The Catalan Atlas

History
The Catalan Atlas, is the finest work to come from the Majorcan cartographic school of the fourteenth century. Most probably produced in 1375 (the date that appears on the perpetual calendar accompanying the maps) and attributed, though without certainty, to Cresques Abraham , the atlas was already recorded in Charles V's library, in the inventory drawn up by Gilles Malet and copied by Jean Blanchet in 1380 (" une quarte de mer en tabliaux faicte par manière de unes tables, painte et ystoriee, figuree et escripte et fermant a iiii fermoers ").

Cosmographical diagram: perpetual calendar. (BNF, Esp 30), The Catalan Atlas, Spain, Majorca 14th century.

Description

The Catalan Atlas was originally composed of 6 vellum leaves folded down the middle ; the leaves are now cut in half. They are painted in various colors, gold, and silver ; each half-leaf is mounted on one side of five wooden panels, the first half of the first leaf and the second half of the last leaf are mounted on the inner boards of a brown leather binding. Each leaf measures approximately 65 x 50 cm, for an overall size of 65 x 300 cm.
The first two leaves contain a compilation of cosmographical, astronomical, and astrological texts translated into Catalan. These texts emphasize the earth's spherical shape and the state of the known world ; they also provide useful information to sailors on tides and how to reckon time at night. The texts are accompanied by several illustrations : a tide table, a perpetual calendar, the figure of a man marked with the signs of the zodiac, and a large, circular chart framed by the four seasons which gives information on the zodiac, the seven known planets, and a diagram of the constellations:

Cosmographical diagram: the Earth, personified by an astronomer holding an astrolabe, is situated in the center of the Universe. It is surrounded by concentric circles representing the four elements, the seven planets (the spheres and their personifications), the signs of the zodiac, the positions and phases of the moon. The diagram is framed by the personifications of the four seasons.

The four remaining leaves make up the actual map, which is divided into two principal parts. The map shows many illustrations of cities, whose political allegiances are symbolized by a flag. Christian cities are marked with a cross, other cities with a dome. Seas and oceans are symbolized by wavy blue vertical lines. And as is usual for nautical charts, place names of important ports are transcribed in red, while others are indicated in black.
Unlike many other nautical charts, the Catalan Atlas is meant to be read with the north at the bottom ; thus the maps are oriented from left to right, from the Far East to the Atlantic. The assemblage of plates giving an overall view of the document is presented as it is meant to be read, in other words with the south uppermost ; but to facilitate consultation, excerpts from the Atlas are shown with the north uppermost.
The two last leaves form a fairly standard portolan chart of the same type as Angelino Dulcert's 1339 map. However, at the westernmost point, near the first wind rose (compass card) ever drawn on a portolan chart, is a commentary concerning the mythical " Iles Beneventurades, " the Fortunate Islands described by Pliny the Elder and Isidore of Seville, as well as an illustration of the no less mythical" Insula de Brazil ". Also worthy of note is the repetition of the islands of Corsica and Sardinia on two successive leaves creating an area of 'overlap' in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, (this feature does not occur in the oriental portion of the Atlas). In Africa several sovereigns are portrayed (including the king of Mali, " Musse Melly, " Mansa Musa, who wields a scepter ornamented with a fleur-de-lys, and the king of Organa, an armed Saracen). " Tenbuch " (Timbuktu) is also represented, as is the ship of Jaume Ferrer who set sail in 1346 for the " Riu del Or " (River of Gold) in quest of a sea route around the Atlas mountains, which impeded travel to the African interior where the Genoese and Catalans hoped to find gold and ivory.
The first two leaves, which form the oriental portion of the Catalan Atlas, illustrate numerous religious references as well as a synthesis of medieval mappae mundi (Jerusalem is situated virtually at the document's center) and the travel literature of the time, notably Marco Polo's Book of Marvels and the Travels and Voyage of Sir John Mandeville. For example in the land of 'Catayo' (China), the map shows the city of 'Chambaleth' (Beijing) where the Great Khan resides, Sumatra (" Illa Trapobana "), and a coastline edged with a multitude of many-colored islands that recalls the circumfluent ocean of the Orbis Terrarum. To the east of the Caspian Sea, the map is based on biblical and mythological references, as well as on borrowings from travelers' narratives : Moses' passage of the Red Sea, Mount Sinai, Mount Ararat, the Tower of Babel, the Magi following the star, Christ the King, Mecca, Babylon, the Queen of Sheba, " Illa Jana, " home of the mythical realm of the Amazons (" Regio Femarum " (sic)), Sirens, the kingdom of Gog and Magog, Alexander the Great, Pygmies battling storks (whose presence in the mountains of Asia was attested by Pliny the Elder, but refuted by Marco Polo), etc.
Despite the map's rather approximate cartographical design, many Indian and Chinese cities can be identified. The explanatory texts report customs described by Marco Poloand catalogue local economic resources, real ones or supposed ones. This, indeed, is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Catalan Atlas : to the east of the well-defined Mediterranean world lie immense regions whose economic importance is clearly understood, but which remain mysterious and unexplored. This world of spices, silks, and fabulous riches described by Marco Polo is the one that Christopher Columbus would attempt to reach by a western route 117 years later.

