Mappa Mundi: The greatest map of the medieval world | BBC Global

On the second floor of the Library of Saint Marks in Venice, Italy, a map of the world occupies an entire room.
The Mappa Mundi, completed by Italian monk and cartographer Fra Mauro in 1459 AD, is the compendium of all the geographical knowledge of the time and is arguably the greatest medieval map of the world.
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[@LudicrousPlatypus]

My "Map Men" bros go way back with the mappa mundi

[@thomash6933]

MAP MEN MAP MEN MAP MAP MAP MEN MEN

[@timmmahhhh]

​@@thomash6933...men men men men men men men men...

[@paxamericanafilms]

Thumbnail did its job

[@raclark2730]

Men of culture.

[@Bhisma_official369]

😂😂😂yeah

[@hohepa8501]

Nice maps

[@steinnhjalmir]

Fo sho

[@acarna6669]

I thought I was alone 😂

[@craigwendler7204]

Audio levels are all over the place, and many shots are lacking basic color correction. Come on BBC, you're better than this!

[@adamfrbs9259]

You're way too far down your own rabbit hole on this topic. The general public is pretty stupid, I mean c'mon, McDonald's added numbers to the meal combos decades ago to help idiots order food. Most people are too high or dumb or both to even notice lol.

[@grondhero]

No, they're not. Not really. 😂

[@FSVR54]

@@grondhero 20 year ago, but not today

[@maxfmfdm]

The standard is sadly rock bottom today.

[@hugolafhugolaf]

No they are not.

[@pitmanra]

Who did the sound levels for this video?

[@CubicSpline7713]

KZbin is supposed to automatically correct, but failed here.

[@OutWestRedDirt]

​@@CubicSpline7713this isn't a ma and pa video, sound got failed by creator and KZbin

[@binchamers]

@@CubicSpline7713youtube cant fix audio levels between multiple things in the video bro

[@hugolafhugolaf]

Someone hired by the BBC based on diversity criteria instead of actual competence.

[@user-fe1gb9uc1t]

@@hugolafhugolaf if that's your first thought, perhaps go away and have a nice time and cheer up

[@christianfrommuslim]

I would like to see more detail on the map and its locations.

[@danidejaneiro8378]

google is your friend

[@RogySan]

It literally says in the video that the map was made in the 15th century by the venician monk Fra Mauro and that it is kept in the Library of Saint Mark in Venice, also known as Biblioteca Marciana.

[@christianfrommuslim]

@@RogySan Yes, the location of the map was clear. I was asking it for more details on the locations illustrated on the map, the understanding of the world as it was at the time, and how that has changed. This would of course require a much longer video.

[@mrquirky3626]

I don't think I can post the link here but if you search for 'mappa mundi' on the BBC news web site for the article, it contains a link in the ninth paragraph to an interactive digital version of the map where you can zoom right in and see all the details.

[@Dave1507]

You know where it is now...

[@TheAlchaemist]

The website of the Museo Galileo has an entire site dedicated to this map, which includes (buried in section 2) the possibility of navigating it in great detail. It's great to be able to zoom in and see the details, read the places, identify where they are today. Keep in mind that it also has little drawings of palaces, temples, sepulchers, etc. It's like being Indiana Jones on a budget. There's also a "fra-mauro-transcriptions" PDF somewhere online, that has the list of all the toponyms, and texts translated and annotated relating the map to modern day.

[@-zorkaz-5493]

The biggest Mappa Mundi is in Hereford Cathedral. It hung on a wall there unprotected and unstudied for centuries before anybody thought it'd be pretty neat to actually preserve the thing. It has these fantastic depictions of the various mythical beasts thought to reside pretty much "anywhere that is not here".

[@Peter-ov6xh]

You sound really smug.

[@NarasimhaDiyasena]

Some of these maps are depictions of the inner earth. No im not bs’ing.

[@woundedidiot429]

Nah bro chill​@@Peter-ov6xh

[@jayhache5609]

@@Peter-ov6xh The narrator was the one who immediately brought up size, implying that Mauro’s map is the largest, when it is not. So, OP did us a service letting us know which map is the largest. Good on him. Not so good on BBC and the video producer. As for accusing OP of being ‘smug'… Is English your first language?

[@Peter-ov6xh]

@@jayhache5609 I didn't dispute his handle on the facts.

[@Antonin1738]

this is really interesting, I wish it was longer

[@jasonking6892]

Very interesting 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@w.w.sakbeh571]

The cartographer apparently knew about Japan, and yet he also apparently thought Japan had a medieval fortified city. It’s interesting how cultural assumptions remain even among scientists.

