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0:00 · in late 2022 a map that could revolutionize our understanding of the origins of modern map making
0:06 · was rediscovered created in the aftermath of the Black Death this map is the fourth oldest
0:12 · surviving complete portal in chart of Europe the chart is believed to have been created in Venice
0:19 · due to its use of Venetian vernacular and Venice being drawn as the largest city on the map but
0:25 · the map was left unsigned and many of its features are unique so its author is yet to be identified
0:32 · and it cannot be classed with any known School of cartography it's been named the Rex Tholomeus
0:38 · map this is due to the portrait at the bottom right of the map of Ptolemy the second century
0:44 · Roman mathematician and geographer but here he is depicted as a king the author likely confused the
0:50 · geographer with the toic dynasty of Greek Kings who ruled Egypt from 305 to 30 BC their reign
0:57 · ended over 100 years before the Roman geographer was ever born the map was first discovered in
1:03 · 1888 by an Italian scholar searching through the library of Prince Corsini's Palace in Florence this
1:10 · portolan chart was one of at least four found in the Corsini collection and the scholar dated
1:16 · it between 1347 and 1354 over the subsequent four decades the Rex Tholomeus portolan was featured in
1:24 · several published studies all concluding that it originated in the 14th century sometime after 1929
1:32 · the chart was purchased by Florence born Anglo Italian photographer John Alfred Spranger with
1:37 · whom it remained for most of the 20th century after his death it passed to his daughter who then sold
1:43 · it at an auction at Christie's in 1993 but no one involved in the selling was aware of the research
1:49 · that had already been conducted on the chart the auction listing claimed it was created around the
1:55 · year 1500 and it was purchased for £ 56,500 and relisted again with Christies in 2022 with the
2:03 · same cataloging however this time Alex Clausen the president of one of our longtime sponsors
2:10 · and supporters of this channel Barry Lawrence Rudderman Antique Maps better known here as
2:15 · raremaps.com believed this map was significantly older made sometime around the 1420s 73 flags are
2:24 · shown on the map indicating political affiliations of different lands many of these flags had long
2:30 · Changed by the date Christie's gave the map the 1993 cataloger at Christie's appears to
2:36 · have barely acknowledged the flag's importance in dating the map the listing does mention that if
2:41 · created after 1530 that Malta instead of Rhodes should have the cross of the order of St John of
2:47 · Jerusalem Hospitaller Rhodes lasted from 1310 to 1522 before being conquered by the Ottomans and
2:54 · moving its headquarters to Malta but this flag wasn't the best choice to figure out the chart's
2:59 · age cartographers were slow to acknowledge the loss and the flag changes weren't made
3:04 · on maps until well after 1522 recognizing poor research the antique map dealers purchased it for
3:11 · $239,400 the team spent hundreds of hours researching the map was examined by a medievalist
3:20 · it was even carbon dated and they came across those scholarly articles that had been written
3:25 · going back to the 1880s everything came to the same conclusion I usion that Alex was right it
3:31 · was older than Christie's had it listed as but it wasn't created around 1420 but 1360 Alex had
3:39 · rediscovered and obtained a map of immense importance to the history of cartography and
3:45 · now for the first time we can see and appreciate it and in high definition let's take a look at
3:51 · some other notable features not already mentioned two lakes are drawn as the source of the Nile this
3:57 · myth can be traced back to the writings of tol who claimed they were created by melting snow
4:02 · from the mythical mountains of the moon this is the first time these lakes are clearly depicted
4:07 · on a portal in chart this again highlights the interest that early Renaissance cartographers had
4:12 · in toy as well as their knowledge on him but Ptolemy's influential geographia wasn't found and
4:18 · translated into Latin until 1410 so it's unclear how this information was obtained but it's likely
4:25 · Europeans had acquired it from the work of Arabic cartographers who had already translated and been
4:30 · using Ptolemy's work to acquire this information secondhand may explain the confusion surrounding
4:36 · Ptolemy's identity of course most of this map is not from ancient sources but of medieval origin
4:43 · some of the Inland information was likely carried over from mapa mundis highly stylized maps of the
4:49 · world made during the Middle Ages but this information really isn't all that relevant
4:53 · to portolans so the Inland areas are usually left relatively blank with a focus on Marine navigation
5:00 · portolans highlight shorelines and display the names of ports the Rex Tholomeus map likely
5:06 · took most of its shoreline information from older portolan charts the earliest portolans originated
5:12 · in the Italian city states of Genoa and Venice as well as the island of mayorca during this period
5:19 · Italian city-states were evolving into significant economic and cultural centers in both Europe and
5:24 · the Mediterranean region this transformation was largely fueled by Maritime trade this created a
5:31 · clear need for updated navigational tools and knowledge the emergence of Portland charts was
5:36 · a natural response to this demand these cities eventually became the birthplaces of some of
5:42 · history's most famous explorers this portal in chart does however have information not seen