The Majorcan Cartographic School
The oldest sea charts in existence, linked to the emergence of the compass, are of Genoese or Venetian origin ; the earliest examples date from the late thirteenth century. They generally show the Mediterranean basin (" Mare nostrum " ) drafted with astonishing cartographic precision, considering the technical means available to the mapmakers of that time.
In 1137 the kingdom of Aragon incorporated Catalonia, a trading partner of North Africa where mapmaking was a strong tradition, and later annexed the Balearic Islands in 1229. These circumstances fostered the rise of a highly important and flourishing cartographic school, owing in particular to the contributions of Arab and Jewish scholars. What characterized this school was its lavish, vividly colored illustrations (of cities, significant geographical features, portraits of foreign rulers, rich toponymy, etc.). Even before the first map was produced in Majorca, the Catalan scholar Ramon Llull included the sea chart among navigational instruments, on a par with the compass. In 1354 King Peter of Aragon decreed that two charts should be carried on all the ships of the realm.
The portolan chart drafted in 1339 by Angelino Dulcert (BNF, Res Ge B 696), was the first map known for certain to have been produced in Palma, on Majorca. It is thus one of the " prototypes " of Catalan maps drawn in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. All of the typical features are present : colors, place names, drawings of topographical details (mountains, rivers, lakes, major cities, ports or inland towns, personalities, etc.), as well as keys and explanatory notes written in Latin, all features not usually found on Genoese or Venetian portolans. Moreover, this document marks a departure from the strictly " Mediterranean " frame of reference of earlier portolans, for it attempts to represent northern Europe and include more information concerning Africa.
The Catalan Atlas, dated 1375 and attributed to Cresques Abraham, presents important similarities with Dulcert's portolan chart in the drawing of its occidental portion, augmented with a great number of explanatory legends. Its originality lies in the addition of an oriental half which is not based on the experience of Mediterranean sailors, as was the case with portolan charts, but makes use of all manner of sources, including the account of Marco Polo's voyage in the late thirteenth century.
The portolan drafted in 1413 by Mecia de Viladestes (BNF, Res. Ge AA 566) is another interesting example of the Majorcan school. It reproduces the geographical framework of Dulcert's portolan chart, the rich array of paintings and explanatory legends of the Catalan Atlas, and it reflects the same fascination with African gold and knowledge of the overland routes leading to it.
The Majorcan cartographic school significantly changed the way nautical charts and land maps were produced : Catalan cartographers skillfully incorporated the most up-to-date information into their maps, thus altering the traditional framework of nautical charts.

The Origin Of Booze

A historical look at the stuff that gets us hammered. Who’s ready for the first round?

Beer

To quote Homer Simpson, is there anything it can’t do? Most likely invented in Persia circa 7,000 B.C.E., beer’s gone on to become hugely important in almost every ancient society it’s touched. Back in Sumerian culture, the drink was considered positively divine - a fact confirmed when archaeologists dug up the 4,000-year-old "Hymn to Ninkasi." The ode to the goddess of brewing actually doubles as a recipe for a barley-based beverage
guaranteed to make people feel "exhilarated, wonderful and blissful."

The epic of Gilgamesh tells us a similar tale; one of the main characters, Enkidu, is said to have had "seven cups of beer, and his heart soared." After seven rounds we can definitely see why. In ancient Egypt, wages were often paid to the poor in beer, or as they called it, hqt. It was sort of light beer, apparently, and not very intoxicating, which explains how construction workers of the day managed to drink three daily rations of it and still build their masterpiece: the not-at-all-leaning pyramids of Giza.

