Gerardus Mercator

Gerardus Mercator
GerardusMercator
Born Geert de Kremer
(1512-03-05)5 March 1512
Rupelmonde, County of Flanders
(modern-day Belgium)
Died 2 December 1594(1594-12-02) (aged 82)
Duisburg, United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
(modern-day Germany)
Nationality Disputed See text below
Education University of Leuven
Known for 1569 World Map
Mercator projection
Atlas of 1595.
Spouse(s) Barbara Schellekens
(m.1534-d.1586)
Gertrude Vierlings (m.1589)
Children Arnold (eldest), Emerentia, Dorothes, Bartholomeus, Rumold, Catharina

Gerardus Mercator was born 5 March 1512 in Rupelmonde, County of Flanders (in modern-day Belgium). He died 2 December 1594 in Duisburg, Duchy of Cleves (in modern-day Germany). He is renowned as the cartographer who created a world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant bearing as straight lines—an innovation which to this day enhances the simplicity and safety of navigation. In his own day he was the world's most famous geographer but in addition he had interests in theology, philosophy, history, mathematics and magnetism as well as being an accomplished engraver, calligrapher and maker of globes and scientific instruments.

Unlike other great scholars of the age he travelled little and his knowledge of geography came from his library of over one thousand books and maps, from his visitors and from his vast correspondence (in six languages) with other scholars, statesmen, travellers, merchants and seamen. Mercator's early maps were in large formats suitable for wall mounting but in the second half of his life he produced over 100 new regional maps in a smaller format suitable for binding into his Atlas of 1595. This was the first appearance of the word Atlas in a geographical context but Mercator used it as a neologism for a treatise (Cosmologia) on the creation, history and description of the universe, not simply a collection of maps. He chose the word as a commemoration of a King Atlas of Mauretania whom he considered to be the first great geographer. This King Atlas was a son of the Titan Atlas but the two myths very quickly coalesced.

A large part of Mercator's income came from the sales of his terrestrial and celestial globes. For sixty years they were considered to be the finest in the world and they were sold in such great numbers that there are many surviving examples. This was a substantial enterprise involving making the spheres, printing the gores, building substantial stands, packing and distributing all over Europe. He was also renowned for his scientific instruments, particularly his astrolabes and the sets of "rings" used to study the geometry of astronomy and astrology.

Mercator wrote on geography, philosophy, chronology and theology. All of the wall maps were engraved with copious text on the region concerned. As an example the famous world map of 1569 is inscribed with over 5000 words in fifteen legends. The 1595 Atlas has about 120 pages of maps and illustrated title pages but a greater number of pages are devoted to his account of the creation of the universe and descriptions of all the countries portrayed. His table of chronology ran to some 400 pages fixing the dates (from the time of creation) of earthly dynasties, major political and military events, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, and eclipses. He also wrote on the gospels and the old testament.

Mercator was a very devout Christian born into a Catholic family at a time when Luther's Protestantism was gaining ground. He never declared himself as a Lutheran but he was clearly sympathetic and he was accused of heresy (Lutheranye). He spent six months in prison but he emerged unscathed. This period of persecution is probably the major factor in his move from catholic Louvain to a more tolerant Duisburg where he lived for the last thirty years of his life. Walter Ghim, Mercator's friend and first biographer, describes him as sober in his behaviour, yet cheerful and witty in company, and never more happy than in debate with other scholars, but above all he was pious and studious until his dying days.[1]

Mercator's life

Early years

Rupelmonde from Flandria illustrata, 1641

Gerardus Mercator, (pronounced /dʒᵻˈrɑːrdəs mərˈkeɪtər/[2]), was born Geert (or Gerhard) De Kremer (or Cremer), the seventh child of Hubert De Kremer and his wife Emerance. Their home town was Gangelt in the Duchy of Julich but, at the time of the birth, they were visiting Hubert's brother (or uncle[3]) Gisbert De Kremer in the small town of Rupelmonde in the county of Flanders. Hubert was a poor artisan, a shoemaker by trade, but Gisbert, a priest, was a man of some importance in the community. Their stay in Rupelmonde was brief and within six months they returned to Gangelt and there Mercator spent his early childhood.[4] Six years later, in 1518, the Kremers moved back to Rupelmonde,[5] possibly motivated by the deteriorating conditions in Gangelt—famine, plague and lawlessness.[6] Mercator would have attended the local school in Rupelmonde from the age of seven, when he arrived from Gangelt, and there he would have been taught the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic and Latin.

The question of nationality

The nationality of Mercator is contentious. In 1868, just before the 300th anniversary of the famous world map, the Belgian Jean Van Raemdonck had just published a biography of Mercator, the Flemish geographer, in which he presented a speculative Cremer family tree with ancestors in Rupelmonde.[7] In 1869, in Duisburg, Arthur Breusing published a small book on Mercator, the German geographer, in which he claimed that the family was from Gangelt, Mercator was conceived there, and consequently his birth during the visit to Rupelmonde didn't invalidate his German nationality.[8] The debate continued in 1914 when Heinrich Averdunk attacked Raemdonck's 'fictions' and argued that the many occurrences of the name Kremer in Julich in the sixteenth century supported Breusing's claim that the family was German.[9] Today, many Belgians and Germans still claim Mercator as their own, despite the lack of any evidence pertaining to the birthplace and background of the father Hubert. Most modern scholars adopt a neutral position, hesitating to assign a nationality to Mercator, but many popular accounts simply plump for one nation or another without evidence.[10]

's-Hertogenbosch 1526–1530

After Hubert's death in 1526, Gisbert became Mercator's guardian. Hoping that Mercator might follow him into the priesthood he sent the 15 year old Geert to the famous school of the Brethren of the Common Life at 's-Hertogenbosch[11] in the Duchy of Brabant. The Brotherhood and the school had been founded by the charismatic Geert Groote who placed great emphasis on study of the bible and, at the same time, expressed disapproval of the dogmas of the church, both facets of the new "heresies" of Martin Luther propounded only a few years earlier in 1517. Mercator would follow similar precepts later in life—with problematic outcomes.