5:48 · on both earlier and later charts most noteworthy would probably be the information in the British
5:54 · Isles most charts left this region relatively empty of information the the west coast of
6:00 · Scotland and the northern coast of Ireland were not typically of much interest to Portland chart
6:04 · makers as there were few commercial connections with the cities the charts were made in but a
6:09 · member of the Corsini family the family the Rex Tholomeus map was originally found with had set up
6:15 · a banking business in London in the 1340s this may explain why this chart has so many ports labeled
6:22 · in this region the map also provides a level of detail about offshore Islands unparalleled
6:27 · by other maps of the era the information on the ports and Islands indicates that a distinctive
6:33 · but currently unknown source was used that was rich in Northern Atlantic knowledge to the east
6:39 · is high Brazil a mythical Island that was said to be a paradise that gave its residents Eternal
6:45 · happiness and immortality but it only appeared one day every 7 years High Brazil was common on
6:52 · maps of the era but this was one of its first depictions on a map the first being the 1330
6:58 · chart by Angelino Dulcetti to the north is Norway the tech States Norway is a wild and most freezing
7:06 · Kingdom it is mountainous with forests that never Bloom it has one port that is heavily shaken by
7:12 · tempestuous weather its people live from bread there are wild mules and white bears and Falcons
7:20 · the people are unable to navigate fast because of the great cold just to the West is Iceland within
7:27 · it reads that there are many fishermen we could go on for hours picking out every interesting detail
7:34 · on this 14th centuryPatreonapsule some of which may have not been noticed since its rediscovery
7:40 · few eyes have seen this map let alone studied it I think its current cataloging puts it best
7:47 · the importance of this chart for the history of cartography has only just begun to be unraveled
7:53 · but it is already clear that it has the potential to transform our knowledge of the birth of modern
7:58 · map making so I encourage you to take a look and maybe you'll make your own discoveries you
8:04 · can check out the map at raps.com I've left a direct link to the map in the description below
8:11 · as mentioned earlier it's in high definition and they cataloging also goes into further detailed
8:16 · than this video and if you're interested in purchasing the map it's up for sale for
8:21 · $7.5 million but if that's a little over budget they also have maps for as low as $125 they have
8:29 · antique maps of just about every country and major city you can think of again that's raps.com also
8:36 · thank you to all my patreon and YouTube members for supporting the channel and thank you all for
8:40 · watching

Transcript
0:00	·	in late 2022 a map that could revolutionize our understanding of the origins of modern map making
0:06	·	was rediscovered created in the aftermath of the Black Death this map is the fourth oldest
0:12	·	surviving complete portal in chart of Europe the chart is believed to have been created in Venice
0:19	·	due to its use of Venetian vernacular and Venice being drawn as the largest city on the map but
0:25	·	the map was left unsigned and many of its features are unique so its author is yet to be identified
0:32	·	and it cannot be classed with any known School of cartography it's been named the Rex Tholomeus
0:38	·	map this is due to the portrait at the bottom right of the map of Ptolemy the second century
0:44	·	Roman mathematician and geographer but here he is depicted as a king the author likely confused the
0:50	·	geographer with the toic dynasty of Greek Kings who ruled Egypt from 305 to 30 BC their reign
0:57	·	ended over 100 years before the Roman geographer was ever born the map was first discovered in
1:03	·	1888 by an Italian scholar searching through the library of Prince Corsini's Palace in Florence this
1:10	·	portolan chart was one of at least four found in the Corsini collection and the scholar dated
1:16	·	it between 1347 and 1354 over the subsequent four decades the Rex Tholomeus portolan was featured in
1:24	·	several published studies all concluding that it originated in the 14th century sometime after 1929
1:32	·	the chart was purchased by Florence born Anglo Italian photographer John Alfred Spranger with
1:37	·	whom it remained for most of the 20th century after his death it passed to his daughter who then sold
1:43	·	it at an auction at Christie's in 1993 but no one involved in the selling was aware of the research
1:49	·	that had already been conducted on the chart the auction listing claimed it was created around the
1:55	·	year 1500 and it was purchased for £ 56,500 and relisted again with Christies in 2022 with the
2:03	·	same cataloging however this time Alex Clausen the president of one of our longtime sponsors
2:10	·	and supporters of this channel Barry Lawrence Rudderman Antique Maps better known here as
2:15	·	raremaps.com believed this map was significantly older made sometime around the 1420s 73 flags are
2:24	·	shown on the map indicating political affiliations of different lands many of these flags had long
2:30	·	Changed by the date Christie's gave the map the 1993 cataloger at Christie's appears to
2:36	·	have barely acknowledged the flag's importance in dating the map the listing does mention that if
2:41	·	created after 1530 that Malta instead of Rhodes should have the cross of the order of St John of
2:47	·	Jerusalem Hospitaller Rhodes lasted from 1310 to 1522 before being conquered by the Ottomans and
2:54	·	moving its headquarters to Malta but this flag wasn't the best choice to figure out the chart's