Wine

A wine snob will happily tell you, for hours on end, how difficult it is to make a decent wine and how many complicated steps are involved. This may be true, but it’s ridiculously easy to make basic wine. The beverage in its roughest form probably goes back thousands of years to primitive cultures who mistakenly left grapes in the sun for too long and then attempted to eat them. As it turns out, all the yeasts needed to ferment grapes actually grow on grape skin. (No additives necessary!)

Around 5,000 B.C.E., the people of present-day Georgia and Iran started making wine in clay pots. By the time of ancient Greece, wine had acquired a religious significance; perhaps in homage to Dionysus, the Greeks planted vines in all their colonies, including France and Egypt. (We’d love to know what the French make of the fact that they have the Greeks to thank for their vaunted grapes.)

California winemakers should also praise God, literally, for the fruits of their labor: when Christian missionaries arrived there, they planted the region’s first vines so they’d have something to transmogrify into
the blood of Jesus when they took Communion.

Champagne

As you probably know, bubbly comes from the Champagne region of France, a longtime center of trade (and also a region in the path of rampaging hordes: Attila the Hun, among others, left footprints there). As you may also know, Dom Perignon was in fact a real person - his first name was Pierre - and, in a sense, he’s the inventor of the sparkly stuff. A Benedictine monk, the Dom served as treasurer of an abbey in the Champagne region starting in 1688.

The region had slightly chilly weather that year, and the growing season was unusually short anyway - which meant grapes spent less time fermenting on the vine and more time fermenting in cellars. Essentially, it was this process that led to carbon dioxide being trapped inside the bottles.

At first the Dom was horrified; this was a sign that he’d failed in his duties as treasurer (which included, for some reason, winemaking). Try as he might, he couldn’t get rid of the bubbles. Finally, resigned to dealing with them, he blended grapes to make a light white wine, which suited the effervescence far better than a heavy red.

He also realized he’d have to solve another problem caused by trapped carbon dioxide: a considerable number of his bottles exploding. So, instead of stopping them with wood and oil-soaked hemp, he started using a soft material from Spain: cork.

This lovely story, by the way, doesn’t sit so well with the natives of Limoux, France. They allege that they were making sparkling wine in their backyards as early as the 1500s, and that Perignon stole their idea. We’ve got to side with the Dom on this one: After all, the guy was a monk.

Vodka

Believe it or not, the name really does come from the Russian word for "water," which is "voda," and the Russians have a pretty good claim to inventing the stuff. Production from grains has been documented there as far back as the 9th century. It wasn’t, however, until around the 14th century that vodka became known as the Russian national drink, and for good reasons; it was served everywhere, even at religious ceremonies.

Poland likes to boast that its own vodka production goes back even further than Russia’s, to the 8th century, but what was going made in that region at the time was more like grappa or brandy. Later Polish vodkas were called "gorzalka," or "burnt wine," and were used as medicines, as were all distilled liquors in the Middle Ages. Vodka was also used as an ingredient in early European formulations of gunpowder.

By the way, for those of you who turn your noses up the fruit-infused vodkas that have recently hit the market: they’re the original. Early vodkas were not quite as palatable as your average Grey Goose, so makers often masked the taste with fruits and spices.

Gin

If you’re unsurprised that vodka used to be given as medicine, you probably won’t be shocked to learn that gin was invented specifically for that purpose. 14th-century Europeans distilled juniper berries in hopes of fighting the plague (then again, almost everything they did was in hope of fighting the plague).

But gin as we know it didn’t come along until the mid-1600s. That’s when one Dr. Sylvius concocted the first formulation in the Netherlands, hoping it would serve as a primitive type of dialysis for kidney patients. (We’re guessing he didn’t particularly care about its effect on the liver.) By the end of the century, gin had become popular in Britain because it was sold at cut-rate prices, despite a very widespread rumor that it could induce abortion, which lead to it being nicknamed "mother’s ruin." Later, when the Brits started to occupy India, they found it useful in yet another medical mixture: the gin and tonic. The quinine in the tonic water was effective in fighting malaria.