[@patreekotime4578]

Ughhh.... They had armoured chivalric knights, the most famed blacksmiths in the world making thier swords, kings in castles, princesses and dragons, peasants, monks and merchants.... everything that would be familiar to late medieval European people. They may have all looked slightly different, but the fundamentals where there.

[@garotadagavea]

@@patreekotime4578exactly. Their castles may have different esthetics, but they are still castles.

[@w.w.sakbeh571]

There were no chivalrous knights in Japan. Chivalry was the Christian-based code governing the life conduct of European knights. In the context of Japan, one refers to samurai and the code of boushido. True, there were castles in medieval Japan (some remain intact and are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites), but to my knowledge there were no fortified towns (only the defensive castle was fortified). Those details aside, your point is well taken.

[@patreekotime4578]

@@w.w.sakbeh571 If you described the code of Boshido to a travelling 15th century Christian who didnt speak Japanese they would instantly recognize their own code of honorable knights. If you travel the world, you encounter familiar things the world over because humans are humans... we find similar solutions to similar problems, and we recognize the familiar despite the differences.

[@w.w.sakbeh571]

That goes without saying and is an extremely reductionist understanding of both chivalry and bushidou!

[@FukutenshiYoufan]

After watched this from the start to the end, I'm still wondering who the lady in the thumbnail is......

[@eksiarvamus]

Nonsense, she is integral to the story.

[@Shaun.Stephens]

She's what's called 'clickbait'.

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

​@@Shaun.Stephensassbait

[@user-wr8fg4lh5v]

Baddie

[@ikarusxv]

I think it's the same interviewer, just with a good take

[@syedalamgir5838]

Nice informative 👍

[@joesmoe6454]

It's incredible how orienting it differently changes it so much. I was thinking that the map wasn't nearly accurate compared to modern maps, but decent for medieval maps, but then once It was rotated it was amazing how close it was to reality.

[@rayrocher6887]

Fundamental, is legend good work

[@wesleysanders8570]

Great video

[@WhoIsCalli]

Such a beautiful map

[@silentlee2073]

Looking at that thumbnail, i can tell that this is quite a unique situation where the booty leads one to the map instead of the other way around.

[@gabrielperez-ze9tk]

Love the orientation of the map, really shows that to Venetians with water to the South would culturally see the world as "upside down" to how we see it, and showcasing that our very idea of north and south are largely arbitrary, at least during this time. To be fair, the invention of the compass changes such, as being in the northern hemisphere the reliance on such navigation upped the importance of the idea of north in general over that of the south. Then there is the fact that the coastline is overly exaggerated, which again makes sense as for those without a clear idea of Earth from orbit, those dramatic coastlines seem far more impactful than they are in a larger sense. So the coast emphasizes what are more likely very specific outcroppings of coast, that from the scale depicted by the mundi map would instead look like straight ish lines. Very curious how off they are with the gulf of persia and the shape of Saudi Arabia, really shows how quickly their knowledge runs out. Even with the proximity to the mediterranean, the lack of a simple canal (there was a restrictive one into the red sea on and off before the Suez) means that while the mediterranean is clearly completely understood, the handoff of goods to middlemen in the levant means that knowledge of the coasts completely fall off. If there was a water bridge between the med and the red, this would probably not be the case at all. And then, there are only vague impressions of the rest of the east. So very fascinating, and incredible. What I would do to spend a day in medieval venice. Being a port of trade, and a culturally open place because of it, if I had to spend time in the medieval world I would go from dead in a week somewhere like Britain, to able to eek out a life in shrewd venice, at least with some luck! Helps that knowing latin roots and italian would go further there (with some difficulty) than trying to parcel out the quickly changing English language of that period.

[@jaimegarcia9408]

Juan de la cosa, the first mapa mundi of the new world. In Madrid is amaizing

[@clubsobri]

Really cool!!!

[@kirapurinton]

Where can I watch the full show?

