Ravenna Cosmography
Encyclopedia
The Ravenna Cosmography was compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna
around AD 700. It consists of a list of place-names covering the world from India
to Ireland
. Textual evidence indicates that the author frequently used maps as his source.
The surviving texts are quite challenging. The three manuscript copies are distanced from the autograph (original manuscript) by three or four generations. As a result, the copies are plagued by errors of spelling, word division, omission, and errors of hearing (The text was apparently dictated at one point.). The text-to-text variations are not limited to the place-names, but are also significant in the intervening commentary. Thus, the bulk of the blame cannot be placed on the original author.
The most recent critical edition of the three manuscripts is that of Joseph Schnetz, Itineraria Romana, vol. II: Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia et Guidonis Geographica, 1942 (reprinted 1990), B G Teubner, Stuttgart.
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
around AD 700. It consists of a list of place-names covering the world from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Textual evidence indicates that the author frequently used maps as his source.
The surviving texts are quite challenging. The three manuscript copies are distanced from the autograph (original manuscript) by three or four generations. As a result, the copies are plagued by errors of spelling, word division, omission, and errors of hearing (The text was apparently dictated at one point.). The text-to-text variations are not limited to the place-names, but are also significant in the intervening commentary. Thus, the bulk of the blame cannot be placed on the original author.
The most recent critical edition of the three manuscripts is that of Joseph Schnetz, Itineraria Romana, vol. II: Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia et Guidonis Geographica, 1942 (reprinted 1990), B G Teubner, Stuttgart.
Sites dealing with the British section
- The Ravenna Cosmography, Introduction and British section.
- The Roman Map of Britain The British section of the Ravenna Cosmography and its sources.
Sites dealing with the Iberian section
- Ravennatis Anonymi Cosmographia. Introduction and link to an edition of the Latin original.