{{Short description|World map made in the early 15th century}} [[File:Mapa de Borgia XV.jpg|thumb|350px|The Borgia world map. Africa is at the top of the map, with Europe at the bottom right. Vatican Library, Rome.]] Mainly a decoration piece, the '''Borgia map''' is a world map made sometime in the early 15th century, and engraved on a metal plate. Its "workmanship and written explanations make it one of the most precious pieces of the history of cartography".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NAPAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Borgia+map%22 | title=Chuvash studies | year=1982 | accessdate=February 24, 2012 | author=Róna-Tas, András | pages=185| publisher=Harrassowitz | isbn=978-3-447-02273-6 }}</ref>
== History == The exact year when the Borgia map was created is unknown. One source argues that the map must date from sometime before 1453.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4p1_AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Borgia+map%22 | title=Fra Mauro's world map: with a commentary and translations of the inscriptions | year=2006 | accessdate=February 24, 2012 | author=Falchetta, Piero | pages=37| publisher=Brepols | isbn=978-2-503-51726-1 }}</ref> Another source suggests the map was made c.1450.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/mapsmythsmenstor0000seav | url-access=registration | title=Maps, myths, and men: the story of the Vínland map | publisher=Stanford University Press | year=2004 | accessdate=February 24, 2012 | author=Seaver, Kirsten A. | pages=[https://archive.org/details/mapsmythsmenstor0000seav/page/210 210]}}</ref>
In the late 18th century the artifact found its way into an antique shop, from where it became part of the collection of Cardinal Stefano Borgia. The script appearing on the map identifies it as being south German. However, nothing about the authorship of the Borgia map is known. The emphasis on history, and the traditional nomenclature (names/terms/principles) suggests that it was originally designed as a historical map, for use in a library or a school.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhgYlhXJy_QC&dq=%22Borgia+map%22&pg=PA268 | title=The world map, 1300-1492: the persistence of tradition and transformation | publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press | year=2007 | accessdate=February 24, 2012 | author=Edson, Evelyn | pages=179| isbn=978-0-8018-8589-1 }}</ref>
== Details == On the Borgia map, the Garden of Eden is positioned near India superior - the mouth of the Ganges, and is portrayed as a land of marvels and precious stones. It is also quite close to China, a country which is represented by tiny figures collecting silk from the trees.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_ooAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Borgia+map%22 | title=Mapping paradise: a history of heaven on earth | date=2006 | accessdate=February 24, 2012 | author=Scafi, Alessandro| publisher=University of Chicago | isbn=978-0-226-73559-7 }}</ref>
The Babylonian, Alexandrian, Carthaginian and Roman Empires are emphasized on the map in an orderly sequence. Of the chaotic Italian state at the time, the mapmaker comments that "Italy, beautiful, fertile, strong and proud, from lack of a single lord, has no justice". Special mentions are made of various Crusades including: Charlemagne's campaign in the Iberian Peninsula, crusading in northeastern Europe, Africa, and Nicopolis, and the "future" threat of the Gog and Magog, who are described specifically as "Jews". The map has a well crafted design, and was made to last a long time.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhgYlhXJy_QC&dq=%22Borgia+map%22&pg=PA268 | title=The world map, 1300-1492: the persistence of tradition and transformation | publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press | year=2007 | accessdate=February 24, 2012 | author=Edson, Evelyn | pages=179| isbn=978-0-8018-8589-1 }}</ref>
The Borgia map includes a legend referring to Ebinichibel, who is described as "the Saracen Ethiopian king with his dog-headed people".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgO8nLql2KwC&dq=%22Borgia+map%22&pg=PA67 | title=The making of anthropology: the semiotics of self and other in the Western tradition | date=2004 | accessdate=May 7, 2024 |last1=Pandian |first1=Jacob |last2=Parman |first2=Susan | pages=67| publisher=Vedams |location=New Delhi | isbn=978-81-7936-014-9 }}</ref>
[[File:Fragment of the Borgia Map showing the Iberian Peninsula.jpg|thumb|Fragment of the Borgia Map showing the Iberian Peninsula, with mention of Barcelona (Barzilona) and València, among other cities.]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *Nordenskiöld, A. E. (1891) "An account of a copy from the 15th century of a Map of the World engraved on metal, which is preserved in cardinal Stephan Borgia's museum at Velletri; copied from ''Ymer,'' 1891". Stockholm: A. L. Norman (this mappemonde was later acquired by the John Rylands Library, Manchester)
{{commonscat}}
Category:Historic maps of the world Category:15th-century maps and globes