Macropedius

During his time at the school the headmaster was Georgius Macropedius and under his guidance Geert would study the bible, the trivium (Latin, logic and rhetoric) and classics such as the philosophy of Aristotle, the natural history of Pliny and the geography of Ptolemy.[12] All teaching at the school was in Latin and he would read, write and converse in Latin—and give himself a new Latin name, Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus, Mercator being the Latin translation of Kremer (or Cremer) which means merchant. The Brethren were renowned for their scriptorum[13] and here Mercator may have encountered the italic script which he employed in his later work. The brethren were also renowned for their thoroughness and discipline, well attested by Erasmus who had attended the school forty years before Mercator.[14]

University of Louvain 1530–1532

From a famous school Mercator moved to the famous University of Louvain, (or Leuven or Löwen) where his full Latin name appears in the matriculation records for 1530.[15] He lived in one of the teaching colleges, the Castle College, and, although he was classified as a pauper, he rubbed shoulders with richer students amongst whom were Andreas Vesalius, Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, and George Cassander, all destined to fame and all lifelong friends of Mercator.

Vesalius
Granvelle
Cassander
Three friends of Mercator at Louvain. Andreas Vesalius, Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle and George Cassander

The general first degree (for Magister) centred on the teaching of philosophy, theology and Greek under the conservative Scholasticism which gave prime place to the authority of Aristotle.[16] Although the trivium was now augmented by quadrivium[17] (Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Music), their coverage was neglected in comparison with theology and philosophy and consequently Mercator would have to resort to further study of the first three subjects in years to come. Mercator graduated Magister in 1532.

Antwerp 1532–1534

The normal progress for an able Magister was to go on to further study in one of the four faculties at Louvain: Theology, Medicine, Canon Law and Roman Law. His uncle Gisbert might have hoped that Mercator would go further in theology and train for the priesthood but Mercator did not: like many twenty year old young men he was having his first serious doubts. The problem was the contradiction between the authority of Aristotle and his own biblical study and scientific observations, particularly in relation to the creation and description of the world. Such doubt was heresy at the University and it is quite possible that he had already said enough in classroom disputations to come to the notice of the authorities:[18] fortunately he did not put his sentiments into print. He left Louvain for Antwerp,[19] there to devote his time to contemplation of philosophy. This period of his life is clouded in uncertainty.[20] He certainly read widely but only succeeded in uncovering more contradictions between the world of the Bible and the world of geography, a hiatus which would occupy him for the rest of his life.[21] He certainly could not effect a reconciliation between his studies and the world of Aristotle.

Front cover of third edition of pamphlet
The two hemispheres
The Portuguese (Lusitanian) and Spanish hemispheres of the globe of Monachus (c.1527).

During this period Mercator was in contact with the Franciscan monk Monachus who lived in the monastery of Mechelen.[22] He was a controversial figure who, from time to time, was in conflict with the church authorities because of his humanist outlook and his break from Aristotelian views of the world: his own views of geography were based on investigation, observation and observation. Mercator must have been impressed by Monachus, his map collection and the famous globe that he had prepared for Jean Carondelet, the principle advisor of Charles V.[23] The globe was constructed by the Louvain goldsmith Gaspar van der Heyden (Gaspar a Myrica c1496–c1549) with whom Mercator would be apprenticed. These encounters may well have provided the stimulus to put aside his problems with theology and commit himself to geography. Later he would say that "Since my youth, geography has been for me the primary subject of study. I liked not only the description of the Earth but the structure of the whole machinery of the world."[24]

Louvain 1534–1552

Towards the end of 1534 the 22 year old Mercator arrived back in Louvain and threw himself into the study of geography, mathematics and astronomy under the guidance of Gemma Frisius.[25] Mercator was completely out of his depth but, with the help and friendship of Gemma, who was only four years older, he had succeeded in mastering the elements of mathematics within two years and the university granted him permission to tutor private students. Gemma had designed some of the mathematical instruments used in these studies and Mercator soon become adept in the skills of their manufacture: practical skills of working in brass, mathematical skills for calculating the scales and engraving skills to produce the finished work.

Gemma Frisius

Gemma and Gaspar Van der Heyden had completed a terrestrial globe in 1529 but by 1535 they were planning a new globe embodying new geographical discoveries.[26] The gores were to be engraved on copper, instead of wood, and the text was to be in an elegant italic script instead of the heavy Roman lettering of the early globes. The globe was a combined effort: Gemma researched the content, Van der Heyden engraved the geography and Mercator engraved the text, including the cartouche which exhibited his own name in public for the first time. The globe was finished in 1536 and its celestial counterpart appeared one year later. These widely admired globes were costly and their wide sales provided Mercator an income which, together with that from mathematical instruments and from teaching, allowed him to marry and establish a home. His marriage to Barbara Schellekens was in September 1536 and Arnold, the first of their six children, was born a year later.

The arrival of Mercator on the cartographic scene would have been noted by the cognoscenti who purchased Gemma's globe—the professors, rich merchants, prelates, aristocrats and courtiers of the emperor Charles V at nearby Brussels. The commissions and patronage of such wealthy individuals would provide another source of income throughout his life. His connection with this world of privilege was through his fellow student Antoine Perrenot, soon to be appointed Bishop of Arras, and Antoine's father, Nicholas Perronet, the Chancellor of Charles V.

Working alongside Gemma whilst they were producing the globes, Mercator would have witnessed the process of progressing geography: obtaining previous maps, comparing and collating their content, studying geographical texts and seeking new information from correspondents, merchants, pilgrims, travellers and seamen. He put his newly learned talents to work in a burst of productivity. In 1537, aged only 25, he established his reputation with a map of the Holy Land which was researched, engraved, printed and partly published by himself.

Palestine with a detail showing the parting of the Red Sea

A year later, in 1538, he produced his first map of the world, usually referred to as Orbis Imago. In 1539/40 he made a map of Flanders and in 1541 a terrestrial globe. All four works were received with acclaim[27] and they sold in large numbers. The dedications of three of these works witness Mercator's access to influential patrons: the Holy Land was dedicated to Franciscus van Cranevelt who sat on the Great Council of Mechelen, the map of Flanders was dedicated to the Emperor himself and the globe was dedicated to Nicholas Perronet, the emperor's chief advisor. The dedicatee of the world map was more surprising: Johannes Drosius, a fellow student who, as an unorthodox priest, may well have been suspected of Lutheran heresy. Given that the symbolism of the Orbis Imago map also reflected a Lutheran view point, Mercator was treading on dangerous ground.[28]

World map 1538
Flandria 1539
World map 1537 and Flandria 1539
Mercator's globe of 1541
A detail of the globe showing curved rhumb lines.
Two views of the 1541 terrestrial globe. The detail shows curved rhumb lines.
Literarum Latinarum.