Tequila

As vodka was to Russia, tequila was to Mexico; it’s been made there since at least the 16th century and was originally used in religious rituals. (Having drunk a little too much tequila once, we can testify to its ability to cause drinkers to beseech God for mercy.) The name comes from a town founded in 1656. And while José Cuervo didn’t exactly invent the drink, he was the first to commercialize it. As for its migration northward, a fellow named Cenobio Sauza brought the stuff to the U.S. in the late 1800s; we can’t help but wonder if this is why frat boys on spring break still refer to this stuff as "the sauce."

Rum

Yo-ho-uh-oh and a bottle of rum - the drink tastes great, but its history isn’t so sweet. The story, as far as we can tell, starts in India, where in 300, B.C.E., Alexander the Great saw some sugarcane and memorably called it "the grass that gives honey without bees."

All well and good, until Christopher Columbus went and brought sugarcane to the Caribbean. There, it flourished and became the engine of the slave trade. Africa sent slaves to the Caribbean, which sent sugar to New England, which sent rum and other goodies to Africa, which sent more slaves to the Caribbean. Known as the triangular trade, pondering the implications of it all is enough to make a person want a stiff drink. But not, preferably, one steeped in rum.

Whisky

Are the origins of whisky Scottish or Irish ? Naturally, opinions about this question are drastically opposed depending on the native country of the person to whom you ask.

Nevertheless, it seems that more and more people tend to agree on the hypothesis of an Irish origin. It would be no one else than Saint-Patrick himself, the patron of the Irish, who would have introduced the still in his country at Vth AC, holding it himself indirectly from the Arabian. Irish monks would have then spread from Vth before J.C. the art of distillation at the same time as Christian civilization, in their own country to start with, then in Scotland.

In any case, what one knows for sure is that the art of distillation is very old and dates back too much more ancient time than the first origins of whisky. The Egyptians are known to have practised the distillation of perfumes 3000 years before J.C. As a matter of fact, the word alcohol is directly derived from the Arabic al-koh'l, koh'l being a dark powder from pulverized antimony and used as an eye make up.

From XIIth onwards, distillation of water of life or aqua vitae spreads progressively through Europe, notably in Ireland and in Scotland under its Gaelic name of Uisge Beatha or Usquebaugh, which will eventually transform into Uisge then Uisky, until becoming Whisky. Some virtues, literally miraculous which were justifying its name, were attributed to the water of life. Curing virtually any pain, it was then a medicinal potion which was prescribed as well as an ointment as a remedy to be drunk. It was a long way from possessing the flavours and the subtlety of the one drunk today, and was consumed for its mere virtues as opposed for pleasure.

