Geography Meets Fantasy
Not the least charming aspect of the Borgia Map is that no one knows why or by whom it was made. It was found in Portugal in 1794 by Cardinal Stefano Borgia and added to his rich collection of treasures from what he termed the “four parts of the world”. Today, his artefacts and antiquities are mostly scattered between Naples and Rome, where the Borgia Map is to be found in the Vatican Museums.
It is engraved on two copper plates, 63cm (24 inches) across, which have been riveted together. Experts say it dates from the mid-15th century—but its creator was blithely unaware of many of the discoveries made by then. There is, for instance, no trace of the Canary Islands, which had been colonised in 1402.
Unusually, the Borgia Map has the south at the top and north at the bottom. The lettering suggests that it began life in southern Germany and indeed, the world view of its maker is quite similar to that of his 21st-century compatriots. Spain, Italy and Greece all loom huge, as they must do today in the nightmares of Angela Merkel.
One way of looking at this cartographical jewel is as the first historical atlas. “Here in Alunnia in 432”, declares an inscription over part of France, “Attila, King of the Huns, fought against the Romans and 180,000 were killed of both sides”. In fact, Attila did not become king until 434, and the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, to which this seems to refer, took place 17 years later. Still, it was a good try. Some of the other historical references are familiar (“Battle of Cannae in which Hannibal slew 44,000 Romans and collected from the soldiers three bushels of golden rings”), others less so. How many of us knew that “Sinopa conquered many kingdoms and vanquished Hercula, Pampedo and Insipia”?