The Mappa Mundi of Hereford

Record summary

The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a large medieval world map that combines biblical history, classical geography, travel lore, monstrous peoples and Christian cosmology. It is not a modern geographic survey, and its eastern orientation, symbolic scale and textual imagery reflect medieval ways of organizing sacred and historical knowledge. The map matters for comparison with ancient geographical traditions and the transmission of classical authorities through late antique and medieval cultures. Interpretation requires attention to manuscript sources, copying practices and the difference between symbolic and empirical mapping.