While we do not know much of the life of Henricus Martellus, we do know that Cusanus was educated in the humanist style, with proficiency in astronomy, political science, and Islamic studies, to name a few. Henricus Martellus’s work can be grouped into three distinct categories, his Insularium, editions of Ptolemy’s Geography, and a wall map of the world created around the same time as this map of central Europe.

The map itself occupies two manuscript pages laid flat and covers the region from the Netherlands to the Black Sea and from the Adriatic Sea to Denmark. Drawn in a rectangle, this map has a stylized border. Geographical features make up the entirety of this map, with no religious, magical, or animalistic depictions. The various geographical markers include mountains, bodies of water (oceans, lakes, and rivers), and groupings of trees. Each town or city depicted is drawn with an accompanying building, which seems to vary in size depending on the given town’s population and importance. All notations on this map are written in Latin. Notably in the southwestern corner of this map is a large collection of mountains, dividing Italy and the Adriatic from the rest of the landmass. These mountains are drawn artistically, conveying a sense of movement and traversability, with waterways and towns scattered between various stretches of mountain range.

There are four large bodies of water depicted in dark blue which create some of the most striking features of the map. To the north there is the Mare Germanicum and Germanicum, divided by what seems to be Denmark. To the far east is the Mare Maior, and to the south the Adriatici Maris. The most densely populated area of this map surrounds Bohemia, which is situated just left of center. As one moves eastward the density of towns and geographical features decreases.

(Riley Gibson 2026)]]> ]]> ]]> ]]> Meurer, Peter H. “Cartography in the German Lands, 1450-1650.” In The History of Cartography vol. 3, part 2, Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Dalché, Patrick Gautier. “The Reception of Ptolemy’s Geography (End of the Fourteenth to Beginning of the Sixteenth Century).” In The History of Cartography vol. 3, part 1, Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Van Duzer, Chet. “Henricus Martellus and His Work.” In Henricus Martellus’s World Map at Yale (c. 1491) : Multispectral Imaging, Sources, and Influence. 1st ed. 2019. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76840-3.

]]> Carleton Gould Library Special Collections Map (Flat Files) GA873.5.K73 1996

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