We are very pleased to publish this special issue of Terrae Incognitae on Cronica universalis, an unpublished fourteenth-century codex written by Dominican friar Flamma Galvaneus. The article Paolo Chiesa published in TI last year based on this codex—which discussed fourteenth-century discussions of the Americas in the Mediterranean region—generated considerable interest.Footnote1 We think our readers will be very interested in this special issue too, which covers entirely new ground from the codex. This special issue takes a wide approach to the work by Galvaneus, providing a broad understanding of the intellectual world and practices of the man who wrote about the Americas in the Mediterranean area 150 years before Columbus. Readers will learn about the sources that Galvaneus consulted—which were numerous and wide-ranging, including scholarly works, travel accounts, and oral testimonies—his methodology, and his contributions not only to the field of geography, but also cartography.
In addition to writing research articles, the contributors to this special issue have provided a brief introductory piece, entitled “Geography in Galvaneus Flamma’s Cronica universalis,” which provides background on Galvaneus, information about the creation of Cronica universalis, and a discussion of its relevance to the history of exploration. Along with providing all of this valuable information, we think our readers will find the broader context it provides helpful in appreciating the research articles. To give readers a preview of the issue, let us briefly summarize the three research articles, discussing them in the order of their appearance.
Federica Favero’s well-researched and engaging contribution, entitled “An Exotic Geographical Excursus: Chapters 273–378 of the Third Book of the Cronica universalis by Galvaneus Flamma,” examines the third book of Cronica universalis, which focuses on geography. Her piece has relevance not only for those interested in Galvaneus, but also in fourteenth-century exploration more broadly, for her focus is on the sources Galvaneus utilized. To this end, she provides a chart of nearly 100 locations that Galvaneus mentions and identifies the sources from which he obtained information about these sites. Scholars will find this chart not only fascinating, but also extremely useful to their research. Furthermore, Favero provides a rich analysis of Galvaneus’s sources, dividing her discussion into three sections: encyclopedic scholarly sources, travel accounts, and oral testimonies. Exploring the content of Galvaneus’s commentary, Favero notes that not only was he interested in geographic features (i.e. location, flora and fauna, natural resources, etc.), but also local customs. Another subject Galvaneus examined that Favero discusses, which is also very relevant to this history of exploration, is the habitability of equatorial and polar regions.
Giulia Greco’s interesting and carefully researched contribution, entitled “Asia Through the Eyes of a Medieval Dominican Friar: Galvaneus Flamma’s Cumulative Reuse of Geographical Sources,” nicely complements Favero’s article. As the title indicates, Greco, too, focuses on Galvaneus’s utilization of a range of sources—scholarly/encyclopedic, travel accounts, and oral testimony—making her piece relevant not only to those interested in Galvaneus but also fourteenth-century exploration in general. Notwithstanding this similarity, Greco makes two distinct contributions. One is that her piece is more focused from a geographical standpoint, concentrating on Galvaneus’s discussion of Asia, the foreign region he wrote the most about in Cronica universalis. Greco’s analytical focus is also distinct. She concentrates on Galvaneus’s methodology, particularly the ways that he combined different types of sources into his narrative. Readers will find Greco’s careful textual analysis of a range of sources (including some very rare ones) that Galvaneus utilized, which shows important differences between them (differences Galavaneus failed to highlight), of great interest.
Paolo Chiesas’s engaging contribution, entitled “Two Cartographic Elements in Galvaneus Flamma’s Cronica universalis,” provides a distinct contribution by highlighting what Galaveneus’s sources contribute to our knowledge of cartography by placing his work on the subject into the broader context of fourteenth-century mapmaking. As the title explains, Chiesa analyzes two cartographic elements. The first one is a diagram of the winds. Chiesa includes an image of the diagram and analyzes it, showing that the diagram was influenced by both classical knowledge and maritime practices. Furthermore, rather than combining the two traditions, the diagram conceived them as separate and complementary. Chiesa suggests that Galvaneus reproduced the diagram, copying it from an unknown source. The second cartographic element that Chiesa examines is Galvaneus’s mention of a map, mappa Ianuensis, which was drawn or housed in Genoa. Chiesa examines Galvaneus’s description of the map’s characteristics and carefully compares them with the characteristics of several fourteenth-century maps produced in Majorca and Genoa. While he finds some similarities, one important distinction is that Galavaneus’s mappa Ianuensis predated the others, and appears to have some affinities with the now-lost mappa mundi. The creation of this special issue would not have been possible without support. Paolo Chiesa, Federica Favero, and Giulia Greco not only wrote specialized articles, but also an informative introductory piece. Terrae Incognitae Associate Editor Gregory McIntosh’s specialized knowledge and dedication enhanced this special issue. Laurie Corbin translated abstracts into French and Luis Robles Macías translated them into Spanish. Book Review Editor David Buisseret has compiled a fine list of books that appear in the “Reviews” section. Editorial Assistant Scott Beamon helped with the editorial process and provided assistance on reviews. I thank all of them for their significant contributions.
Notes
1 Paolo Chiesa, “Marckalada: The First Mention of America in the Mediterranean Area (c. 1340),” Terrae Incognitae 53 no. 2 (2021), pp. 88–106.