Geography and Religious Knowledge in the Medieval World

Description

In the medieval world, geographical knowledge was influenced by religious ideas and beliefs. Whereas this point is well analysed for the Latin-Christian world, the religious character of the Arabic-Islamic geographic tradition has not yet been scrutinised in detail. This volume addresses this desideratum and combines case studies from both traditions of geographic thinking. The contributions comprise in-depth analyses of individual geographical works as for example those of al-Idrisi or Lambert of Saint-Omer, different forms of presenting geographical knowledge such as TO-diagrams or globes as well as performative aspects of studying and meditating geographical knowledge. Focussing on texts as well as on maps, the contributions open up a comparative perspective on how religious knowledge influenced the way the world and its geography were perceived and described int the medieval world. Contents Geography and Religious Knowledge Part I: Representing the World in Arab-Islamic and Latin- Christian Geography It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. No, it’s the World! The T-O Diagram and its Religious Connotations Part II: Compiling Geographical Knowledge According to Religious Ideas Ordering and Reading the World The Divine in Yāqūt’s ‘Lexicon of Peopled Places’ Al-Idrīsī, la géographie et les religions Part III: Presenting Religious Knowledge in New Forms The Globe as Mappa Mundi? Reflections on Terrestrial Globes from around 1500 The Culmination of Islamic Sacred Geography Religious Knowledge within Changing Cartographical Worldviews Part IV: Depicting, Transforming and Experiencing the Holy Land in Maps When Religious Geography meets the Geography of Humanists The Holy Land Geography as Emotional Experience Getting There by Manipulating the Medium Note on Contributors Index