What is a portulan

old portolan maps

Maps and cartography have not always been as specific as what we have today. Before the development of modern cartography, the first thing that was used for navigation were the portulan charts. This was called portolan. These navigation charts became very important in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries given the relevance they had in trade.

In this article we are going to explain what a portulan is and what was its importance in the past.

What is a portulan

portolan

These are navigation maps that existed in antiquity and that gave a great boost to trade. Without gps satellites like the ones we have today, navigation was much more complex. In order to transport goods from one place to another separated by the ocean, the fastest maritime routes had to be known and all of this or the coexistence of portulan was facilitated.

Especially in the Mediterranean Sea the existence of the Portulans was key to success as it allowed sailors to orient themselves using the compass and to be able to locate the distance between the ports and the most important landmarks. With these facilities it was possible to increase trade more quickly.

If we take a look at a portulan we see that it has the appearance of a normal and current map. However, we can see that it has important differences. The first is that instead of the parallels and the meridians have a grid that was dealing with matches marked by a compass rose. The introduction of parallels and medians came later with the introduction of modern cartography.

On the other hand, although it is a scale map, distances are expressed in leagues.

Key features

Portolan Map Types

In these old maps there is a drawing of the coastline in which the ports are located in a way that is as faithful to reality. It is true that if you look closely you can see how coastal accidents are exaggerated. However, this was done intentionally to warn ships and use caution when reaching shore.

Another aspect of the Portulans is that various decorative elements were added to the design that provided geographic, political, historical and scientific information. For example, there were some occasions when you could see some territories that were not explored. Cartographers did this based on their beliefs and assumptions of the sages of that time. That is, there could be lands that came within the portulano without necessarily having to exist.

These portolan charts were for centuries documents of great strategic and economic value. Good for pirates to find the areas to raid or hidden treasures. They were considered prestigious objects and valued more for their spectacularity and aesthetics than for their cartographic value. As expected, they were not 100% accurate, so their age cartographic value is quite low when compared to today's maps.

Types of portolan

Variety of portolan maps

There are different types of portulan according to their geographical origin. They are divided into 3 large groups according to the place where they were made: we have the Italian, Mallorcan and Portuguese Portulans. We will analyze them one by one and know all its characteristics.

italian portolan

They are the ones that were made mainly in Genoa, Venice and Rome. These are the oldest navigational charts that are still kept in the National Library of Paris. The oldest navigation chart is called the Pisan Chart. Other Italian Portulans who have been very famous are Carignano's letter (nowadays one has not been found, it is missing), as well as other portulans that were made by the Genoese Pietro Vesconte, the Beccario, Francisco Pizigano, Canepa and the Benincasa brothers.

Majorcan portolans

These Portulans added some novelties such as nautical-geographic charts thanks to the creation of the Majorcan Jew You think Abraham. The best known work of this Jew was a world map made in 1375. We must take into account the merit of making a world map at a time when artificial satellites did not exist nor could it be investigated with the same technology as the we have today.

This map of the world was made on 12 boards that were opened one to another by a scroll. Today's had is preserved in the national library in Paris. It is the first time that all the amount of information that existed about the continents, especially the Asian one, could be captured and that it reached Europe thanks to explorers such as Marco Polo, Jordanus and others.

Portuguese portulans

These portulan charts were developed based on the Majorcan ones. They lasted a short time without becoming obsolete when the discoveries of the Spanish and Portuguese navigators required greater needs that these old Portulans could already cover.

In this same historical period, other portolan charts were also developed within the Arab world. These letters basically focused on the Mediterranean Sea. In one of them, which became one of the most famous, some American territories that were recently discovered at that time will be represented. We are talking about the Piri Reis map in 1513 (we remember that America was discovered through Christopher Columbus in the year 1492). In this portolan you can also find some land that had not yet been explored but that was described with amazing fidelity to reality.

The usefulness of these maps lies in giving some functionality to the compass. When it comes to navigating, it is interesting to know the Direction to which we have to go, but even more important to know the destination. We can throw ourselves by the orientation of the compass to know where we are or what direction we are going. However, the joint use of the compass and the portulan, is what made the navigators able to reach the proposed destinations.

As you can see, the portulan helped a lot to improve trade at that time. I hope that with this information you can learn more about these cartographic maps.


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