Mapmaking Across the Centuries

A 16th century surge in trade and travel kindled early European cartography, particularly within the county of Flanders. Prominent mathematicians and scientists such as Gerardus Mercator challenged classical ideas about the physical world, presenting alternatives based on leading theories of topography and cosmology. Mercator’s vast travels endowed him with experience to create increasingly precise maps, such as his world map Orbis Terrae Compendiosa Descriptio, notable for its relatively successful depictions of continental coastlines. Mercator’s maps, widely used during the 16th and 17th century, provided a reference for his cartographic successors, from Abraham Ortelius to Joan Blaeu. The intellectual Dutch climate within which Mercator worked fostered a network of collaboration that promoted discovery, change, and scientific accuracy.