Mappa Mundi Obscura

A mappa mundi is any medieval European map of the world. The term derives from the Medieval Latin words mappa (cloth or chart) and mundi (of the world). To modern eyes, mappae mundi can look superficially primitive and inaccurate. However, mappae mundi were never meant to be used as navigational charts and they make no pretence of showing the relative areas of land and water.

The maps in this collection are not — strictly speaking — mappae mundi, as they span several centuries. However, in the spirit of preserving knowledge and providing the opportunity for enriching these maps with further illustration, each in its own way becomes a mappa mundi.

Obscura is a Latin word meaning intricate, complicated, unknown or unrecognized, a reference to the many unknowns in these maps and the many unknowables of this world.