Geography In The Middle Ages

GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES I MACROBIAN VIEW OF THE WORLD (c. I 4 8 5 ) (fr o m ‘ M acro bii. . .in somnium Scipionis expositio') GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES by GEORGE H. T. KIMBLE Lecturer in Geography in The University o f Reading With 20 Plates NEW YORK / R U S S E L L & R U S S E L L F I R S T P U B L I S H E D IN I 9 3 8 R E IS SU E D , I 968, BY RUSSELL & RUSSELL A DIVISION OF A T H E N E U M HO USE, IN C . B Y A R R A N G E M E N T W I T H M E T H U E N & CO. L T D . , LONDON L . C. C A T A L O G CA RD NO! 6 8 - I O 9 3 O P R I N T E D IN T H E U N I T E D S TA TES OF A M E R I C A PREFACE W H ILE there have been many histories o f geographical exploration, the history o f geographical thought has still to be written. This volume is offered as a modest contribution to that study. It essays to follow the development o f medieval earth-knowledge as it was affected, on the one hand, by the prevailing ideologies and, on the other, by the results o f human enterprise. Much o f the ground covered will be familiar to students, both o f history and geography, for my aim has been to select representative men and writings to illustrate the theme rather than to catalogue all the available material, literary and cartographical. Further, few o f the conclusions will strike the well-informed reader as novel, but I comfort myself with the knowledge, firstly, that they have not previously been made accessible within the compass o f a single volume, and secondly, that the contribution o f the Middle Ages to the advancement o f geographical studies has still to be adequately appreciated. In preparing this work I have enjoyed the help o f many friends whose scholarship I have sought to put to good account. In particular, I should like to name Professor E. G. R . Taylor and Mr. W . F. Morris, who read the manu­ script and made many constructive criticisms ; Professor T. E. Jessop and Mr. J. N. L. Baker, who revised the proofs and rescued me from several o f the pitfalls which beset the un­ wary author ; Messrs. L. R . Harris and J. R . Casswell, who gave invaluable assistance in the translation o f difficult Latin passages ; and, not least, to Mr. Robert Gibbings, Mr. Peter Geography in the M iddle Ages W ait and the members o f the Reading University Library staff for numerous incidental courtesies. For permission to reproduce the plates contained in the book, I am indebted to the Trustees o f the British Museum, the Council o f the Hakluyt Society, and Dr. Richard Uhden o f Berlin. Lastly, m y thanks are due to the University o f Reading for a generous grant allocated to me for this work. R eading U niversity January 1938 CONTENTS CHAP. I H HI IV PAGE THE PASSING OF CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY I TH