In between these works he found time to write Literarum latinarum, a small instruction manual on the italic script.[29] The Italic script (or chancery cursive) reached the Low Countries from Italy at the beginning of the sixteenth century and it is recorded as a form of typescript in Louvain in 1522.[30] It was much favoured by humanist scholars who enjoyed its elegance and clarity as well as the rapid fluency that could be attained with practice but it was not employed for formal purposes such as globes, maps and scientific instruments (which typically used Roman capitals or gothic script). Mercator first applied the italic script to the globe of Gemma Frisius but thereafter to all his works with ever increasing elegance. Sometimes, particularly in elaborate titles the elegance swamps the content: the word LITERARUM on his own title page is not easily distinguished.

In 1542 the thirty year old must have been feeling confident about his future prospects when he suffered two major interruptions to his life. First, in 1542, Louvain was besieged by the troops of the Duke of Cleves, a Lutheran sympethiser who, with French support, was set on exploiting unrest in the Low Countries to his own ends. Ironically it was this same Duke to whom Mercator would turn ten years hence. The siege was lifted but the financial losses to the town and its traders, including Mercator, were great. The second interruption was potentially deadly: the Inquisition called.

Religion, persecution and recovery

At no time in his life did Mercator claim to be a Lutheran but there are many hints that he had sympathies in that direction. As a child, called Geert, he was surrounded by adults who were possibly followers of Geert Groote, who placed meditation, contemplation and biblical study over ritual and liturgy—and who also founded the school of the Brethren of the Common Life at 's-Hertogenbosch. Study of the bible was something that would be central to Mercator's life and it was the cause of the early philosophical doubts that caused him so much trouble during his student days, doubts which some of his teachers would have considered to be tantamount to heresy. His visits to the free thinking Franciscans in Mechelen may have attracted the attention of the theologians at the university, amongst whom were two senior figures of the Inquisition, Jacobus Latomus and Ruard Tapper. The words of the latter on the death of heretics convey the atmosphere of that time:

It is no great matter whether those that die on this account be guilty or innocent, provided we terrify the people by these examples; which generally succeeds best, when persons eminent for learning, riches, nobility or high stations, are thus sacrificed.[31]

It may well have been these Inquisitors who, in 1543, decided that Mercator was eminent enough to be sacrificed. His name appeared on a list of 43 Lutheran heretics which included an architect, a sculptor, a former rector of the university, a monk, three priests and many others. All were arrested except Mercator who had left Louvain for Rupelmonde on business concerning the estate of his recently deceased great uncle Gisbert. That made matters worse for he was now classified as a fugitive who, by fleeing arrest, had proved his guilt.

Rupelmonde castle from Flandria illustrata (1641)

Mercator was apprehended in Rupelmonde and imprisoned in the castle. He was accused of suspicious correspondence with the Franciscan friars in Mechelen but no incriminating writings were uncovered in his home or at the friary in Mechelen. At the same time his well placed friends petitioned on his behalf,[32] but whether his friend Antoine Perronet was helpful is unknown: Perronet, as a bishop, would have to support the activities of the Inquisition. After seven months Mercator was released for lack of evidence against him but others on the list suffered torture and execution: two men were burnt at the stake, another was beheaded and two women were entombed alive.[33]

Louvain 1543–1552

Mercator never committed any of his prison experiences to paper; all he would say[34] was that he had suffered an "unjust persecution". For the rest of his time in Louvain his religious thoughts were kept to himself and he turned back to his work. His brush with the Inquisition did not affect his relationship with the court and Nicholas Perrenot recommended him to the emperor as a maker of superb instruments. The outcome was an Imperial order for globes, compasses, astrolabe and an astronomical ring.[35] They were ready in 1545 and the Emperor granted the royal seal of approval to his workshop. Sadly they were soon destroyed in the course of the Emperor's military ventures and Mercator had to construct a second set. He also returned to his work on a large up-to-date and highly detailed wall map of Europe[36] which was, he had already claimed on his 1538 world map, very well advanced. It proved to be a vast task and he, perfectionist that he was, seemed unable to cut short his ever expanding researches and publish: as a result it was to be another ten years before the map appeared.

A detail of the celestial glober
The celstial globe of Mercato
A detail of the celestial globe
The celestial globe of 1551

The final success in Louvain was the 1551 celestial globe, the partner of his terrestrial globe of 1541. From that date they were sold as a pair. Given the relatively large number (22) of pairs still in existence the numbers sold must have been large, as is borne out by the records of the Plantin Press which show that the globes were in demand until the end of the century even though the terrestrial globe was never updated.[37] Celestial globes were a necessary adjunct to the intellectual life of rich patrons[38] and academics alike, for both astronomical and astrological studies, two subjects which were strongly entwined in the sixteenth century.

Duisburg 1552–1594

In 1552 Mercator moved from Louvain to Duisburg in the Duchy of Cleves. The apparent motivation was an invitation from the Duke Wilhelm to become a teacher at a proposed new university[39] but it is equally probable that Mercator simply wished to move to a more sympathetic and safer religious environment. Over the years to come many more would flee from the oppressive Catholicism of Brabant and Flanders to tolerant cities such as Duisburg and Amsterdam. Mercator was quickly established as a man of standing in the town: an intellectual of note, a publisher of maps, a maker of instruments and globes,[40] He was on good terms with the wealthier citizens and a close friend of Walter Ghim, the twelve times mayor. Mercator never accepted the privileges and voting rights of a burgher which came with military responsibilities conflicting with his pacifist and neutral stance. The peaceful city, untroubled by political and religious unrest, was the perfect place for the flowering of his talent. He was welcomed by Duke Wilhelm who appointed him as court Cosmographer to Duke Wilhelm. There is no precise definition of this term other than that it certainly comprehends the disciplines of geography and astronomy but it may also extend to astrology and chronology (as a history of the world from the creation). All of these were among Mercator's accomplishments but his patron's first call on his services was as a mundane surveyor of the disputed boundary between the Duke's territory of the County of Mark and the Duchy of Westphalia.

