Myths and legends

In addition to illustrating people and places, the map also shows supernatural scenes from classical Greek and Roman mythology, Biblical tales and a collection of popular legends and stories. Look near the Strait of Gibraltar and you’ll see the Columns of Hercules, which were thought to mark the end of the inhabited world. The earthly paradise of Eden is represented by a circular island at the eastern extreme of the world, near Asia. Some of the most important Old Testament stories, such as that of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark and the Tower of Babel, are rendered on the top-right of the map.

From Greek mythology, the Cretan labyrinth built by Daedalus to contain the Minotaur is shown, as is the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece. Separately, there are also references to the stories of Alexander the Great.

Historian and cathedral librarian Rosemary Firman believes that the map was intended to be seen by pilgrims visiting the shrine of St Thomas Cantilupe, who was buried at Hereford Cathedral. Since many pilgrims in the 13th and 14th Centuries would not have been able to read, the map could simply be enjoyed as an aesthetic piece of art by those who knew little of classical mythology and also as a kind of visual encyclopaedia for those who were more educated.