Globus Jagellonicus
Encyclopedia
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
to show the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. It bears a striking resemblance to the Hunt-Lenox Globe
Hunt-Lenox Globe
The Hunt-Lenox Globe or Lenox Globe, dating from ca. 1510, is the second or third oldest known terrestrial globe, after the Erdapfel of 1492. It bears a striking resemblance to the Globus Jagellonicus, also tentatively dated to 1510...
, also tentatively dated to 1510 which is the second or third oldest known terrestrial globe
Globe
A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
, after the Erdapfel
Erdapfel
The Erdapfel produced by Martin Behaim in 1492 is considered to be the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. It is constructed of a laminated linen ball in two halves, reinforced with wood and overlaid with a map painted by Georg Glockendon....
of Martin Behaim
Martin Behaim
Martin Behaim , was a German mariner, artist, cosmographer, astronomer, philosopher, geographer and explorer in service to the King of Portugal.-Biography:The Behaim family had immigrated to Nuremberg because of religious persecution around...
, made in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
in 1492, the year before the Columbus' discovery became known in March 1493, and thus without the new continents. Globes made by Martin Waldseemüller
Martin Waldseemüller
Martin Waldseemüller was a German cartographer...
in 1507 already showed America.
The globus belonged to the medieval Cracow Academy which was in 1817 renamed to Jagiellonian University; it is featured on display at the Collegium Maius
Collegium Maius
The Collegium Maius , in Kraków, Poland, is the Jagiellonian University's oldest building, dating back to the 15th century. It stands at the corner of ulica Jagiellońska and ulica Świętej Anny The Collegium Maius (Latin for "Great College"), in Kraków, Poland, is the Jagiellonian University's...
Museum. It was rediscovered in the early 1870s and described as Globus Jagellonicus in 1900 by Prof. Tadeusz Estreicher
Tadeusz Estreicher
Tadeusz Estreicher was an Austrian-born Polish chemist, historian and cryogenics pioneer who spent most of his career in Austria and the German Empire.-Life:...
in the Transactions of the Cracow Academy of Sciences for that year. At the time, when no Polish state
History of Poland (1795–1918)
In 1795, the Third and the last of three partitions of Poland ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Nevertheless, hopes for restoration of Polish independence were kept alive throughout the 19th century by events within and outside the Polish lands...
existed for about a century, Prof. Estreicher points out that this globe indicating recent geographical discoveries, possessed by the Cracow Academy since 1510, throws special light on the interest taken by Polish scholars of that time.
The gilded copper globe is considered the earliest existing globe to indicate any part of the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
and the first to delineate the South American continent. It is also the oldest globe on which the continent of America is shown to be distinct from that of Asia. It uses the name "America" , which had been introduced in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller in his Universalis Cosmographia, though for a continent located to the south of India. A replica of the globe is on display in the Polish Nationality Room
Nationality Rooms
The Nationality Rooms are a collection of 27 classrooms in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning depicting and donated by the ethnic groups that helped build the city of Pittsburgh...
at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
Robert J. King has pointed out that America was shown on the Jagiellonian Globe in two locations: in the Atlantic Ocean under the names MUNDUS NOVUS, TERRA SANCTAE CRUCIS and TERRA DE BRAZIL; and in the Indian Ocean under the name AMERICA NOVITER REPERTA (America newly discovered). This bilocation of America in the eastern and western hemispheres resulted from the two different scales of longitude employed, one that of Claudius Ptolemy, who allowed 180 degrees between the westernmost point of Europe, Cape St Vincent in Portugal and Cattigara on the easternmost point of Asia, the other that of Christopher Columbus, who allowed 225 degrees for the same distance. According to the Columban calculation, therefore, the New World/America was closer to Europe, its most western part no more than 135 degrees west of Portugal, while according to the Ptolemaic calculation it was further west, to the south of India, as seen on the Jagiellonian Globe.