[@user-sv5jv6cu7p]

Al idrissi map was very close in accuracy and 3 centuries older, he probably doesn't have the most accurate map in medival times but he's defintely the greatest cartographer

[@nassimmohammed9479]

HE SIMPLY USED IT ; YES THIS GUY USED AL IDRISSI MAP BUT THEY OCCURED IT ;

[@crypticTV]

1:25 Sri Lanka 😍😍 2:07 Marco Polo 2:40 House 3:00 Combined 3:20 Columbus

[@AchyutChaudhary]

*Just curious, isn't the 'Mappa Mundi' map situated at the Hereford Cathedral in 🇬🇧UK (rather than 🇮🇹Venice)?* 🤔

[@mikey50boy]

Yes your right the Mappa Mundi is indeed in Hereford Cathedral along with the Chained Library one of the City’s popular tourist sites,but apparently their are 1,100Mappa Mundai’s that survived from the Middle Ages . Hereford’s is the biggest and from about 1300

[@danilocaccamese9597]

"Mappa Mundi" is latin for "World Map", in italian today we say "Mappamondo" to refer a chart or map about the earth. So, every of this is a "Mappa Mundi/World Map". It will be better if named the by his author "World Map of Fra Mauro". In Italy that map is called "Mappamondo di san Mauro". For the the english one, in known to me as "Hereford Mappa Mundi". I hope that will help.

[@HeroTypez]

Man, my grandfather from Peru used to call all world maps by this name Mappa Mundi, I guess I never adked why

[@TheAlchaemist]

Because in Spanish, un mapamundi is precisely that. It's a loan word from Latin of course. And literally means "map of the world" :)

[@ikarusxv]

I used to hear this word a lot when I was a kid in the 90s in Chile, but I think it became obsolete.

[@historyinobjects]

Not a single mention of Arab maps, after which Renaissance era maps were designed, even the most basic orientation (upside down) is following the Islamic Golden Age model of maps.

[@JohnAdams-1]

Great tush

[@josefrietveld219]

Now i want to lift the curtain

[@gramma677]

Why do I have a sudden desire to watch orson Welles.

[@kramnam4716]

It is with her standing in front of it for sure.

[@priztucker]

Just as I was gonna ask why Japan is left and not right on the map she explains the orientation 😅

[@althyk]

Italians have a zig zag speech.

[@antoinepetrov]

The accent of the narrator is the new standard for the BBC.

[@bendenator647]

What about the Mappa Mundi in Hereford Cathedral? How are these two different…

[@joaodefreitas8617]

It die not prove that was possible to go around Africa before the portuguese, it just shows water since they did not knew what else to put in. You can technically go north aswell from that map. It is just a représentation but the truth is they did not knew if was possible for boats to go there without being shipwrecked.

[@stolasish1184]

I wonder if and why it would be considered better than Medieval Islamic maps?

[@jetonbalidemaj]

This map challenges the narrative and I love that

[@icefalls]

What narrative?

[@hellomoto2084]

Flat Earth is not real brother .

[@juanferrero2009]

This mini doc is 10/10! The ending with crisopher columbus omggg!

[@werty2172]

Does it include the 10 dash line?

[@coreyjblakey]

So Marco Polo was a backpacker? Travels the world but only really talks to other backpackers, and therefore ends up with a distorted view of most things. My brother is like that

[@AWMulholland99]

cheers

[@alex0589]

fire the editor. Sound on this is unacceptably bad, even for a youtube piece

[@gdrdm]

Weren't most -- if not all -- European medieval mapa mundi surrounded by a large world ocean whereby Africa was always believed to be -- conceptually at least -- 'roundable'? Or did the narrator simply mean that Fra Mauro suggested in his notes that this was a realistic prospect whereas previously it was dismissed as too big a feat?

[@patricktalley4185]

Small quibble…. but putting Eden on the side of the map, as if it wasn’t a real place, was not a “modern” idea. Theologians dating back centuries before this map would have agreed that Eden was not a physical location to be found on earth, but a metaphorical “place” for mankind’s prelapsarian spiritual existence. In the late first century AD, Origen of Alexandria, one of the earliest fathers of the Christian church, argued that parts of the creation narratives obviously were not literal: “who is so silly,” he asked, “as to believe that God, after the manner of a farmer, ‘planted a paradise eastward in Eden,’ and set in it a visible and palpable ‘tree of life.” We think of the idea of not taking scripture literally is a modern development, but actually the opposite is true. Biblical literalism of the more recent American evangelical strain was created by 18th and 19th century Protestants in reaction to increasing attacks on biblical inerrancy from enlightenment philosophers and scientists. In earlier Christian eras, biblical interpretation was more nuanced and sophisticated. It’s no accident that monks and priests made some of the most important scientific and technical discoveries of western culture over the centuries. Their devotion to God inspired a passion to understand God’s creation from the motions of the stars and planets (Copernicus and Galileo) to genetics (Mendel) to geology (Steno) to the Big Bang (Lemetre).

