GEOGRAPHY
450
GEOGRAPHY
solution of which was not thus attempted. The fact
that the writings of Aristotle and Ptolemy, on which
they founded their investigations, had already passed
through the hands of Arabian scholars, who, however,
probably received them at some time from Syrian
priests, proved of advantage to the consequent geo-
graphical discussions. The most eminent represen-
tative of physical studies was Albertus Magnus; of
mathematics, Roger Bacon. Their precursor, Wil-
liam of Conches, had already given evidence of inde-
pendent conception of the facts of nature in his "Phil-
osophia Mundi". Also Alexander Neckham (1150 to
about 1227), Abbot of Cirencester, whose "Liber de
natura rerum" contains the earliest record of the use
of the mariner's compass in navigation and a list of re-
markable springs, rivers, and lakes. Blessed Albertus
Magnus (1193-1280), a master with whom in the uni-
versality of his knowledge only Alexander von Hum-
boldt is comparable, opened up to his contempora-
ries the entire field of physiography, by means of his
admirable exposition of Aristotle, laid the foundations
of climatology, botanical geography, and, in a certain
sense, even of comparative geography. His work
"De ccelo et mundo" treats of the earth as a whole;
his "libri meteororum" and "De passionibus aeris"
include meteorology, hydrography, and seismology.
In the "De natura locorum" he enlarges upon the
system of the zones and the relations between man
and the earth. He furnished proofs of the sphericity
of our planet that are still popularly repeated to-day;
he calculated accurately the duration of the day and
the seasons in the different quarters of the globe. Ebb
and flow, volcanology, the formation of mountain-
ranges and continents — all these subjects furnish him
material for clever deductions. He carefully recorded
the shifting of coastlines, which men at that time al-
ready associated with the secular upheaving and sub-
sidence of continents. He also ascertained the fre-
quency of earthquakes in the neighbourliood of the
ocean. He closely observed fossilized animals. He
knew that the direction of the axes of mountain-
ranges influenced the climate of Europe, and, on the
authority of Arabian writers, he was the first to refute
the old error that the intertropical surface of the earth
must necessarily be quite parched. His fellow-friar,
Vincent of Beauvais (d. 12(34), also proved himself to
be a very keen observer of nature. A great mass of
geographical material is stored up in his "Speculum
naturale". Among other thuigs he recognized that
mountain-ranges constantly lose in height, owing to
the influence of climate and of rain, and that in high
altitudes the temperature falls because of the decrease
of atmospheric density. Finally, we must mention
the original views of St. Thomas Aqumas on geog-
raphy, as well as those of the laymen Ristoro of
Arezzo, Brunetto Latini (1210-94), his great disciple,
Dante (12G5-1321), and, la.stly the "Book of Nature"
by Conrad of Megenberg, canon of Ratisbon (1.309-
1.378). For all of these Albertus Magnus had opened
the door to the rich treasure-house of Greek and Ara-
bian learning. Still more far-reaching in their results
were the labours of the scholars who applied them-
selves principally to mathematical geography. At
the head of them all stands Roger Bacon, the " Doctor
Mirabilis" of the Order of St. Francis (1214-94).
Columbus was emboldened to carry out his great pro-
ject on the strength of Bacon's assertion that India
could be reached by a westerly voyage — a claim based
on mathematical computation. Even before Ptol-
emy's "Geography" had been rediscovered, Bacon
attempted to sketch a map, determining mathemati-
cally the positions of places, and using Ptolemy's Al-
magest, the descriptions of Alfraganus, and the Al-
phonsine Tables. Peschel pronounces this to be " the
freatest achievement of the scholastics". Cardinal 'ierre d'Ailly (1.3.50-142.5), whose "Imago Mundi" was also a favourite liook of Columbus's, founded it on
Bacon's works. It is to him and Cardinal Filiaster
that Western civilization owes the first Latin transla-
tion of Ptolemy's "Geography", which Jacopus Ange-
lus finished and dedicated to Pope Alexander V
(1409-10). The circulation of this book created a tre-
mendous revolution, which was particularly beneficial
to the development of cartography for centuries there-
after. As early as 1427 the Dane Claudius Clavus
added to Filiaster's priceless manuscript of Ptolemy's
work his map of Northern Europe, the oldest map of
the North which we possess. Donuius Nicolaus Ger-
manus, a Benedictme (of Reichenbach?) (146G), was
the first scholar who modernized Ptolemy by means of
new maps and made him generally accessible. The
Benedictine Andreas Walsperger (1448) made a map
of the world in the medieval style. That of the Cam-
aldolese Fra Mauro (1457) is the most celebrated of all
monuments of medieval cartography. It was already
enriched by data furnished in Ptolemy's work. "The
map of Germany designed by Cardinal Nicholas of
Cusa (1401-04), a pupil of Toscanelli (1387-1492),
was printed in 1491. This prelate was the teacher of
Peuerbach (1432-61), who in turn was the master of
Regiomontanus (143G-G7), the most illustrious as-
tronomer since Ptolemy. Cardinal Bessarion enabled
Regiomontanus to study Greek, and Pope Si.xtus IV
(1474) entrusted the reformation of the Calendar to
him. We must also mention jEneas Sylvius (after-
wards Pope Pius II) and the papal secretaries Poggio
and Flavio Biondo, who made several valuable con-
tributions to the science of geography, also Cardinal
Bembo and the Carthusian Reisch (14G7-1525).
III. — In order to set forth properly the achieve- ments in discovery and research in modern times by Catholic scholars, we adopt Peschel's arrangement. He divides this period of the development of geog- raphy into two main epochs: (1) That of discovery, up to the middle of the seventeenth century; (2) That of geographical measurement, from 1G50 down to the present day. We cannot set down all the names of priests and missionaries which we find in both these periods. Their chief usefulness lay in their contribu- tions to the general knowledge of various countries and races. But they also made contributions of the greatest value to the theoretical development of our science. They were the first and foremost promoters of many studies auxiliary to geography that sprang up in the course of time, such as ethnology, meteorology, volcanology, and so forth.
(1) Even on their earliest voyages the great discov- erers took with them learned priests. These men wrote glowing accounts of the wonders they saw in the newly discovered lands to their brethren at home, so that they might spread the information broadcast. . In a short time monastic settlements sprang up in the great colonial possessions of Spain and Portugal. The Dominicans were the first missionaries to America, and Franciscans are heard of in Imiia as early as 1500, while the Augustinians accompanied Magellan to the Philippines in 1521. They were equipped with the best available aids and assistants. Among the Jesu- its especially these received a thorough and systema- tic training. The Jesuits established missions on the Congo, in 1547, in Brazil, in 1549, in Abyssinia, 1555, in South Africa, 1559, in Peru, 15G8, in Mexico, 1572, in Paraguay, 158G, and in Chile, 1591. They even penetrated into the old heathen civilizations of Japan (1549) and China (15G3).
Soon after the discovery of the West Indies, the Hieronymite Fray Roman wrote a valuable study of the mythology of their inhabitants, which Ferdinanil (!olumbus incorporated in his "Vida del Almirande". It became the corner-stone of American ethnology. The Dominican Bias de Castillo explored the crater of Masaya in Nicaragua, in 1538, which Oviedo also visited and descrilied later. The much-admired work " De rebus oceanicis ct novo orbe" was written by
