After re-mapping Margery Kempe\u2019s travels on the Bianco Map, it became evident that the major difference between Bianco\u2019s Map and Google Maps is specificity. Bianco\u2019s Map depicts many important locations and areas of the world, but it tends to ignore anything considered a \u2018minor\u2019 city (often cities of less religious importance, and therefore fewer visitors). Marking Kempe\u2019s journeys on this vaguer map proved to be more difficult simply because I had to estimate the locations of places like Constance and Great Yarmouth in relation to larger bodies of water or other landmarks. Because of this lack of specificity on Bianco\u2019s map, Kempe\u2019s travels may be more difficult to follow, or the markers of certain locations may be entirely incorrect.<\/p>\n
Further, Bianco\u2019s map is an artistic rendition of the world that utilizes illustrations to mark specific cities. Borders are completely omitted, while they are something our maps today rely heavily on. One of Google Earth\u2019s central capabilities is to show specific borders of countries, cities, and continents. The way we understand travel today is based on the idea of crossing borders \u2013 whether that means crossing borders to other states, or farther away to other countries. While Kempe was certainly aware of crossing into other countries, the awareness of a specific line or immediate transition may have been less apparent than it is to us today.<\/p>\n
Bianco\u2019s interest in the religious significance of major European cities is clearly evident on this map. As with most medieval maps at this time, Jerusalem is oriented in the center of the map, highlighting its significance and centrality in the world. For Bianco and Kempe, and other Christians on pilgrimage, Jerusalem\u2019s orientation in the center of the world makes the most sense, as it is the location for Jesus\u2019s adult life. Surrounding areas, including the Red Sea, depictions of Adam and Eve, and proverbial characters like the three wise men, show the significance of religious themes in understanding travel and location in Europe. Even beyond the landmarks and depictions of cities, Bianco\u2019s religious expertise is evident in the outskirts of the map: the world is surrounded by the stars (heavens), and the farthest reaches of the ocean show fantastical creatures like two-tailed sirens and two-winged dragons.<\/p>\n
In addition to this map representing common religious ideologies, it\u2019s imagery also holds underlying racist themes. The existence of Gog and Magog as one gets closer to Africa is something that should not go unnoticed. Because of this map\u2019s emphasis on imagery to show location, the images tend to represent common notions of what those locations hold (mostly religious importance), and having the people of Africa become more monstrous, fantastical, or dangerous shows the racist ideas European people held about African people. Bianco\u2019s map is opinionated and based on religious and cultural beliefs, while today\u2019s maps, especially Google Earth, lean more toward factual and scientific evidence of location and proportion. That is not to say that Bianco’s map holds no accuracy, though. In her book on the world map, Evelyn Edson says, \u201cIt is a struggle between the authority of the mighty classical past, the religious orthodoxy of the medieval mappaemundi, and the practical experience of sailors, \u2018persons worthy of trust who have seen with their own eyes\u2019 (Edson 7).\u201d Bianco’s map\u00a0was<\/em> accurate, or at least as accurate as possible for the time period, but it certainly is not as accurate as modern maps.<\/p>\n On Bianco\u2019s map, the distance of Kempe\u2019s journey seems to be across over half of the length of the world. If Bianco\u2019s map is, in fact, a map of the entire world, Kempe has seen a significant portion of it. In relation to our modern map, though, Kempe\u2019s travels cover barely a fraction of Europe, let alone the whole world. The sheer size of the map on Google Earth is significantly larger than Bianco\u2019s Map, even though, at their time of creation, both are believed to depict the entire (known) world. To Kempe and most of the European world at this time, her travels seemed quite extensive, and while they certainly were for the time, our understanding of travel in today\u2019s world far surpasses what it once meant.<\/p>\n Overall, there are many differences between Bianco\u2019s map, Google Earth, and what that means for those who utilize each atlas. One of the most difficult parts of mapping Kempe\u2019s travels on Bianco\u2019s map was the medieval map\u2019s orientation with east at the top. To ensure my locations were marked correctly, I rotated Google Earth 90 degrees to the left to make the maps match as closely as they could. After comparing both maps, readers can see that Bianco\u2019s map holds important cultural information on beliefs of travel, religion, and race, while today\u2019s map values specificity, facts, and scientific proportions to ensure accuracy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n