An updated version of the 1554 map of Europe as it appears in the 1595 atlas

In 1554 Mercator published the long awaited wall map of Europe, dedicating it to his friend, now Cardinal, Antoine Perronet de Granvelle. He had worked at it for more than twelve years, collecting, comparing, collating and rationalising a vast amount of data and the result was a map of unprecedented detail and accuracy.[41] It "attracted more praise from scholars everywhere than any similar geographical work which has ever been brought out."[42] It also sold in large quantities for much of the rest of the century with a second edition appearing in 1572.[43]

An astronomical clock surmounted by rotating globes similar to those of Mercator.

Around this time Mercator also received and executed a very special order for the Emperor: a pair of small globes, the inner ("fist-size") Earth was made of wood and the outer celestial sphere was made of blown crystal glass engraved with diamond and inlaid with gold.[42] He presented them to the Emperor in Brussels who awarded him the title Imperatoris domesticus (a member of the Imperial household). The globes are lost but Mercator describes them in [[q:Gerardus Mercator#Letter to Melanchthon (extract) a letter to Philip Melanchthon]][44] in which he declares that they were rotated on the top of an astronomical clock made for Charles V by Juanelo Turriano (Janellus).[45] The clock was provided with eight dials which showed the positions of the moon, stars and planets. The illustration shows a similar clock made by the German craftsman de:Ebert Baldewein at roughly the same time. Mercator also presented the emperor with a pamphlet (Mercator 1554) on the use of globes and instruments. This document is important because it sheds light on Mercator's ideas of Magnetism.

The proposed university in Duisburg failed to materialize[46] and in its place citizens established (in 1559) a (pre-university) Akademisches Gymnasium where Mercator was invited to teach mathematics with cosmography. He also engineered the appointment of his friend Jan Vermeulen (Molanus) as rector in 1560 and then blessed Vermeulen's marriage to his daughter Emerantia. His sons were now growing to manhood and he encouraged them to embark on his own profession. Arnold, the eldest, had produced his first map (of Iceland) in 1558 and would later take over the day-to-day running of Mercator's enterprises.[47] Bartholemew, his second son, showed great academic promise and in 1562 (aged 22) he took over the teaching of his father's three year long lecture-course—after Mercator had taught it once only! Much to Mercator's sadness Bartholemew died young, in 1568 (aged 28). Rumold, the third son, would spend a large part of his life in London's publishing houses providing for Mercator a vital link to the new discoveries of the Elizabethan age. In 1587 he returned to Duisburg and later, in 1594, it fell to his lot to publish Mercator's works posthumously.

Abraham Ortelius copy of the 1564 map of Britain

In 1564 Mercator published his map of Britain, a map of greatly improved accuracy which far surpassed any of his previous representations. The circumstances were unusual. In the text engraved on the map he pointedly denies responsibility for the map's authorship and claims that he is merely engraving and printing it for a "very good friend".[48] Moreover, for the only time in his career, there is no dedicatee for the map. The reasons for such reticence become obvious when the political nature of the map is appreciated: the map is distinctly pro-catholic. It appears to have been smuggled out of England, it shows all the catholic religious foundations and omits those created by Protestant Henry VIII, it's text demeans the history of England and lauds that of Ireland and Scotland. As an accurate guide for a future catholic invasion of England by Phillip II of Spain it would have been invaluable.[49]

Lotharingia (Lorraine) as it appeared in the 1595 atlas.

As soon as the map of Britain was published Mercator was invited to undertake the surveying and mapping of Lorraine (Lotharingia). This was a new venture for him in the sense that never before had he collected the raw data for a new regional map. He was then 52, already an old man by the norms of that century, and he may well have had reservations about the undertaking. Accompanied by his son Bartholemew, Mercator meticulously triangulated his way around the forests, hills and steep sided valleys of Lorraine, difficult terrain as different from the Low Countries as anything could be. But something happened: he never committed anything to paper but he must have talked to his friend Ghim who would later write:. "The journey through Lorraine gravely imperilled his life and so weakened him that he came very near to a serious breakdown and mental derangement as a result of his terrifying experiences."[50] Mercator returned home to convalesce leaving Rumold to complete the survey. No map was published at the time but Mercator did provide a single drawn copy for the duke and later he would incorporate this map into his atlas.

Chronologia title page. Translations[51]

The trip to Lorraine in 1564 was a set back for his health but he soon recovered and embarked on his greatest project yet, a project which would extend far beyond his cartographic interests. The first element was the Chronologia (Mercator 1569), a list of all significant events since the beginning of the world compiled from his literal reading of the bible and no less than 123 other authors of genealogies and histories of every empire that had ever existed.[52] Mercator was the first to link historical dates of solar and lunar eclipses to Julian dates calculated mathematically from his knowledge of the motions of the sun, moon and Earth and then fix the dates of other events in Babylonian, Greek, Hebrew and Roman calendars relative to the eclipses. The time origin was fixed from the genealogies of the Bible as 3965 years before the birth of Christ.[53] This huge volume (400 pages) was greeted with acclaim by scholars throughout Europe and Mercator himself considered it to be his greatest achievement up to that time. On the other hand, the Catholic Church placed the work on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) because Mercator included the deeds of Martin Luther. Had he published such a work in Louvain he would again be laying himself open to charges of heresy.[54]

The Chronologia developed into an even wider project, the Cosmographia, a description of the whole Universe. Mercator's outline was (1) the creation of the world; (2) the description of the heavens; (3) the description of the earth comprising modern geography, the geography of Ptolemy and the geography of the ancients; (4) genealogy and history of the states; and (5) chronology. Of these the chronology was already accomplished, the account of the creation and the modern maps appear in the atlas of 1595, his edition of Ptolemy appeared in 1578 but the ancient geography and the description of the heavens (astronomy and astrology) never appeared.

The 1569 Mercator map of the world.  (Higher resolution images.)