Hail of Stones from Nowhere

THE CATALOG OF unexplained events includes many strange instances of stones falling from the sky - or somewhere. Showers of stones, often from clear skies and in areas where rockslides from mountains cannot be blamed. Hails of stones pummeling rooftops and people, often causing damage and injury. Investigations of these events usually end with unnerved victims and with officials scratching their heads in puzzlement or, out of desperation, inventing "explanations" that are sometimes as outlandish as the events themselves.
Reports of this particular type of mystery go back centuries and come from all over the world. One of the earliest written accounts was by Robert Kirk in 1690, who attributed the throwing of "great stons" to subterranean inhabitants that he called the "invisible wights." And an unexplained stone-throwing incident that took place in New Hampshire was recorded in a pamphlet entitled "Lithobolia, or the Stone-throwing Devil," published in London in 1698.
In some of these bizarre cases, the rain of stones occurs in connection with other paranormal phenomena, such as a haunting or poltergeist activity.
n the famous Bell Witch haunting of 1817, which included a host of strange goings-on, neighbors of the beleaguered Bells were pelted with stones thrown by an unseen entity.
The phenomenon is defined by the inability of investigators to identify any assailants or vandals, and usually by the lack of any motive for such an assault. So the questions arise: Where do these phantom stones come from? Who or what is responsible for throwing or dropping them? Are there natural explanations for the phenomenon? Consider these remarkable cases and draw your own conclusions:
• Harrisonville, Ohio, 1901 - The stone attack on this small village began on the Sunday afternoon of October 13 when, as the Buffalo Express reported, "a small boulder came crashing through the window of Zach Dye's house." No culprit could be found around the isolated house... and this was just the beginning. The next day, dozens of stones rained down in the heart of the village, breaking windows and striking citizens. Were mischievous kids to blame? The next day, all of the male children of the village were gathered together (how could girls do such a thing?), and stones fell for a third day. None of the villagers could detect where the stones were coming from.
• Sumatra, 1903 - W. G. Grottendieck wrote about how small black stones, hot to the touch, came raining down in his bedroom as 1 a.m. The most bizarre aspect of this case is that the stones seemed to come through the roof without making holes in it, and they fell, he said, in a motion that was slower than would be normal.
• Marcinelle, Belgium, 1913 - For four days in January one house was besieged by an invisible stone thrower with remarkable accuracy. Police officers began to watch the house in an attempt to catch the vandal, but one wrote in his report: "I have seen a stone arriving in the middle of a large window-pane and then came others in spiral round the first point of impact.... I even saw, in another window, a projectile caught in the fragments of the glass of the first hole it made, and subsequently ejected by another passing through the same point." No stone-thrower was ever seen, although an estimated 300 stones struck the house.
• Ardeche, France, 1921 - Most of these events are short-lived, lasting only a few days at most. But beginning in September, a farmhouse in France was victimized for four months. The stones dropped at all hours of the day, sometimes striking the family's children and a clergyman who was called in to investigate. In this case, apples were also thrown and, again, with inhuman accuracy: apples came speeding in through small holes in the shudders made by previous apples.
• Sumatra, 1928 - One of the most astonishing cases was experienced and reported by the renowned paranormal investigator Ivan T. Sanderson. While sitting on the veranda of an estate house as a guest one evening, a shiny black pebble dropped onto the veranda out of nowhere. Dozens more followed. Sanderson, who was familiar with the phenomenon, tried an experiment. He ordered the stones gathered up and marked with chalk, paint or whatever else could be used. They then threw the stones back out randomly into the garden and shrubbery. "We must have thrown over a dozen such marked stones," Sanderson wrote. "Within a minute they were all back! Nobody, with a powerful flashlight or super-eyesight, could have found those little stones in that tangled mess... and thrown them back on to the veranda. Yet, they came back, all duly marked by us!"
• Oakland, California, 1943 - In August of that year, Mrs. Irene Fellows finally called the police after two weeks of stones pelting her house at various times of the day. At first skeptical, the police inquiry became serious when their investigation clearly identified the pockmarks of the falling stones on Mrs. Fellows' roof and walls, and by the litter of stones on her lawn. Mrs. Fellows and members of her family were frequently hit by the stones, although to no serious injury. The thorough police investigation could offer no explanation for the stones, which seemed to materialize out of nothingness.
• Brooklyn, Wellington, New Zealand, 1963 - Stones and apples are one thing, but what about money? Why would a vandal throw money? On March 24, a guest house was inexplicably battered by a hail of stones and a few coins. Police were called and unsuccessfully searched for the perpetrator of the assault, which lasted for seven hours. Windows were smashed and people were struck, but none injured. The coins included New Zealand pennies and a large copper coin. The mysterious attack occurred again for two more nights, then stopped.
• Skaneateles, New York, 1973 - Most often, a particular house is the target for this phenomenon, but in this highly unusual case, two fisherman became the victims of the falling stones - a paranormal storm that followed wherever they went! The rain of pebbles began as they were finishing their fishing expedition and followed them as they made their way to their car. The shower ceased for a while, then resumed when they stopped briefly on their way home. Deciding they needed a drink, they went to a bar, and when they came out some time later, the rain of pebbles began again. As they were about to go their separate ways in their hometown of Liverpool (about 25 miles northeast of Skaneateles), the little stones dropped on them one last time.
• Arizona, 1983 - The attack on the Berkbigler family began in September, just as they moved into their new home. Large rocks crashed down on the house every night, usually between the hours of 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. The local sheriff's department could determine no assailant, even with helicopter surveillance. The authorities became reluctant to visit the Berkbigler home when they too were struck by the falling rocks. This went on for weeks, culminating on December 4 while two newspaper reporters were interviewing the family. Rocks slammed into the side door of the house for two hours. What's most mysterious here is that to strike this door, the rocks had to pass through the garage where a van was parked, through a narrow two-foot space.
This is just a small sampling of the hundreds of such cases that have taken place over the last century. There is no easy explanation for these rains of rocks and stones. Something supernatural is most definitely taking place, and most researchers theorize that it is a form of poltergeist phenomena - a physical manifestation caused most likely by the minds (or powerful electromagnetic brain activity) of the victims themselves. But this meager explanation poses more questions than it answers, especially in the cases in which the very physical stones seem to materialize out of thin air.