The Changing Center of the Inhabited World in Mappaemundi from Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages

The name of the world maps drawn in Europe in the Middle Ages is mappamundi. In addition to the geographical features of the world, mappaemundi also depict important events that have happened and will happen in the history of the world from creation to the end of time. As a matter of fact, mappaemundi are valuable sources reflecting the mental world of medieval Europe. Mappaemundi have three important types of sources: Ancient Greek and Roman classics, sacred texts and contemporary travelogues. In the world maps designed in the first millennium in accordance with the claims and views of the ancient Greek authors, the center of the ecumene is Delphi in the Greek Peninsula or the Mediterranean Sea according to the claims of the Roman Empire. In the call for the Crusades and during the Crusades, the claim that Jerusalem was the center of the world was reflected on many maps. Jerusalem-centered mappamundis encouraged the viewer to holy war. This study examines the changing center of the ecumene in world maps drawn in Europe from Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages.

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