[@mnossy11]

Spot on!

[@TheCheesyNachos]

man trying to get to babylon

[@6krio128]

Numidia 👀

[@AURELIUSxx]

I am somehow confused that a monk in the 15th. Century paints Palasts all over Asia but shows Rome, the center of Christianity, as a small village without any explanation

[@TravellerdeLux]

Rome stopped being an important city long before the middle ages started which makes sense given that without the empire it holds no strategic value whatsoever, it doesn't have any peculiar or important products and the population was never keen to enterprise, Venice was much bigger and richer, as Palermo, Ravenna an other cities. furthermore in that period the Papato was an instable institution they had up to 3 popes at the same time all declaring the other ones were illegitimate so Rome was really just a big village

[@AURELIUSxx]

@@TravellerdeLux so we both think the same, for the most people it is sience 2.000 years the center of Christianity

[@TravellerdeLux]

@@AURELIUSxx it's not what i think it is history, the king of france moved the pope to Avignone for almost 100 hundred years, furthermore one could ask what kind of christian are you the pope is the head of the catholic church not of Christianity, if you dig deeper the catholic church almost dissapeared a couple times it was saved out of political consideration by Napoleon first, Garibaldi and the fist king of Italy second, Mussolini third, the idea of the Catholic church that we have now is all based on the work of Pope Giovanni Paolo II history tells us that it is definitely a failed institution with many flaws and dark moments, and definitely Rome is not an important city even nowadays if we took the national government out tomorrow it would be just a big city with some amazing archeological sites

[@AndreyRubtsovRU]

serious BBC is no stranger to clickbaity things

[@bobbyfrancis7474]

All books deserve pillows

[@gimplise9700]

Looked like the Wonder Woman scene didn't it?

[@tandoori_naan_]

Marco polo was THE MAN who brought Europe into rennaisance.

[@AfridiAhmd]

pappa puppu

[@naturalcauses1695]

I can't understand the narrator

[@iznasen]

..Yes Parmesan cheese, Thanks

[@giambi1980]

Another reason to definitely state the Venice is the most beautiful city on earth!

[@12440jayjay]

1459 is not that far in the history. Other civilizations had better knowledge of world geography. Vasco de Gama was guided to India from the Cape of Good Hope by an Indian merchant-navigator. Columbus landed in America and called it India and the people, Indian; a mistake even celebrated today!

[@paulopacifici]

Celebrated by the European colonizers and devastated news for the original people.

[@PaulJohn01]

2:40 sad to see all that graffiti on the walls !

[@davidfilestra8826]

The video could have been done in a more professional manner.

[@oriel9347]

Caution 'Primary School Syllabus' content may cause 'primary school childern' to be active in the comments/shitposting.

[@g1stylempdesign929]

Boy I’m a sucker

[@shemadj7501]

I only have one question, is it Israel or Palestine on the map?

[@alexanderg1935]

Mappa Mundi: The greatest map of the medieval world... But never mind that, have a look at my arse.

[@ColtraneTaylor]

BBC to BBA ... Big Big Ass.

[@g.l.5072]

I like her

[@andrewtheworldcitizen]

why don't you marry her then....

[@hellomoto2084]

​@@andrewtheworldcitizenI will , if I could and if she agreed.

[@Starfield1000]

Literally copied Arabian map by Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Idris called al-idrisi map or tablet rogeriana.

[@TheAlchaemist]

LOL come on! you are taking all the epic out of the video :) hahahaha but yes, this comment should be pinned at the top.

[@giacaro180]

Fra Mauro did a better job.

[@pectenmaximus231]

There are over 1,000 extant mappa mundi. Mappa mundi is not a uniquely identifying name.

[@user-vw6bk4pb4l]

Venice was the "New York of the medieval world" in what sense?

[@TheAlchaemist]

They had tons of money, huge commerce and made interesting orgies.

[@Cross-Carrier]

Ti's a fine Mundi, but ti's no Salvador Mundi English

[@zacgrierson]

Whoever did the sound and the colour grading needs to go back to school.

[@Ramirez83786]

1:41 PALESTIN

[@xmaniac99]

Why the bot voice?

[@TAKE_BACK_BRITAIN]

Lmao very few people are living “good lives” in NYC

[@jigstonemorata1297]

that is the 11 dash line of china

[@gtxchufxvj]

Italian taking credit for information given to them by other cultures.

