portulano

Updated: May 23, 2025

And yet there were some of the learned who were not above taking instruction from the practical knowledge of the seamen. In 1339, one Angelico Dulcert, of Majorca, made an elaborate map of the world on the principle of the portulano, giving the coast line at least of the Mediterranean with remarkable accuracy.

Joseph Jacobs - The Story of Geographical Discovery: How the World Became Known

A chart of this kind was called a Portulano, as giving information of the best routes from port to port, and Baron Nordenskiold has recently shown how all these portulani are derived from a single Catalan map which has been lost, but must have been compiled between 1266 and 1291.

Joseph Jacobs - The Story of Geographical Discovery: How the World Became Known