Mappa mundi from the codex of Jakub of Kowalewice (BUP Rkp. 1746) and the Historia Brittonum by Nennius

Abstract

The present article provides a content analysis of the mappa mundi (world map) in the code compiled by Jakub of Kowalewice (BUP MS. 1746) and attempts to establish the provenance of the text that had been contained in the codex, its authorship, and the approximate date of its origin. Furthermore, the article analyses the list of provinces that had been labelled and inscribed into the diagrammatic world maps (mappae mundi) based on the T-O diagram, which depicted the three known continents as a T contained in a circle, and those included outside the map form in a group of codices that include parallel texts to that of the Poznan codex (that originally came from the ninth century work by Nennius – Historia Brittonum). Finally, the results of the query for the maps using the T-O type in Polish collections that could have provided the model (pattern) for the map included in the codex by Jakub of Kowalewice are presented. An attempt is also made to perform a content analysis of the list of provinces inscribed into the map and to indicate the differences and common
features between the maps found in the query and the copy in MS 1746.