[@annoyed707]

At least it indicates willingness to learn.

[@giacaro180]

🥱🥱

[@nabillionairevevo5986]

Africa could be sailed before the Portuguese made their map

[@matthewrikihana6818]

Piri Rees map from Constantinople was superior.

[@ronlacker326]

Swear Europeans are the best.

[@hellomoto2084]

Lol not even close. Be happy that Arabs have come to civilise you and have understood true meaning of white mans burden

[@giacaro180]

​@@hellomoto2084 not even remotely, but nice try

[@Hadraedan96]

I'm trying to get to Babylon.... Where are we?

[@anameidonthave7957]

Italian accent of english.😂

[@Brandon-xe1yt]

FLATEARTH WAKE TF UP SHEEP

[@williamogilvie6909]

No New World on that map.

[@pinchevulpes]

Nothing new about it

[@Dara-wk5ty]

@@pinchevulpes Even TED ED calls it new world (while also mentioning that its a bit controversial)

[@pinchevulpes]

@@Dara-wk5ty what’s your point?

[@INWMI]

no tartaria or atlastis? this must be a fake map

[@padulincolorao]

woman body sells

[@tipsysmichigander6483]

Mappa ? Mauip'PAH Moon-Dee * Japan just to the left of India... Lol

[@aknetworkedit]

Well that guy did a bad job.

[@PeterJonesonline]

\ do you realise you’re not funny at all?

[@wladjarosz345]

there was no "rossia" till 1721!

[@OutWestRedDirt]

Ahhh a flat earther. So much like UN flag. Globe as fictional as santa Claus.

[@Dara-wk5ty]

Depictions of the world were always flat Medieval people didn't think the world is flat They thought the sun circles around the earth

[@kalpeshmanna7233]

Another eurocentric map

[@mjger24]

Except for the fact that the center of this map is Mesopotamia

[@raclark2730]

Aw would you like it to be centered in moan land. make your own then if you don't like it.

[@danidejaneiro8378]

You mean how she said it's set with South at the top which was the Arabic style.....?

[@baldyslapnut.]

...drawn by a European, from accounts of European travellers. It would be hard not to make it "eurocentric", yet he managed.🙄

[@pectenmaximus231]

Arent you a bloody genius

[@aniron9140]

The worst map rather

[@WayOfTheCode]

Its not greatest map of medival world. Its just best europeans could do at that time.

[@therealvlad505]

And who else could do better?

[@starventure]

@@therealvlad505 China and Japan had reasonably good maps at the time of their regions, and the Muslims were no slouches in the cartography department.

[@therealvlad505]

@@starventure so name a world map as detailed as this, from that time period.

[@Neo-Reloaded]

Educate this Italian lady. You could call that the first Italian map. Not the map of the world.

[@SmilingSimian]

She's reading a script...

[@holysong2099]

They said it was perhaps the largest and most elaborated map of the medieval world. What's wrong?

[@Neo-Reloaded]

​@@holysong2099While the medieval map may have been extensive for its time, it's important to recognize its limitations in accurately representing the entire world. The term 'medieval world' fails to acknowledge the vast geographical and cultural diversity beyond the regions depicted on the map. It's like saying that a map of London was the largest and most elaborate representation of the United Kingdom.

[@oriel9347]

Might I suggest you educate yourself first.

[@SmilingSimian]

​@@Neo-Reloaded except this map shows Asia, Africa, middle-east and Europe; it even has Japan, and Sri Lanka which are not exactly in Italy's back yard. Show me an older map that's as complete. Yes, it's missing geographic features like Australia, Antarctica and The Americas, but they waren't discovered yet!

[@RIZFERD]

So backward so poor Europe

[@Dara-wk5ty]

Always the Indos

[@giacaro180]

Cope

[@ghjacarone]

So eurocentric…mappamundi - marco polo - cristoforo colombo… it s absurd. Ibn al Battuta? Al Idrisi? Piri Reis? Naah!

[@thatscrazy69]

Dont like the commentator. Sounds a bit cheap

[@gtxchufxvj]

From the Arabs! Not Italy

[@gustavusadolphus1714]

Another white classic 🤍👌🏻

[@blipco5]

Proof that the earth is flat!

[@elenalexey]

The map is false.

[@michaelmamic4682]

I don't see the big deal. I could draw a better map than that.

[@callumarmstrong5175]

Thanks to China (specifically Zheng He's ships in the Ming Dynasty) for providing the info that enabled these maps to be created!