Hereford Mappa Mundi
Mappa Mundi (Hereford)
Richard of Haldingham and Lafford (named in the map's inscription); English workshop
How we know
compilation Assembled from earlier sources. The author did not observe it directly.
Retrospective compilation of classical and patristic geography (Orosius, Isidore, Solinus, Pliny) and legends; no observation of Asia.
Research notes
- Inscription names Richard de Haldingham e de Lafford; authorship, date and place of manufacture (Lincoln vs Hereford) remain debated in the literature. Derived from the same Orosian tradition as the Ebstorf and Psalter maps rather than from any travel report.
- The official site's 'exploration' feature is thematic (myths, beasts, peoples, towns) with 500 px feature crops under /admin/resources/; there is no zoomable tile viewer exposed to a non-browser client.
Why it matters
The largest surviving medieval mappa mundi (c.1300): shows the pre-Tartary Latin picture of northern Asia (Scythia, Gog and Magog walled by Alexander, cannibal Essedones) that the 16th-century 'Tartaria' maps inherited; contemporary with the first Mongol-era reports but without Mongol content, which is itself evidence of transmission lag.
Places named
Whole inhabited world, East at top; northern Asia (Scythia, Hyrcania, Gog and Magog enclosure), India, Persia, Europe, Africa
Who copied whom
- Psalter World Map M032, c. 1262–1265same tradition (stated)Orosius/Isidore mappa mundi tradition (Hereford cf. Psalter)
- Ebstorf World Map M043, c. 1230–1300same tradition (stated)Orosius/Isidore mappa mundi tradition (Hereford cf. Ebstorf)