As the Chronologia was going to press in 1569, Mercator also published what was to become his most famous map: Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigantium Emendate Accommodata, (A new and more complete representation of the terrestrial globe properly adapted for use in navigation).[55] As mariners had started to explore the oceans in the Age of Discovery the problem of accurate navigation had become more pressing. Their locations could be a hundred miles out after a long voyage because a course of constant direction at sea (a rhumb line) did not correspond to a straight line on their chart. Mercator's solution was to make the scale of his chart increase with latitude in a very special way such that the rhumb lines became straight lines on his new world map. Exactly how he arrived at the required solution is not recorded in any of his own written works but modern scholarship[56] suggests that he used the tables of rhumbs devised by Pedro Nunes.[57] The large size of what was a wall map meant that it did not find favour for use on board ship but, within a hundred years of its creation, the Mercator Projection became the standard for marine charts throughout the world and continues to be so used to the present day. At a later stage this mariner's map became a general purpose map of the world although its distortion at high latitudes was abundantly evident. Usage other than for marine charts is now deprecated and more suitable projections are available.[58]

Around this time the Chancellor of Duke Wilhem approached Mercator and asked him to prepare an atlas of Europe which would assist in the planning of a grand tour of Europe by his patron's son, the crown prince Johannes. This unique collection is an important source for Mercator's earlier maps.

Mauretania in the 1578 Ptolemy

Apart from a revision of the map of Europe in 1572 there would be no more large wall maps and Mercator began to address the other tasks that he had outlined in the Cosmographia. First was a new definitive version of Ptolemy's maps. That he should wish to do so may seem strange given that, at the same time, he was planning very different modern maps and other mapmakers, such as his friend Abraham Ortelius, had forsaken Ptolemy completely. It was almost an act of reverence by one scholar for another, a final epitaph for the Ptolemy who had inspired Mercator's love of geography early in his life. He compared the great many editions of the Ptolemy's written Geographia, which described his two projections and listed the latitude and longitude of the places, as well as the many different versions of the printed maps which had appeared over the previous one hundred years, all with errors and accretions. Once again, this self-imposed diligence delayed publication and the 28 maps of Ptolemy appeared in 1578, after an interval almost ten years. It was accepted by scholars as the "last word", literally and metaphorically, in a chapter of geography which was closed for good.[59]

Mercator now turned to the modern maps, as author but no longer engraver: the practicalities of production of maps and globes had been passed to his sons and grandsons. In 1585 he issued a collection of 51 maps covering France, the Low Countries and Germany. Other maps may have followed in good order had not the misfortunes of life intervened: his wife Barbara died in 1586 and his eldest son Arnold died in the following year so that only Rumold and the sons of Arnold were left to carry forward his business. In addition the time available he had available for cartography was reduced by a burst of writing on philosophy and theology: a substantial written work on the Harmonisation[60] of the Gospels (Mercator 1592) as well as commentaries on the epistle of St. Paul and the book of Ezekiel.

In 1589, at the age of 77, Mercator had a new lease of life. He took a new wife, Gertrude Vierlings, the wealthy widow of a former mayor of Duisburg, (and at the same time married Rumold to her daughter). A second collection of 22 maps was published covering Italy, Greece and the Balkans. This volume has a noteworthy preface for it includes the first mention of Atlas as a mythical king of Mauretania, a son of the globe-bearing Titan of the same name. "I have set this man Atlas," explained Mercator, "so notable for his erudition, humaneness, and wisdom as a model for my imitation." [61] One year later disaster struck: Mercator had a stroke which left him greatly incapacitated. He struggled on with the assistance of his family trying to complete the remaining maps, the ongoing theological publications and a new treatise on the Creation of the World. This last work, which he did succeed in finishing, was the climax of his life's activities, the work which, in his own opinion, surpassed all his other endeavours and provided a framework and rationale for the complete atlas. It was also his last work in a literal sense for he died after two further strokes in 1594.

Epitaph and legacy

Mercator epitaph in the church of St Salvator, Duisburg

Mercator was buried in the church of St. Salvatore in Duisburg where there is a fine memorial which was erected about fifty years after his death. The main text of the epitaph is a conventionally respectful summary of his life lauding him as the foremost mathematician of his time who crafted artistic and accurate globes showing the heaven from the inside and the Earth from the outside. . . . greatly respected for his wide erudition, particularly in theology, and famous on account of his piety and respectability in life. In addition, on the base of the memorial there is a witty epigram:

To the reader: whoever you are, your fears that this small clod of earth lies heavily on the buried Mercator are groundless; the whole Earth is no burden for a man who had the whole weight of her lands on his shoulders and carried her as an Atlas.

Following Mercator's death his family prepared the Atlas for publication—in four months. It was, after all, a hoped for source of the income that was needed to support them. This work entailed supplementing the maps of the 1585 and 1589 with 28 unpublished maps of Mercator covering the northern countries, creating four maps of the continents and a world map, the printing of Mercator's account of the creation and finally the addition of eulogies and Walter Ghim's biography. The title itself provides Mercator's definition of a new meaning for the word "Atlas": Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura which may be translated as "Atlas OR cosmographical meditations upon the creation of the universe, and the universe as created." Only later would it degrade to the modern meaning of a collection of maps.

The frontipece of the 1595 atlas
Rumold Mercator map of the world
the title page for the maps of Gaul
The title page of the Atlas, Rumold's world map and the title page for Gaul. Other title pages are: the northern lands, the Low Countries, Germaniae, Italy.

The atlas was not an immediate success. One reason may have been that it was incomplete: Spain was omitted and there were no detailed maps outside Europe. Rumold avowed that a second volume would attend to these deficiencies but it was not forthcoming and the whole project lost momentum; Rumold, who was 55 years old in 1595, was in decline and he died in 1599. His family did produce another edition in 1602 but only the text was reset, there were no new maps.[62] Another reason for the failure of the Atlas was the strength of the continuing sales of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Alongside the sumptuous maps of that book Mercator's un-ornamented new maps looked very unattractive. Despite the death of Ortelius in 1598 the Theatrum flourished: in 1602 it was in its thirteenth Latin edition as well as editions in Dutch, Italian, French German and Spanish. The Mercator atlas seemed destined for oblivion.

