today.
Thank you, Mr. Kingsley. That was... excellent. Your presentation was informative and inspirational. I enjoyed it immensly.
Our pleasure.
Thank you for this channel. Awesome!
I feel like this man should be named a world treasure.... the amount of respect for this stuff that just bursts through this guy is amazing and inspiring.
where has this channel been? i just discovered it and have been binge watching all evening....thank you Jason!
Thank you Jason! From one history lover to another - keep up the fine work. You are a treasure!
Jason, I sincerely hope you keep doing content like this. Incredible stuff. Thank you.
Great!
I knew of the mappa mundi in florence, which is actually a sphere and from a few centuries later than the one presented here. Didn't know of the layering and combination of many different aspects on top of the geographical one. Explained very well and with lots of enthusiasm. Really enjoyed this video, thanks!
Thank you for sharing this, I find it very very interesting 👏
Thank you for such an interesting channel! This was a great episode!!!! Thank you Richard.
Thanks for another amazing episode--incredibly educational and informative as always! First read about this mappa mundi in A History of the World in Twelve Maps, and it's an amazing insight into the lives and psychological makeup of medieval persons...
your information is amazing and I swear you are up there with Bob Ross and Steve Ervin as being truly interested and passionate about your work and teaching it.
Very interesting map since it's so extremely inaccurate. The precise knowledge of geography today is pretty amazing in comparison. I have a huge world map on my room wall, which I barely look at, and that map would probably be invaluable back then. BUT it doesn't have cool mythology and theology written all over it, which sounds pretty great to have
It's not so much a map as a piece of art. Contemporary maps used by sailors and traders for actually getting someplace were much more accurate.
Like he said in the video, it really isnt a map but a representation of religious ideas and myth mixed with some basic geographical locations.
It would be like someone looking at a picasso in 2000 years and claiming it must have been our literal take of reality.
Invaluable? No way. They would have called you even a witch master or a mad person with your map :)
What hit me is that it's sort of like a subway transit map. The locations aren't precise, but it does show you how to get to where you're going. Things are in order, but represented in a way that's easier to comprehend. Maybe those islands in the middle shoot that idea down, but that's what came to my mind.
@@djwebmail those transit maps are simplified for the sake of quick comprehension. It's information-reduction.
This is officially my favorite CZcams channel! Please never stop uploading!!
Love this!!!! Your documentary shorts are so informative and interesting!
There should be these kinds of great channels about different geographies from distinct periods.
Love it! This is quality content!!
Thanks
May residents of the future find your films and appreciate the sensitivity, honesty and enthusiasm with which you share your world/our world with others!!! A nice day and weekend to you- 'over there'. Ha! Across the pond! 😊
Fantastic channel! I've discovered a love for medieval history that I never knew I had! Thank you
One man’s message to the future. As are all of our CZcams videos. Thank you for your quality content.
Keep inspiring an interest in history!
Another incredible and thought-provoking video. Thank you so much, yours is indeed the best channel on offer. All the best for a happy and productive year.
Incredible video, it really drew me in. Just fantastic that we have these artefacts giving tremendous insight into the mind of medieval people, and your presentation and final words regarding Richard of Holdingham made it full circle. Hands down the best channel on CZcams for this stuff!
Thanks.
I live near the town where this is housed, but I've never learnt as much as I have about it from just this one video
Fascinating portrayal of something I knew nothing about heretofore. As a token of my appreciation, I subscribed.
It's not Heretofore, the place is Hereford. 😄
Jason
magic comments and wonderful series.
My thoughts and yours are Spot On and enjoy your presentations.
Love maps as a FRICS worked all over the UK and also a PPL just do have maps in my head!!
Also love History and do have my chain mail etc !!!!
Such a Sad Old man that I am!!!
Awesome video. Love the content on this channel!
"The skin (vellum) of one calf, poor thing..." Thank you for that little pause of sensitivity for a living creature.
@funkmasterjee Haha Each to his own!!
yet he eats them thus killing more animals - im not blaming him because like I was, he's unaware that his logic is hypercritical and deep down knows eating animal products is wrong.
@@RyanTheCreator
Killing and Eating animals is perfectly alright
This is why today we still use the expression "to orient oneself" the east was the reference direction
🤯
Damn...
I would pay for daily content in this depth and manner. I find all of these videos incredibly enlightening and relaxing.
Fantastic video. Well DONE.
your channel is gaining subscribers fast! that's great, when I subscribed you weren't even at 100k yet. This channel deserves praise!
I love European medieval maps - always easy to find my home on it.
(Live in Jerusalem.) :P
BTW, Paris has started restoring churches to their original bright colours. Sainte-Chapelle is a fine example.
Jerusalem is a beautiful and wonderful place. I hope it doesn't get destroyed by any fighting! My grandfather was born in Yafa, Jerusalem.
Never Gonnatell it’s still better than Islam and killing children like pagans
@@KristinkaAranova ignorant shit
You are producing a really high standard of work, I keep ending up back here watching your videos
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you, sir.
My neck hurts from leaning left to look at the map.
Anyway, imagine the task given to these people: "Alright we need you to draw the map of the world on a cow's hide, so that we can display it for a hundreds of years." Cartographer: "Yeah, I'm gonna leave my Instagram username for future references." I feel connected to the guy who drew the map,
That map is gorgeous.
Great points you made! I loved it.
I love this series, calms me.