In conjunction with the Center for Medieval Studies’ recent Oxford Outremer Map Colloquium, Paul Harvey (Professor Emeritus, University of Durham) taught a master class on medieval maps to a very lucky group of Fordham graduate students and faculty. The class took place on April 8th and was followed by a reception. A scholar of medieval social and economic history, Professor Harvey shared a presentation on his long career handling, researching, and publishing on medieval maps. Highlights of Professor Harvey’s talk included a discussion of the Hereford Map, which he had the rare opportunity of inspecting flat out on a table leading up to the publication of his major study of the map, Mappa Mundi: The Hereford World Map (Hereford Cathedral, 2002). Participants also discussed the phenomenon of “mappa-mindedness” with respect to the Middle Ages, issues of size, scale, and the representation of polities in medieval maps including Matthew Paris’ map of Outremer (Oxford Corpus Christi College MS2*).
The Center for Medieval Studies would like to thank Paul Harvey for this enlightening presentation and the unique opportunity to discuss Medieval Maps with a renowned expert in the field!
Selected publications:
Medieval Maps of the Holy Land (The British Library, 2012).
Mappa Mundi: The Hereford World Map (Hereford Cathedral, 2002).
Medieval Maps (The British Library, 1991).
The History of Topographical Maps: Symbols, Pictures, and Surveys (Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1980).
By Alexa Amore
