11 Only·· NOfSe Map of America? A medieval map of the world, which century when one of tbe ·two main it is c1aimed " records in grapbic form Greenlalíd settlements was abandoned. the only do¡;umented pre-Columbian dis­ Tbe last .recotrded tr.affic between covery of America" is inc1uded in a lceland and GreenLand was be,tween volume published on borh sides of tbe 1406 and 1410, amd in 'spite of archaeo­ Atlantic todav*. lt is also said to be the logical and other ev'¡dence of occasional only known éxample of medieval Norse contact, Mr. Ske1JtJon holds that by the cartography. mididfte of tbe fi,jiteenrth cen,tury "the The map was in a cali-bound volume detaüed ~'now!edge ,acaumulated by tbe abo containing a previously unknown Norsemen ,about t:he Jiands in t:he west account of Friar Jonn de Plano Carpini's bad .passed out of European ooulSCiolUS­ mission to the Mongols in 1245-47 (The lless ". Tartar Relation) acquired eight year~ It would be misleadring to tJhink of the ago from a private collection in Europe medieval Norseme.n s'ai1ing 'lInder con­ by MI. Laurence Witten, an antiquarian ditions similar to those of t'Orlay. CLima­ bookseller of New Haven. Connecticut. tologists were agreed tihat f,or tbe period When it was fi:rst examined by Mr. between A.D. 950 ,allid 1200 tÍlhere was Thomas E. M'arston, Cu~atÜ'f M'edie­ clea1' eviÍdence oí greater warmtb in lce­ oi Green~and. v'a,l Renais.s'ance LiteratllJre lat Yale, and land land But a deteáol1a­ Mr. AJeX'ander O. Yietor, Our,ator of triJan set [ni during tlhe tlhifiteCnltih century. Maips, Y'ale Unive~si!ty Libr131ry, vhey Mr. Skelton considers tbe outline of could not be sure Itbe map was authen­ G reenland in tbe Vinland Map lo be so tk. As MIL Mar,;ton writes: "Both accurate that it can only be tbe result of map and manuscript were slightly fi rst-hand knowledge' gained by sailing along the coasts before ice made this wormed, but tbe wo'rm holes were not impossible. The apparent precisio'n of tbe on thesame positions in the two parts. nor~hern .. Even mo.re discoTIcerting was the fact coastline malees bim wonder whetber rhe cartographer added a tbeore­ that the map bore the unex,pJ.ained tical north coast, or if in tact conditions words: 'Delineation of the first part, aUowed medieval Norsemen to antici­ the second pal't Qand) tbe third pa,rt o,f pate Peary's circumnavigation of tbe Speculum (mirror) '." Greenland. Early in 1958 Mr. Marston hap­ pened to order a manascript of part -BY WORD OF MOUTH by>t'tn:;rhtrte~ oí a o,rle e eta¡ e rawing of the west Dorninican friar Yincent of Beauwüs, coasts of Greenland leads tbe author to Which he bad noticed rn the catalogue oí believe tbat the original ,outline was a Loudon booksdler. This was the traced before tbe abandonment of the Speculum Historiale (Min'or ot'History). westem settlement in the first balf of tbe f('lurteenth century. WORMHOLE EVIDENC~ But w'hy should a cbal't be made? lf, Afier its arrival in New Haven, Mr. as a11 the evidence suggests, tbe Norse­ Witten discovered that the manuscript men sailed by astronomical observation, Nevertheles~, matcbed tbe map and the account of the tbey did not need maps. given their ability to work out tbeir visit to tbe Mongols. "Tbe hand was northitig by tJhe 'stars, "we are entitled the same, the watermarks of the paper to ma,ke tbe furtber inference tbat vhey were the same; and the worm boles could determine ·tbe 'approximate lati­ sbowed tbat the map had been at tbe tude of conspicuous coastal features'·. front of the volume and The Tartar To tbe west of Greenland is shown Relation at the back." Vinlanda lnsula. As the Norse voyages The mund-tnip of 8,000 miles from to Y'¡nland, He11uland, and Markland, Lyons to the court of tbe Mongols made variously identified as parts of wbat is by Carpini at tbe bidding of Pope now Newfoundland, or the Canadian lnnocent IV tbree years ajjter the and American mainlands, were over 100 Mongol tidal waveswept back from years before the writing of lcelandic Europe is already known from tbe history began in tbe twelfth century, it friar's own accounts. The Tartar is pointed out that this outline must be Relation. the Latin manuscript of which tJbe result of transmission by word of is repmduced, witb the text edited and moutb. "In the circumstances we oould transIated by MI. George D. Painter, expect from such a map no more than a Assistant Keeper of Printed Books in the general indication of the ooasts in ques­ Britisb Museum, c~mplements Carpini's tion and of tbeir' most con8picuous own version. features," But the prime interest inevitably shifts The Yinland Map la180 carries state­ from the section of the map illustrating ments that c:haUen.ge traditional versions tbe Carpini mission to the outlines of of tbe Norse disoovery of Arnetica. The Greenland and Vinland, tbe name be­ fourteentb-century Tale oi 'the Greel/­ lieved to have been given by Leif Erics­ landers gives tlhe credit to Bjarni Her­ son at the opening of the eleventh joliswestern settlement in the first half oI the f"urteenth century. WORMHOLE---- EVIDENCE But why should a "ha!"t be made? lf, After its arrival in New Haven, Mr. as a11 tihe evidence suggests, the Norse­ Witten discovered that the manuscript men sailed by astronomical observation, matched the map and the account of the they did not need maps. Nevertheless, given their abi'lity