Heinrich Bunting (1545-1606) knew the world didn’t really look like this. There are enough maps in his works (such as Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae) to indicate he knew the continents had an irregular, and not a symbolic shape.
Yet he delighted in drawing other symbolic maps, examples of which can be anthropomorphic (Europe as a virgin) or hippomorphic (Asia as a winged horse). This particular map is a tribute to Buntings hometown Hanover, as the text above the map indicates: Die ganze Welt in einem Kleberblatt welches ist der Stadt Hannover meines lieben Vaterlandes Wapen (‘The Whole World in a Cloverleaf, Which Is The Coat of Arms of Hannover, My Dear Fatherland’).
The map shows a world divided into three parts (Europe, Asia and Africa), connected at a single central point: Jerusalem. This is essentially still the same symbolic map of the world as the one first devised by Saint Isidore in the seventh century. Isidore’s ’T and O’-shaped map, itself inspired by Scripture, influenced Christian European mapmaking up until the age of discovery.
That age would be the one Bunting grew up in. He and his contemporaries were among the first generations of Europeans to know Isidore was wrong – but it’s almost impossible to resist imagining how this centuries-old archetype of a map took a while to be erased out of the common memory of cartographers.
Bunting’s map is nice in that it combine symbolism with realism: in the bottom left corner a piece of land is named America. Strange is that a similar detached piece of territory at the top of the map is labelled Denmark and Sweden. Bunting must have known that Denmark was contiguous with the European Continent…
Some named countries and places (not all are easily readable) on the three continents are, left to right:
Europe: Hispanien (Spain), Mailand (Milan), Welschland (Welsh? Walloon? Country), Frankreich (France), Lothringen (Lorraine), Roma (Rome), Deutschland (Germany), Ungarn (Hungary), Polen (Poland), Preussen (Prussia), Griechenland (Greece), Türken (Turks)
Africa: Lybia, Egypten, Morenland (Land of the Moors), Königreich Melinde (Kingdom of Melinde) , Caput Bonae Spes (Cape of Good Hope)
Asia: Siria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Chaldea, Persia, India
At the time, Denmark included a good chunk of what is now southern Sweden.
Welschland could be Romandy, western Switzerland?
Comment by ben — March 8, 2007 @
I think “welsch” is a german term to signify latin peoples, therefore Welschland could be Italy.
I wonder what the little number beside the names of cities stand for. Perhaps they are a cross-reference to other pages of the book ?
Comment by Stefano — March 8, 2007 @
Yep. Welschland is Italy.
South Tyrolian German speaking people still say “welsch” to the Italians, although it formely was used derogatively for the Ladin (!)speaking people - later on for all romance languages.
Comment by Peter — March 8, 2007 @
Above Deutschland: Saren (Saarland)
Above Turken: Moscharo? (Moscow)
Above Egypt: Alexandria
Above Libya: probably Carthage
Above Arabia: Damascus
Right from Arabia: Ur, then Babylon, then Susa, then Persepolis
Comment by Sjoerd — March 8, 2007 @
Strangeness, From 1600 to the 60s
This map of the world is by Heinrich Bunting (1545-1606), via
Strange Maps.
The map shows a world divided into three parts (Europe, Asia and Africa), connected at a single central point: Jerusalem. This is essentially still the same symbolic map of the…
Trackback by Changing Way — March 8, 2007 @
This is strange… I was playing with Yahoo Pipes and this came up on a map search. Strange Coincidence… the earliest person I’ve heard of with my surname!
Comment by Si Bunting — March 9, 2007 @
Looks like the world seen by a texan average male.
Great blog.
Comment by jsorel — March 12, 2007 @
[...] of the History of the Button brings us 1954 Ford Power Windows. At Strange Maps, we can find The whole world in a cloverleaf. Martin Rundkvist points out that studying the past wouldn’t really be any easier if we had [...]
Pingback by Early Modern Notes » History Carnival 50 — March 15, 2007 @
Welsch/Welsh/Waals/Wallon are all terms used by speakers of various Germanic languages to their Latin or Celtic neighbors, and the term does not denote any particular people. I read in previous comments that Italians were called that by Germans and still are by Tyrolians. Possible- - but the term is also used by Swiss-Germans for the Francophone Swiss (but not for those who speak Italian!), by the Dutch and Flemings for their southern neighbors, etc. I guess the Texan referred to by jsorel might use “Hispanics” in a similar way…
Another thing: I don’t think it says Preussen there. The Prussians only became a significant entity in the 18th century, and anyway, there is no P. Maybe it says Russen? (Russians?)
Comment by Daniel — March 15, 2007 @
I think that it actually says “Reussen,” which is an old name for Belarus (White Russia).
Two other named locations in Europe that hasn’t been mentioned above are Behemen (Bohemia) and Moscharo (Moscow?)
Comment by Alex — March 15, 2007 @
Is Reussen the former name of Russia?
Comment by pinoy big brother — March 16, 2007 @
The German Wikipedia states the following:Reußen ist die alte deutschsprachige Bezeichnung für die Russen (auch Ruthenen, meinte eigentlich alle Ostslawen) und Russland.
Der Begriff wurde noch bis zum Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts alternativ für „Russen“ und „Russland“ verwendet. Eine typische und heute noch oft zitierte Redewendung ist der Kaiser oder der Selbstherrscher aller Reußen. Das Wort „Reußen“ ist analog zum Begriff „Preußen“, so wie der Ausdruck „Russen“ analog zu „Prussen“ (baltischer Volksstamm) ist.
This means that, indeed, Reussen is the old German word for Russia.
Comment by Sjoerd — March 16, 2007 @
[...] name suggests: a weblog devoted to cartographic curiosities. In here you will find such oddities as The Whole World in a Cloverleaf, East Germany Lives On — As a Tiny Carribean Island, The Most Generic Country Ever, the [...]
Pingback by waka waka waka » Blog Archive » À La Carte — March 19, 2007 @
I was thinking maybe Wallachia for the Welschland
Comment by xian — June 12, 2007 @
This map evidences why America was well named so. Columbus only discoverd some islands and a route to China. Vespucii went down to the Falklands and tell Europe that he there was a “fourth part”. Something out of the theologic plan of God!
Comment by Jaime — July 29, 2007 @
[...] Two of those have already been described on this site: the world in the form of a cloverleaf (entry #87) and Europe as a queen (entry #141). This is the third [...]
Pingback by 165 - Licking Europe: Asia As A Horse « strange maps — August 17, 2007 @
Maybe the detached piece of territory at the top of the map is really Greenland which is owned by Denmark
Comment by Adin — September 19, 2007 @
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Trackback by buy phentermine blog — April 13, 2008 @
Hello,
I am an editor from Black Dog Publishing and would like to obtain the world in a clover map as a high-res image for use in the publication Mapping England which goes to print in two weeks.
Can you supply it?
Comment by Blanche Craig — July 30, 2008 @