top of page
PUBLICATIONS
Sutlović, J. (2024) "Conflict of geopolitical discourse illustrated by the example of the geographical name of Lokrum island." Geoadria, 29 (1): 54-91. DOI: 10.15291/geoadria.4451
The conflict of geopolitical discourse was illustrated through the example of varying use of geographical names for Lokrum Island on early modern nautical charts and in navigation guides. Analysing the geopolitical dynamics between the Venetian Republic and the Dubrovnik Republic, the research highlights how geographical names (toponyms) reflect and influence territorial ambitions and political narratives. The methodological approach employs a comparative qualitative analysis of historical cartographic sources and navigation guides, using an interdisciplinary approach that includes contemporary research paradigms such as border studies, imagology, cultural geography, and geopolitical discourse to investigate the use of toponyms in the context of various factors such as political ideology and cartographic tradition. The results reveal that naming Lokrum Island with multiple names, such as Lacroma, Croma and similar names, and Scoglio di San Marco, served as a tool for asserting dominance and shaping political discourse. Special attention is given to toponyms as political and cultural hegemony instruments, demonstrating how powerful states used cartography to justify their territorial claims. The analysis shows that cartographic representations not only reflect the construction and perpetuation of ideological narratives but also actively participate in it. This research contributes to a broader understanding of how cartography and toponymy function as instruments within geopolitical discourse, providing new insights into geopolitical processes.
link: https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/467088
Faričić, J., Lončar, I. (2024) "Adriatic islands in the General isolario of all the islands of the World by Alonso de Santa Cruz." Radovi Zavoda za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zadru, 66: 41-81. DOI: 10.21857/yl4okf8dx9
In the General Isolario of All the Islands of the World (Sp. Islario general de todas las islas del mundo) by the 16th-century Sevillian historian and cosmographer Alonso de Santa Cruz, the Croatian islands are described and mapped in two chapters. The objective of the study is to present an early modern source with data on the Croatian islands, which had until now been relatively unknown in the Croatian scientific publicist writing. Therefore, Santa Cruz’s text about the Croatian islands was translated from Spanish into Croatian. Moreover, a historical-geographical and historical-cartographical analysis was carried out based on the comparison of Santa Cruz’s geographical content with the ones of other relevant sources, with spatial data of the same or a similar genre. It was determined that the author based his text on the Croatian islands on ancient geographical sources and the works of the Renaissance authors such as G. Benincasa, F. Berlinghieri, and B. Bordone. However, his compilation of these sources was not always adept. Consequently, his geographical descriptions and cartographic representations of the eastern Adriatic islands are deficient in comparison with other older and contemporary works of the same type, such as isolarios, which used to function as a kind of cosmographic encyclopaedia of the islands. Despite these shortcomings, Santa Cruz’s work underscores the interest of the Spanish maritime and scientific circles in the Adriatic area, recognizing its significance within the broader maritime-geographical system of the Mediterranean.
link: https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/469889
Mlinarić, D., Faričić, J. (2024) "The Eastern Adriatic Coast in the Narratives of the Early-Modern Ottoman Navigator and Cartographer, Piri Reis." In: Mahmut Ak & Ahmet Üstüner (Eds.), Geography and Cartography in the Ottoman Empire (pp. 381-402), Istanbul University Press. DOI :10.26650/B/AH03AH08.2024.039.012
The aim of this chapter is to show the contribution of Pîrî Reis and his work Kitâb-ı Bahriye (a high-quality mixture of nautical charts and narrative sailing manual) to a better, more comprehensive and improved understanding of the geographical features of the eastern-Adriatic coast and sailing routes. Therefore, the authors will qualitatively compare some of his nautical charts with a selection of contemporary Italian nautical charts and maps to find specific innovations in his approach. Pîrî Reis’s excellent surveying and cartography of some of today’s Croatian ports and coasts proved his ability to obtain fairly accurate information about the Dalmatian territories under Venetian rule, which were hardly accessible to him as an Ottoman naval officer. Regardless of whether he obtained his data from precise cartography or some other reliable source of spatial data, and regardless of the origin of the data he used, the knowledge presented in his nautical charts additionally testified to his rich personal navigational experience. Moreover, he contributed to the transmission of geographical information by adopting, transposing and transforming it in the most appropriate way. This also testifies to the openness of an Ottoman navigator and cartographer to the transcultural exchange of knowledge in the Adriatic region of the 16th century.
