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Exploration & Discovery

Abraham Cresques

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Who

Abraham Cresques · Exploration & Discovery

What

Majorcan Jewish cartographer, 'master of maps and compasses' to the Crown of Aragon; author with his son Jehuda of the Catalan Atlas of 1375, the finest world map of the medieval West

When

1325, Palma, Majorca, Crown of Aragon — 1387, Palma, Majorca

Where

Majorca (Crown of Aragon)

Biography

Abraham Cresques is recognized among Jewish contributors to Exploration & Discovery — Majorcan Jewish cartographer, 'master of maps and compasses' to the Crown of Aragon; author with his son Jehuda of the Catalan Atlas of 1375, the finest world map of the medieval West

How & why

Abraham Cresques worked in the Jewish quarter of Palma, the centre of the Majorcan school of chart-making, and held the title of 'master of maps and compasses' to the royal house of Aragon. With his son Jehuda he produced the Catalan Atlas of about 1375, six panels combining a portolan chart of the Mediterranean with the interior of Africa and Asia drawn from travellers' reports — the most complete and accurate world picture available in medieval Europe, and a working document rather than a symbolic map. The Majorcan school he belonged to supplied the charts on which Iberian navigation was built. After the pogroms of 1391 his son was forcibly converted and continued the work under the name Jaume Ribes.

Sources & external links

Verify and go deeper with these external references.

Source: Wikipedia — Abraham Cresques

Contributions & Sources

Majorcan Jewish cartographer, 'master of maps and compasses' to the Crown of Aragon; author with his son Jehuda of the Catalan Atlas of 1375, the finest world map of the medieval West

1375

Source: Wikipedia — Abraham Cresques