to work out their visit to the Mongols. "The hand. was northing by the stars, "we are entidOO the same, the watermarks of the paper to ma,ke the further inference that t'hey were the same; and the worm holes could determine the ,approximate lati­ showed that the map had been at the tude of conspieuons coastal features ". front of the volJme and The Tartar To the west of Greenland is shown Relation at the backo" Vinlanda lnsulao As the Norse voyages . The round-tni,p of 8,000 miles from to V~n1and, Helluland, and Markland, Lyons to tihe court of the Mongols made variously identified as parts of what is by Carpini at the bidding of Pope now Newfoundland, or the Canadian Innocent IV three years a:fiter the and American mainlands, were over 100 Mongol tidal wave swept back from years before the writing of !celandic Eumpe . is already known from the history began in the twelfth century, it friar's own accountso The Tartar is pointed out that this outline must be Relation. t'he Latin manuscript of which Vhe result of transrmssion by word of is reproduced, with the text edited and moutho "In the circumstances we oouId translated by MI. George Do Painter, expect from suoh a map no more than a Assistant Keeper of Printed Books in the general indication of the coasts in ques­ British Museum, complements Carpini's tion and of their' most conspicuous own version. features." . But the prime ifiterest inevitably slúfts The Vinland Map lalso car'ries ¡¡tate­ from the section of the map illustrating ments tobat dhaUenge traditional versious the Carpini mission to the outlines oi of the N OIse discovery of America. The Greenla,nd and Virul:and, fue name be­ fourteenth-eentury Tale 01 'the Green­ lievOO to have been given by Leif Erics­ landers gives tlhe credit to BJami Her­ son at the opening of the ellfventh jolfsson; the Saga 01 Eirik the Red , century to a land where vines grew some­ awards the honour to Leif Ericsson. where west of Greenland. Aocording to the Vinland Map, Bjarni (no other name is given) and Leif Eiriks­ Mo,S!t of the Vin'1and map, says Mr. son disc'o.vered Vinland together. How­ R. Ao SkeIton, who is superintendent of ever, MI. Skehon polÍnts out, the two 1Jle Map Room at the British' Museum, aocounts may have become mergOO in has strong affinities with a circular world othe map's version. map in the 1436 atlas of Andrea Bianco Marciil-n~- • • • o • • le -"'---'B*Sl:;E AS' SOURCE 1­

at Velllceo Both, tor example, place . . .0 Mount Sinai and Basra in Africa The prov1s~onal concluslOn reached 13 o . o that the map 1S based on two prototypes, . Whatever the ongm of the common that for the Old World presumably forms ,anderrof:S, Wlheuher the C3:rto­ dating from the late fourteenth or early grapher. of the Vmland Map took them fifthteenth century, while the Atlantic from Blanco or fr,?ffi a c,?mmon proto­ parrt may date from the thirteenth Qr type.. MI. SkeIton lS convmced that t?e early fourteenth centurieso outlmes oí !celand, Greenland, ~nd Vm­ MI. Marston says that aH the evidence land were drawn at the same hme and points to the Upper Rhineland " as the by the same hand as the rest. As lat~ as source oí origin of the manuscript, t.he fifteent.h century, however, Madelra, paper, binding, and paleography". What the Can:anes, the Azo.res. 'and Ice1and is left-of rthe binding "places it about were put at the western edge of the map. the middle oí the fifteentli century. Its­ paper, usua11y secbndary evidence, is in CHANGED< CLIMATE this case oí primary importance and MI. Skelton 3Jrgues that .. so long as dates it about 1440, a date that fits in the Norse (or any previous) discovery with aH the other' evidence." r·emained unknown to cartographers, 01" 'To pinpoint the source of the manu­ at any rate reoorded ·in a form which script's origin is "highly speoulative, ~hey could use, no true Atlantie chart but there seems to be sufficient evidenee couId be made befme ,the discoveríes to point to the Swiss town of Basle", " of Cabo,t andlOolumbus, and none has the seat of a chureh council which in faot survived. The western pant oí brought scholars together from a11 over nhe Vinland Map, taken as a whole, has Europe between 1431 and 1449. "Where t'herefo.re no extant antecedent and may else could such a product as this be be cited as the olde~t map of the north p.repared, combining an east European Atlantic Ocean in existenceo" aecount oí a mission to the Mongols !celand, settled by the Norsemen had with a medieval historical teit 3!nd .a remained in contact first with, No~way map of northern European Ofigin ? " 'and increasingly during the fourteenth AIthough no direct link has been and fifteenth centuries with other eoun­ established between the Vinland Map tries in.weste¡;n. Europe. notably Eng­ and the rediseoverers of America, lando Greenland was also linked with MI. SkeIton finds it "coneeivable that Norway and !celand, but these ties they had heard of the Vikil1g voyages " weakened in the course of the fourteenth and that the example of the Norse sea­ men was "an incentive for their own ventures"o Of this Norse initiative in *R, A. Skel~on. Thomas E. Marston, and George Do Pamte{: The V,inland Map and crossing t),le oeean, "the Vinland Map The Tartar RelatLOn, 29Jpp. Yale Univer­ is a memorial "0 Sl'ty Press, 10580 Map on page 26

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