Uutisarkisto
Lokakuun esitelmätilaisuus 14.10.
Dr. Stefan Schröder (Helsingin yliopisto): Redesigning the World. Impact and Functions of Arabic Cartographical Knowledge in Late Medieval Latin-Christian Maps
Tiistaina 14.10. klo 18.00
Tieteiden talo (Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki), sali 309.
Interdisciplinary research of the last decades has showed the strong influence of Arabic-Islamic knowledge on Christian Europe. The impact of Arabic scholars is well documented especially in the disciplines of medicine, philosophy and astronomy. The interrelations between the Arabic-Islamic maps and their European counterparts are mentioned occasionally in the research on mediaeval cartography as well. However, the conditions, methods and contents of exchange of cartographical knowledge between the cultures are controversially discussed and still to be studied in detail.
The purpose of my paper is to analyse the transmission and transformation of Arabic knowledge in medieval Latin-Christian maps. Focussing in particular on the cartographical representations accompanying Marino Sanudo’s call for a new crusade (Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis) and their potential Arabic counterparts (al-Idrīsī’s mid-12th century Book of Roger and the anonymous Book of Curiosities), it will be analysed in what ways Arabic elements were adapted to Latin spatial conceptions and which contradictions had to be overcome. Furthermore the relationship between the text and image and the functions of the Arabic elements will be examined.
Lisätty 01.10.2014, vanhentunut 31.12.2014
