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Identifier
metapth298303
Description
Religion and politics are often closely allied, and this was especially the case in the sixteenth century. In this famous map, the Spanish flag flies prominently in the West Indies, while the Portuguese flag dominates the south Atlantic – reflecting pronouncements by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal of 1494. These declarations divided the non-Christian world between the two countries and charged the Portuguese and Spanish rulers with the responsibility of bringing the non-Christian inhabitants into the Catholic faith. This is reputedly the first printed map to name the Pacific Ocean and it is also among the earliest printed maps of the Western Hemisphere to show North and South America as separate but connected landmasses. The map’s creator, Münster, was a German Catholic Franciscan theologian and priest (ordained in 1512) as well as cartographer, cosmographer, humanist, mathematician, and scholar. [Gift of Virgina Garrett]
Archival Date
1540
Location
128/12
Collection Name
Cartographic Connections
Collection Number
00566
Publisher
University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
Original Format
Map
File Format
JPG
Rights
Any use of content downloaded or printed from this site is limited to non-commercial personal or educational use, including fair use as directed by U.S. copyright laws. For more information or for reproduction requests, please contact Special Collections
Subjects
North America; South America; Pacific Ocean; West Indies; Western Hemisphere
Item Type
image
Names
Münster, Sebastian (1488-1552)
Subjects
North America; South America; Pacific Ocean; West Indies; Western Hemisphere