If you visited the British Library’s Secret Maps exhibition earlier this year, you will have discovered the many forms that maps can take and the wide range of ideas they can convey. In fact, back in 1996, the academic J. H Andrews attempted to define the word map and came up with an astonishing 321 possible definitions. His aim was not to pin the term down, but to show how flexible and culturally loaded it can be.
Among Andrews’ many descriptions were phrases such as “a graphic representation of social space”, “a structured image of reality”, “a selective picture of the world” and “a tool for organising knowledge about place”. Elsewhere he describes maps as “arguments about the world” and even as “visual metaphors”. In other words, a map does not simply show where things are; they reflect what its maker thinks is important, meaningful, or true.
Hereford Mappa Mundi
Medieval Christian Maps
This idea is especially useful when it comes to religious maps such as the medieval mappa mundi. These were not designed to help travellers find their way from place to place. Instead, they acted as visual summaries of a Christian understanding of the world. Our most famous example, the Hereford Mappa Mundi (c.1300), places Jerusalem at the centre of the map and Eden at the edge, not because of geographical accuracy, but because of theological belief – biblical history is woven into geography.
Psalter World Map from Westminster Abbey
The term mappa mundi – Latin for “cloth of the world” – refers broadly to medieval world maps. Most were produced by clerics working in monasteries or cathedrals. They combined classical geography from writers like Ptolemy and Pliny with scripture, legend and traveller’s tales. The world was usually divided into three parts – Asia, Europe and Africa – reflecting the biblical descendants of Noah’s sons. In Andrews’ terms, these maps were clearly “structured images of reality” shaped by faith rather than measurement.
Ebstorf Mappa Mundi (destroyed 1943)
One of the largest and most ambitious examples was the Ebstorf Mappa Mundi (unfortunately lost in World War II), which once measured over 3m across. It portrayed Christ’s body encompassing the world, with his head at the top, feet at the bottom and hands on either side. Geography and theology were merged into a single image, a powerful visual metaphor of divine order.
Islamic Religious Cartography
Religious cartography was not limited to medieval Christianity. In the Islamic world, scholars such as al-Idrisi in the 12th century produced world maps that blended observation with religious worldview. While more accurate in shape and distance, they still reflected the importance of pilgrimage, sacred cities and the Quranic understanding of the Earth. Mecca and the direction of prayer structured how space was understood.
Maps Reflect Choices
Overall, religious maps are not failures of science but successes of meaning. They tell us what people believed about God, humanity, and history. They reveal how cultures made sense of their surroundings before modern cartography prioritised accuracy and scale.
The geological Western Weald is within the red line (it reaches as far as Fittleworth in the East)
Ultimately, religious maps remind us that every map, past or present, is selective. Whether it charts sacred history or satellite data, a map always reflects choices about what matters to the person who drew it. In that sense, my map of the Western Weald (above) fits neatly within this tradition. It is not a definitive or accurate portrayal of the Western Weald in a cartographic sense (that’s the area within the red line), because it would be too limiting from a walking perspective. Instead, it is my Western Weald – a map shaped by my need, experience, and interpretation. Like the religious maps, it is not intended to guide your steps, but to offer a way of understanding this area. In that sense, you might think of yourselves less as followers of a route, and more as pilgrims of Rural Strides – wandering through a landscape rich in meaning, even if the path remains delightfully open to interpretation!
IMAGE CREDITS
- Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=137525
- Psalter World Map from Westminster Abbey, 1265. British Library Add. MS 28681
- Digital reconstruction of Ebstorf Mappa Mundi (destroyed 1943). Paul Stock LSE
