Some years ago I worked for the Churches National Housing Coalition. Our logo consisted of a rather stylized cityscape. Our witty architect criticized it on the basis that if it were actually built it would fall down. I’ve always had a liking for maps and charts. They set my imagination racing over the contours. Peter Hampson, my former geography teacher, would be glad he taught me at least something. There is no such thing as a literal cartography. Every map has a story to tell. If AW Wainwright were reading this, he would have a smile on his face.
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| Beatus, PD-US |
Eduardo Hoornaert’s fascinating ‘The Memory of the Christian People’, has quite a few geographical gems. I’m grateful to Hoornaert (pp.25-27) for my first introduction to ‘Beatus’, an 8th Century cartographer working in Spain. In contrast to later maps Beatus chooses not to centre his map on Rome or even Jerusalem. Later maps, as Hoornaert points out, served the needs of Pilgrims or Crusaders. Moreover, those maps have been ‘northified’. They accomplish the not inconsiderable feat of squeezing a globe into a mental grid with a top, bottom and an in-between. That ‘grid’ – the centralization of those later maps – is ideological. Who benefits from a world where north is ‘top’ and Rome is ‘central’? Beatus’ world, on the other hand, is ‘collegial’ (pp.25,26). No city predominates. No region looms over the rest. Beatus’ map depicts a network of connections. Rivers represent not only geographical features but conduits of shared faith and trade. The world is divided between the twelve apostles and is journeying eastwards towards the rising sun, which represents Christ.
Beatus’ map is many things, but it is certainly part of a struggle for Christian memory and hope. I almost said that Beatus has turned the world upside down, but that would tell only part of the story. His is a map without any true ‘up’ or ‘down’. It is not even a map of fixed boundaries and borders. In Beatus’ mind every place and every identity is becoming something and somewhere else. It’s only meridians are the tutelage of the apostles.
Bibliography
Hoornaert, Eduardo. ‘The Memory of the Christian People’, 1989. Burns and Oates, Tunbridge Wells.
4 comments:
I too love maps and have done since I was a kid looking at my father's road atlas. I read them for fun and love imagining the things represented on them. It is also interesting to work out what is/was important to those who made the maps, what they include, what they leave out, how/why things are represented as they are.
A very enjoyable post.
Thanks, I read maps for enjoyment too. We have quite a collection, now. Our own Ordnance Survey maps are a treasure. As a child I walked for miles over the Pennines. Apart from the bird-watching I spent a good deal of time following a trace on the map to some obscure stone circle.
You're right about understanding the mind of the mapmaker. Omissions are sometimes even more interesting. The ancient maps had blank spaces and sea serpents at the edges and I suppose we have our equivalent. Shalom, Phil
Having just crossed the country to Walsingham I was discussing with my fellow pilgrim how we found our way around - she regarded the landscape as a maze following set routes and was easily distracted. I seem to have a pigeon's on board compass brain - if I have been somewhere I imagine it from above and landmark it - if I haven't been somewhere I follow my nose (got from Pisa to Assisi that way - when they closed the motorway and sent me off across the countryside without diversion signs).
Having come off pilgrimage I am processing random thoughts here - reminded of a 'big' question we had in spiritual direction training.
'do you live in a pool or a river?'
I decided river with occasional rapids :)
I love those illustrations they remind me of Paul Klee's art - I guess he also was a cartographer of sorts.
I do like the pool or river reflection. The other week I was thinking about oceans. In one sense the space and freedom seems limitless. On the other hand Clownfish spend all their lives with the same anemones. In some ways the internet is like that.
Tomorrow we're heading to Galway for a couple of weeks. The first week is Galway races so we're not expecting much tranquility. I'll hopefully blog from time to time.
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