The family was clearly in some financial difficulty for, in1604, Mercator’s library of some 1000 books was sold at a public auction in Leyden (Netherlands). The only known copy of the sale catalogue[63] perished in the war but fortunately a manuscript copy had been made by Van Raemdonck in 1891 and this was unearthed in 1987.[64] Of the titles identified there are 193 on theology (both Catholic and Lutheran), 217 on history and geography, 202 on mathematics (in its widest sense), 32 on medicine and over 100 simply classified (by Basson) as rare books. The contents of the library provide an insight into Mercator's intellectual studies but the mathematics books are the only ones to have been subjected to scholarly analysis: they cover arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, architecture, fortification, astronomy, astrology, time measurement, calendar calculation, scientific instruments, cartography and applications.[65][66] Only one of his own copies has been found—a first edition of Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium annotated in Mercator's hand: this is held by Glasgow University.

Frontispiece of the Atlas Maior of Mercator-Hondius, 1607
Frontispiece of the Atlas Minor of Mercator-Hondius, 1607
The Mercator-Hondius Atlas Maior (left) and Atlas Minor (right)
Title page of Mercator-Hondius atlas of 1637 (in English) showing Titan Atlas, Mercator (twice) and personifications of the continents.

The sale catalogue doesn't mention any maps but it is known that the family sold the copper plates to Jodocus Hondius in 1604. He transformed the atlas. Almost 40 extra maps were added (including Spain and Portugal) and in 1606 a new edition appeared under his name but with full acknowledgement that the bulk was created by Mercator. The title page now included a picture of Hondius and Mercator together although they had never met. Hondius was an accomplished business man and under his guidance the Atlas was an enormous success. Hondius (and son) produced 29 editions between 1609 and 1641, including one in English. In addition they published the atlas in a compact form, the Atlas Minor,[67] which meant that it was readily available to a wide market. As the editions progressed Mercator's theological comments and his map commentaries disappeared from the atlas and images of King Atlas were replaced by the Titan Atlas. By the final edition the number of his maps in the atlas declined to less than 50 as updated new maps were added. Eventually the atlas ran its course and the publications of new map-makers such as Joan Blaeu and Frederik de Wit took over.

Mercator's editions of Ptolemy and his theological writings were in print for many years after the demise of the atlas but they too eventually disappeared into oblivion and it was the Mercator projection which emerged as his sole and greatest legacy. His construction of a chart on which the constant courses of mariners appeared as a straight line ultimately revolutionized the art of navigation, making it simpler and safer. Mercator left no hints to his method of his construction and it was Edward Wright who first clarified the method in his book Certaine Errors (1599)—the relevant error being the erroneous belief that straight lines on conventional charts corresponded to constant courses. Wright's solution was a numerical approximation and it was another 70 years before the projection formula was derived analytically. He (Wright) published a new world map based on the Mercator projection, also in 1599. Slowly, but steadily, charts using the projection appeared throughout the first half of the seventeenth century and by the end of that century chart makers all over the world were using nothing but the Mercator projection, their aim to show the oceans and the coastlines in detail without concern for the continental interiors. At some stage the projection made the unfortunate leap to portrayal of the continents and it eventually became the canonical description of the world, despite its manifest distortions at high latitudes. Recently Mercator's projection has been rejected for representations of the world but it remains paramount for nautical charts and its use stands as his enduring legacy.

Trivia. Many cities have a statue of Mercator.[68] His name has been attached to ships,[69] buildings, universities,[70] insurance companies, small businesses, pizzerias, streets, schools and more. There is a Belgian bank note. There is a German coin and incorrect postage stamp (showing construction which is not the Mercator Projection).[71] He has been modelled in sand and giant figures.[72] There is a venomous snail and a beetle.[73] There is an asteroid named for him. He was also the subject of a Google Doodle on his 503rd Birthday.[74]

Museums.There are two museums dedicated primarily to Mercator:

Mercator's works

Globes and instruments

In preparation...

Maps

Amplissima Terrae Sanctae descriptio ad utriusque Testamenti intelligentiam. (A description of the Holy Land for understanding both testaments). Dedicated to Franciscus van Cranevelt. Size; 67x122 cm. in 6 sheets. Two copies extant: one at the library of Perugia and another at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (link above). Based on a map by the lutheran Jacob Ziegler. Mercator's map shows the route of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. The title discloses a hope of helping people in their Bible studies, a Lutheran notion that would have aroused the suspicions of the inquisition.

This wall map has no title but it is normally referred to as Orbis Imago (from the first sentence of the central legend). Size: 54.5x35.5 cm. Dedicated to Johannes Drosius. Two copies extant: one at the American Geographical Society Library (link above), and another at the New York Public Library. The first map identifying North American and South America. The map was a slightly modified copy of a 1531 world map (and its text) by Oronce Fine. The double cordiform projection,[75] may well have been chosen because of its relationship to aspects of Lutheran beliefs.[76] A notice to the reader (Latin text) at the top of the map says: "Let America, Sarmatia and India bear witness, Dear Reader, that the image of the world you see here is newer and more correct than those that have been circulated hitherto. We propose with regard to the different parts of the world to treat, successively, particular regions more broadly, as we are already doing with Europe, and you may soon expect a universal map, which will not be inferior to that of Ptolemy. Farewell. 1538".

Wall map 96 by 125 cm. in 9 sheets. Dedicated to Charles V. This map was commissioned by merchants of Ghent who intended that it should be presented to Charles V in the forlorn hope that it might divert the wrath of the Emperor after their rebellion. It would be a more respectful replacement of a 1538 map by Pieter Van der Beke which had stressed the defiant independence of the Flemish cities.[77] The map is remarkably accurate and it is presumed to be based on a triangulation of Flanders by Jacob van Deventer. A single original is extant and may be inspected in the Plantin-Moretus Museum: it also appeared in the atlas of 1585 and in the Theatrum of Ortelius.

Europae descriptio. Wall map 165 by 135 cm. on 15 sheets. Dedicated to Antoine Perrenot. No known copy of the whole map has been discovered but several copies of the map were cut and re-assembled (by Mercator) for inclusion in the unique Atlas of Europe from 1570–72, for example the map of Spain on pages 7 and 8 but not the map of Europe on pages 1 and 2 which is taken from the 1569 world map. They are available in facsimile.[78] The map used a cordiform projection. It was revised by Mercator in 1572 and again by Rumold for the 1595 atlas.