2:59	·	age cartographers were slow to acknowledge the loss and the flag changes weren't made
3:04	·	on maps until well after 1522 recognizing poor research the antique map dealers purchased it for
3:11	·	$239,400 the team spent hundreds of hours researching the map was examined by a medievalist
3:20	·	it was even carbon dated and they came across those scholarly articles that had been written
3:25	·	going back to the 1880s everything came to the same conclusion I usion that Alex was right it
3:31	·	was older than Christie's had it listed as but it wasn't created around 1420 but 1360 Alex had
3:39	·	rediscovered and obtained a map of immense importance to the history of cartography and
3:45	·	now for the first time we can see and appreciate it and in high definition let's take a look at
3:51	·	some other notable features not already mentioned two lakes are drawn as the source of the Nile this
3:57	·	myth can be traced back to the writings of tol who claimed they were created by melting snow
4:02	·	from the mythical mountains of the moon this is the first time these lakes are clearly depicted
4:07	·	on a portal in chart this again highlights the interest that early Renaissance cartographers had
4:12	·	in toy as well as their knowledge on him but Ptolemy's influential geographia wasn't found and
4:18	·	translated into Latin until 1410 so it's unclear how this information was obtained but it's likely
4:25	·	Europeans had acquired it from the work of Arabic cartographers who had already translated and been
4:30	·	using Ptolemy's work to acquire this information secondhand may explain the confusion surrounding
4:36	·	Ptolemy's identity of course most of this map is not from ancient sources but of medieval origin
4:43	·	some of the Inland information was likely carried over from mapa mundis highly stylized maps of the
4:49	·	world made during the Middle Ages but this information really isn't all that relevant
4:53	·	to portolans so the Inland areas are usually left relatively blank with a focus on Marine navigation
5:00	·	portolans highlight shorelines and display the names of ports the Rex Tholomeus map likely
5:06	·	took most of its shoreline information from older portolan charts the earliest portolans originated
5:12	·	in the Italian city states of Genoa and Venice as well as the island of mayorca during this period
5:19	·	Italian city-states were evolving into significant economic and cultural centers in both Europe and
5:24	·	the Mediterranean region this transformation was largely fueled by Maritime trade this created a
5:31	·	clear need for updated navigational tools and knowledge the emergence of Portland charts was
5:36	·	a natural response to this demand these cities eventually became the birthplaces of some of
5:42	·	history's most famous explorers this portal in chart does however have information not seen
5:48	·	on both earlier and later charts most noteworthy would probably be the information in the British
5:54	·	Isles most charts left this region relatively empty of information the the west coast of
6:00	·	Scotland and the northern coast of Ireland were not typically of much interest to Portland chart
6:04	·	makers as there were few commercial connections with the cities the charts were made in but a
6:09	·	member of the Corsini family the family the Rex Tholomeus map was originally found with had set up
6:15	·	a banking business in London in the 1340s this may explain why this chart has so many ports labeled
6:22	·	in this region the map also provides a level of detail about offshore Islands unparalleled
6:27	·	by other maps of the era the information on the ports and Islands indicates that a distinctive
6:33	·	but currently unknown source was used that was rich in Northern Atlantic knowledge to the east
6:39	·	is high Brazil a mythical Island that was said to be a paradise that gave its residents Eternal
6:45	·	happiness and immortality but it only appeared one day every 7 years High Brazil was common on
6:52	·	maps of the era but this was one of its first depictions on a map the first being the 1330
6:58	·	chart by Angelino Dulcetti to the north is Norway the tech States Norway is a wild and most freezing
7:06	·	Kingdom it is mountainous with forests that never Bloom it has one port that is heavily shaken by
7:12	·	tempestuous weather its people live from bread there are wild mules and white bears and Falcons
7:20	·	the people are unable to navigate fast because of the great cold just to the West is Iceland within
7:27	·	it reads that there are many fishermen we could go on for hours picking out every interesting detail
7:34	·	on this 14th centuryPatreonapsule some of which may have not been noticed since its rediscovery
7:40	·	few eyes have seen this map let alone studied it I think its current cataloging puts it best
7:47	·	the importance of this chart for the history of cartography has only just begun to be unraveled
7:53	·	but it is already clear that it has the potential to transform our knowledge of the birth of modern
7:58	·	map making so I encourage you to take a look and maybe you'll make your own discoveries you
8:04	·	can check out the map at raps.com I've left a direct link to the map in the description below
8:11	·	as mentioned earlier it's in high definition and they cataloging also goes into further detailed
8:16	·	than this video and if you're interested in purchasing the map it's up for sale for
8:21	·	$7.5 million but if that's a little over budget they also have maps for as low as $125 they have
8:29	·	antique maps of just about every country and major city you can think of again that's raps.com also
8:36	·	thank you to all my patreon and YouTube members for supporting the channel and thank you all for
8:40	·	watching