The Trefoil of the World

I published a new chapter from my second manuscript https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Opinion/34696

The extract discusses the medieval concept of the three continents asigned to the sons of Noah and follows its development until the end of the 16th century. The funny thing is that even after the discovery of America there were followers of this old yarn (view the Clover Leaf Map). It also shows that the Middle Ages did not officially ended around the year 1500 CE. Instead, each person followed his or her own destiny. Some contemporaries carried the old mindset; others held a novel worldview.

The chapter starts Unit II, The Bounded Land and the Boundless Ocean, of my manuscript “The Enchanting Encounter with the East”.

Alexander’s Gate (5)

Still working on this chapter. I decided to rename it: “In the Sinister Shade of the Iron Gates”. It will be as long as a Unit and will include at least 7 parts. There will be at least one illustration: Aivazovsky’s picture of the Dariel Gorge in moonlight. I will probably add more: the chapter is based on mappaemundi. Six parts are almost ready. I have to decide whether I will add pages about the Khazars or not. And write Conclusion.

How Wide Spreads the Ocean

I published another article on my most successful site https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Opinion/34322

This is the last chapter from Unit 1 of my manuscript titled “The Enchanting Encounter with the East”. You can see all these parts at my page https://scriggler.com/Profile/michael_baizerman

(the upper four headlines). My previous article gained such popularuty that was awarded with the title “Publication of the day”.

The chapter tells about various estimations of the width of the Ocean Sea and discusses the prospects of crossing the water body which, according to the popular worldview, separated the western and eastern extrenmes of the Old World. I give comments on a few real and fictitious travel reports of the ancient era and match them to a range of opinions concerning the transversing of the Atlantic.

I will soon start uploading chapters from Unit II, The Bounded Land and the Boundless Ocean. This part of my manuscript deals with basic ideas of medieval geography: the concept of the three continents, Jerusalem as the heart of the world, attitude to race, Antipodes-the legend of the fourth continent, and the Little Age of Discovery: amazing maritime adventures throughout the 14th century which led to the discovery of archipelagoes in the Central Atlantic and paved the way to the exploration of Africa.

The Size of the Inhabited World

A new version of my article titled “What is the Size of the Inhabited World” is available https://scriggler.com/DetailPost/Opinion/33098

The extract speaks about ancient and medieval estimation of the length of the “human planet”, especially its west-east extent. At the end of the fifteenth century, one of dominating approaches was to enhance the land span to unrealistic proportions implying that the circumference of the Old World was not such a crazy idea.