Anglia & Scotiae & Hibernie nova descriptio. Wall map 92 by 122 cm. on 8 sheets. Mercator states that a friend, possibly Antoine Perronet, had requested that he engrave this map from a manuscript copy, possibly by John Elder, a disaffected Scottish catholic priest.[79] Several copies of this map were cut and re-assembled for the atlas of Europe. The map is oriented with west at the top. 4 copies known

A map commissioned by Duke René of Lorraine. The map was never published but it may be assumed that it was similar to the map of Lorraine which appears in the Atlas of 1585.

A unique collection of maps assembled in the early 1570s, many of which are assembled from portions of Mercator's earlier maps: 9 constructed from Europe (1554), 6 from British Isles (1564) and 2 from the world map (1569). The map of Europe on pages 1 and 2 is taken from the 1569 world map. There are also 2 manuscript maps of Mercator and 30 maps are from the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius.) Note that Mercator did not term this collection of maps an atlas.

Tabulae geographicae Cl. Ptolemaei ad mentem auctoris restitutis ac emendatis. (Geographic maps according to Claudius Ptolemy, drawn in the spirit of the author and expanded by Gerard Mercator) Mercator's definitive version of Ptolemy's 28 maps. A second edition including the revised text of Geographia was published in 1584. Geographiae Libri Octo : recogniti iam et diligenter emendati. Example map: Britain

The first collection of 51 modern maps: 16 of France (with Switzerland), 9 corresponding to Belgium and the Netherlands and 26 of Germany. The three sections, each with a title page, dedication and supporting text, were sold together and separately. (Mercator did not term this collection of maps as an atlas.)

A second collection of 23 modern maps: 16 of Italy (including Corsica), 3 of Styria and the other Balkan countries, 4 of Greece. (Once again Mercator did not term this collection of maps as an atlas but in the preface he introduces Atlas as a mythical King of Mauretania—a learned philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, credited with the making of the first globe.) This collection has a fulsome dedication to Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici to whom Mercator attributes ancestry from King Atlas.

Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura. (Atlas or cosmographical meditations upon the creation of the universe, and the universe as created.) This is the first time that the name Atlas is used as a title of a collection of maps. Many library copies are available worldwide. There are also a number of freely available digital volumes such as those at the Library of Congress and Darlington Library (University of Pittsburg). In addition high resolution facsimiles are available on a CD published by Octavo (OCLC 48878698). This publication is accompanied by an introduction to the atlas by (Karrow 2000) and a translation of all the text (Sullivan 2000) both of which are freely available in an online PDF from the New York Society Library. (archived version)
The atlas includes further 28 maps: 16 of Britain, 4 of Denmark and one each of the polar regions, Iceland, Norway with Sweden, Prussia, Livonia, Russia, Lithuania, Transylvania and Crimea. This collection of maps is dedicated to Queen Elizabeth of England and in the preface Mercator acknowledges the information he received from English mariners through Rumold who had spent much of his working life in London. The full atlas included all the maps of the previous two collections, making in all 102 new maps by Mercator. His heirs added 5 introductory maps before publication: world map and Europe by Rumold, Africa and Asia by grandson Gerard and America by grandson Michael. Nevertheless the atlas was incomplete: Spain was omitted and there were no detailed maps outside Europe. The maps are in a variety of projections.[80]
Less than half the pages in the atlas are maps. The title page shows King Atlas holding a globe, not supporting it, then the portrait of Mercator, a dedication to the Dukes of Cleves (father and son), a eulogy on the portrait, two epitaphs, the biography by Ghim, another epitaph by his grandson, two 'testimonial' letters, an ode on King Atlas by a grandson and Mercators own genealogy of Atlas in which he outlines his intended plans for the rest of the atlas: a description of the creation events, then a description of all that was created in the heavens (astronomy and astrology) and finally a description of the Earth, its geography. Of this grandiose plan all that was completed were the first and last objectives. The first part of the atlas, De mundi creatione ac fabrica liber (The creation of the world and the structure of the book), consists of 27 pages of text on the theology of creation, the events of creation, the elements created (such as animals, plants, sun, moon, stars,man), the Fall of Man and finally the salvation of creation through Christ.
The second part of the Atlas contains the maps but each section has its own title page, dedication and preface, and every country is succinctly supplemented by text describing a mixture of history, royal genealogy, ecclesiastical hierarchies, list of universities and occasionally facets of contemporary economy. Every place mentioned in the text is given its geographic coordinates[81] to the nearest minute.
As an example of the textual content the section on the British Isles mentions (amongst other things): alternative names; the etymology of British and its relation to woad painted tribes; climate; lack of snakes; the seemly manners of the populace; coroners and ecclesiastical courts; lists of counties, bishoprics and universities; the structure of aristocracy; and much more, even a list of recommended reading.


