MAPS OF ROMAN DACIA. I. THE MAP OF PETRUS KAERIUS (1571-1646)

Florin Fodorean

Abstract


In the following, we would like to present and describe a very interesting map, engraved in the XVIIth or at the end of the XVIth century by a famous Dutch cartographer, engraver, and publisher: Pieter van der Keere (Petrus Kaerius). Born in Ghent in 1571, Van der Keere (1571-1646) developed his business in Amsterdam at the end of the XVIth century. The map described in our article is entitled Vetus Descriptio Daciarum nec non Moesiarum. The document is important for the history of cartography because it enable us to identify and comment upon the level of knowledge of Van der Keere about a region not so familiar to him. In fact, the map reflects a medieval version of the map of Ptolemy. This period is connected to the rediscovery of Ptolemy. Besides data from the famous work of the geographer born in Alexandria, Van der Keere included some interesting notations and details which reflect the middle Ages conceptions or geographical features invented in this period.

Full Text: PDF

DOI: 10.14795/j.v1i1.14

References

AUJAC 1987 G. Aujac, The Growth of an Empirical Cartography in Hellenistic Greece, in J. B. Harley, D.

Woodward (eds.), The History of Cartography. Volume one. Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1987, 148-160.

BAGROW 1951 Leo Bagrow, Die Geschichte der Kartographie, Berlin, Safari Verlag, 1951.

BAGROW 1964 Leo Bagrow, History of Cartography, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, London, 1964.

BĂLAN 1973 T. Bălan, Numele Moldova – O istoriografie a problemei, in Studii şi materiale. Istorie 3 (Muzeul Suceava), 1973, 77-112.

BERGGREN, JONES 2000 J. L. Berggren, A. Jones, Ptolemy’s Geography. An Anntoated Translation of the Theoretical Chapters, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2000.

DALCHÉ 2007 P. Gautier Dalché, The Reception of Ptolemy’s Geography (End of the Fourteenth to Beginning of the Sixteenth Century), in D. Woodward (ed.), The History of Cartography. Volume three. Cartography in the European Renaissance, Part 1, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 2007, 285-364.

DILKE 1985 O. A. W. Dilke, Greek and Roman Maps, London, 1985.

DILKE 1987 O. A. W. Dilke, The Culmination of Greek Cartography in Ptolemy, in B. Harley, D. Woodward (edS.), The History of Cartography. Volume one. Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 177-200.

EDNEY 2005 M. H. Edney, Putting Cartography into the History of Cartography: Arthur H. Robinson, David Woodward, and the Creation of a Discipline, in Cartographic Perspectives 51, 2005, 14-29.

HARLEY 1987 J. B. Harley, The Map and the Development of the History of Cartography, in J. B. Harley, D. Woodward (eds.), The History of Cartography. Volume one. Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1987, 1-42.

HARVEY 1980 P. D. A. Harvey, The History of Topographical Maps: Symbols, Pictures and Surveys, London, Thames and Hudson, 1980.

ISAKSEN 2011 L. Isaksen, Lines, damned lines and statistics: unearthing structure in Ptolemy’s Geographia, in e-Perimetron, vol. 6, no. 4, 2011, 254-260. Online at: http://www.e-perimetron.org/Vol_6_4/Isaksen.pdf.

JANNI 1984 P. Janni, La mappa e il periplo: Cartografia antica e spazio odologico, Università di Macerata, Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, 19, Rome, Bretschneider, 1984.

KEUNING 1960 J. Keuning, Pieter van der Keere (Petrus Kaerius), 1571-1646 (?), in Imago Mundi 15, 1960, 66-72.

NEMETI 2006 S. Nemeti, Dacia…in formam provinciae redacta, in E. S. Teodor, O. Ţentea (eds.), Dacia Augusti Provincia. Crearea provinciei, Bucharest, 2006, 271-288.

SKELTON 1959 R. A. Skelton, Leo Bagrow: Historian of Cartography and Founder of Imago Mundi, 1881-1957, in Imago Mundi 14, 1959, 4-12.

STÜCKELBERGER, MITTENHUBER 2009

A. Stückelberger, F. Mittenhuber, Ptolemaios. Handbuch der Geographie. Ergänzungsband, Basel, 2009.

WOODWARD 2000 D. Woodward, Origin and History of the History of Cartography, in D. Woodward, C. Delano-Smith, C. D. K. Yee (eds.), Approaches and Challenges in a Worldwide History of Cartography, Barcelona, 2000, 23-31.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.

ISSN: 2360-266X