Books

Notes and references

  1. ↑ The full text of Ghim's biography is translated in Sullivan (2000).
  2. ↑ In English speaking countries Gerardus is usually anglicized as Gerard with a soft initial letter (as in 'giant') but in other European countries the spelling and pronunciation vary: for example Gérard (soft 'g') in France but Gerhard (hard 'g') in Germany. The second syllable of Mercator sounds as Kate in English but in other countries it is usually 'cat' (/kæt/).
  3. ↑ There is some doubt about the relationship of Hubert and Gisbert. Gisbert was either the brother or uncle of Hubert. (REF pending)
  4. ↑ The evidence for Mercator's place of birth is in his letter to Wollfgang Haller (Averdunk (1914), Letter26, and Durme (1959), Letter 152) and in the biography by his personal friend Ghim (1595).
  5. ↑ From 1518 the Kremers are mentioned in the archived records of Rupelmonde. (REF pending)
  6. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 1, pp10–13.
  7. ↑ Raemdonck (1868) and Raemdonck (1869).
  8. ↑ Breusing (1869).
  9. ↑ Averdunk (1914), Chapter 1 and pp172–177.
  10. ↑ Horst (2011) and Crane (2003) give no nationality but Turner (2004) implies (without references) that Hubert was Flemish.
  11. ↑ 's-Hertogenbosch (Duke's Forest) is Bois-le-Duc in French and Herzogenbusch in German, colloquially Le Bois or Den Bosch. In the sixteenth century it was the second largest town in the Low Countries.
  12. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 3.
  13. ↑ A scriptorum was where manuscripts were copied by hand. In 1512 such endeavours had not been completely overtaken by printing.
  14. ↑ The letters of Erasmus quoted in Crane (2003), p33.
  15. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 4.
  16. ↑ The university statutes stated explicitly that to disbelieve in the teaching of Aristotle was heretical and would be punished by expulsion. See Crane (2003), Chapter 4, pp46–47.
  17. ↑ The trivium and the quadrivium together constitute the seven liberal arts
  18. ↑ The university statutes declared that contradiction of Aristotle was heresy (Crane 2003), p47
  19. ↑ There is uncertainty as to whether he was away in Antwerp for a single long period or whether he simply made a number of visits. See Osley (1969), p20, footnote 2.
  20. ↑ Ghim (1595) simply states that Mercator read philosophy privately for two years.
  21. ↑ Horst (2012), p49.
  22. ↑ Crane (2003), p54 and Osley (1969), p20, footnote 2.
  23. ↑ See Horst (2012), p49, Crane (2003), p58. The original text is Monachus (1526/7).
  24. ↑ From the dedication to the volume of Ptolemy Mercator published in 1578. See Crane (2003), p54.
  25. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapters 5 and 6.
  26. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapters 7 and 8.
  27. ↑ Ghim (1595) and Crane (2003), Chapter 9.
  28. ↑ Crane (2003) p110.
  29. ↑ Mercator (1540).
  30. ↑ Osley (1969), p28.
  31. ↑ Brandt & Chamberlayne (1740)
  32. ↑ It is known that Pieter de Corte, an ex-rector of the university, wrote to Queen Maria of Hungary, governor of the province. See Crane (2003), Chapter 15.
  33. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 15.
  34. ↑ Letter to Antoine Perrenot
  35. ↑ Karrow (1993) p383.
  36. ↑ Van Durme (1959) p15. Letter to Antoine Perrenot
  37. ↑ Imhof (2012)
  38. ↑ Note the globes in Holbein's ambassadors
  39. ↑ The papal licence to found the University was delayed twelve years and by then the duke had lost interest. It was another 90 years before Duisburg had its university. Taylor (2004, p. 139)
  40. ↑ Mercator's workshops produced items such as globes in a steady stream. The records of Plantin show that he received 1150 maps and globes from Mercator over a thirty year period, Clair (1987) but at the same time he was selling items at the regular international Frankfurt Book Fair and selling direct from his own workshop.
  41. ↑ For a description see Crane (2003), Chapter 17.
  42. 1 2 Ghim (1595)
  43. ↑ For example Plantin alone sold 400 copies of the map of Europe in 1566, twelve years later.
  44. ↑ Melanchthon is a significant correspondent of Mercator since he he was one of the founders of Lutheranism.
  45. ↑ A speculative model of the double globe was constructed by Wilhelm Kruecken for the Duisburg commemorations of the 400th anniversary of Mercator's death.
  46. ↑ By the time the Pope had approved the establishment (of the university) Duke Wilhelm had lost interest. On the other hand no papal permit was required to establish the Gymnasium.
  47. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 19, p193
  48. ↑ It has been suggested that the map of Britain had been sent to Antoine Perrenot by catholic spies. See (Crane 2003), Chapter 19, p201
  49. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 19, p197–205
  50. ↑ Ghim (1595) and Crane (2003), Chapters 20 and 21.
  51. ↑ For the title see Mercator (1569). The text over the illustration is in via virtuti nulla est via, meaning no way is impassable to virtue (Ovid).
  52. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapters 22 and 23, pp217–228. Taylor (2004), Chapter 17 p185.
  53. ↑ See the page showing the birth of Christ.
  54. ↑ In the two online copies of the Chronologia listed under Mercator (1569) only one includes has the Luther reference whilst in the other all mention of Luther has been erased.
  55. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 24. Taylor (2004), Chapter 21.
  56. ↑ Gaspar & Leitão (2016)
  57. ↑ (De Graeve 2012a) has shown that Mercator's library contained a copy of the Theory of the Loxodrome by Pedro Nuñez. This was published in 1566, three years before Mercator completed the map on the new projection.
  58. ↑ See the discussion at Mercator projection.
  59. ↑ Crane (2003), Chapter 26. Taylor (2004), Chapter 19.
  60. ↑ For an (online) exegesis of the Harmonisation see Jonge (1990).
  61. ↑ Crane (2003) Chapter 30.
  62. ↑ Crane (2003), Epilogue, p320.
  63. ↑ Basson (1604)
  64. ↑ Penneman (1994)
  65. ↑ De Graeve (2012a)
  66. ↑ De Graeve (2012b)
  67. ↑ The Atlas Minor may be viewed online at the Bavarian State Library
  68. ↑
    Statues in Rupelmonde, Duisburg, Brussels, Louvain.
  69. ↑ The Mercator was a training vessel for the Belgian navy. It now serves as a museum in Ostend. There is also a German research ship Mercator
  70. ↑ The university of Duisburg was known as the Gerhard Mercator University until it merged to become the University of Duisburg-Essen, part of which is the Mercator School of Management
  71. ↑ The German coin and the incorrect postage stamp (showing an incorrect construction for the Mercator Projection.
  72. ↑ Modelled in sand and giant figure.
  73. ↑ Venomous snail and a beetle.
  74. ↑ A Google Doodle celebrated his 503rd Birthday.
  75. ↑ For a discussion of cordiform projections see & Snyder (1993) p37, Figure 1.27
  76. ↑ Crane (2003) Chapter 10, p110.
  77. ↑ Crane (2003) Chapter 11
  78. ↑ Watelet (1997)
  79. ↑ See Crane (2003) Chapter 19 and the article (excerpt) by Barber in Watelet (1997).
  80. ↑ Projections used in the 1585 atlas: seeKeuning (1947)
  81. ↑ Longitudes in the atlas are referred to the prime meridian of Ptolemy and differ from present day values by approximately 18 degrees (notwithstanding the errors in Mercator's data).

Bibliography


See also

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