link:https://iupress.istanbul.edu.tr/en/book/osmanli-imparatorlugunda-cografya-ve-kartografya/chapter/the-eastern-adriatic-coast-in-the-narratives-of-the-early-modern-ottoman-navigator-and-cartographer-piri-reis
Faričić, J., Selva, O., Umek, D. (2023) "Geographical names of the Adriatic Sea on medieval and early-modern maps and nautical charts", Journal of Historical Geography, 82, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2023.09.007
The Adriatic Sea is one of the most frequently depicted parts of the Mediterranean on medieval and early-modern maps and nautical charts. Examination of these maps has revealed that the name of this sea reflects ancient tradition, particularly in terms of the use of various versions of the ancient Latin name Mare Adriaticum and, from the end of the Middle Ages, the Venetian declaration of political ambition to gain dominance over the entire sea. This Venetian agenda manifested itself in the naming of the entire sea as the Gulf of Venice (Golfo di Venezia). By uncritically adopting the geographical content of Venetian maps, the Venetian name for this sea was transferred to maps produced in numerous European cartographic centres. The abolition of the Republic of Venice in 1797 contributed to reduce the geographical scope of the hydronym Golfo di Venezia to the water area in the immediate vicinity of Venice, while various versions of the ancient name (Eng. Adriatic Sea, Ital. Mare Adriatico, Fr. Mer Adriatique, Ger. Adriatisches Meer, Cro. Jadransko more, etc.) prevailed. Based on the fact that maps are an important medium of communication of spatial information and spatial concepts, examples of the names of the Adriatic Sea on old maps confirm the importance of these sources for toponymy research.
link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305748823000920
Faričić, J. (2023.) "Pogled na Hrvatsku iz europskih kartografskih središta 17. stoljeća", u: Glavačeva karta Hrvatske, ur. E. Domazet, Hrvatski državni arhiv, Zagreb, 9-27. ISBN 978-953-8461-06-4
ABSTRACT: Prostor današnje Hrvatske tijekom 17. st. Bio je fragmentiran među europskim silama, a s obzirom na njihove društveno-gospodarske jezgre, funkcionirao je kao periferija. Ujedno je bio turbulentno pograničje među suprotstavljenim imperijalnim sustavima. To je zacijelo pojačalo interes europskih kartografa za prikazivanje tog dijela Europe, iako su mnogi među njima ionako u svojim atlasima nastojali prikazati sve europske regije i države. No kvaliteta tih prikaza znatno se razlikovala s obzirom na kvalitetu dostupnoj prostornih podataka. Kvaliteta kartografskih prikaza današnjega hrvatskog prostora nije bila zadovoljavajuća pa je motivirala Stjepana Glavača da pristupi izradi nove karte tadašnjih ostatka ostataka Hrvatske ovaj je tekst zamišljen kao prilog postojećim znanstvenim spoznajama sa svrhom kontekstualizacije i potvrde opravdanosti nakane Stjepana Glavača da ispravi pogreške i nedostatke na tadašnjim kartama Hrvatske. Rad se zasniva na istraživanjima više desetaka karata koje su europski kartografi izradili tijekom 17. st. Među tim su kartama istaknute one koje su smatrane reprezentativnim uzorcima na temelju kojih je bilo moguće donijeti odgovarajuće zaključke o razvoju kartografiranja hrvatskog prostora i o uporabnoj vrijednosti tadašnjih kartografskih ostvarenja.
Marelić, T. (2023) "Doubly Perceived Shape of the Adriatic Sea Basin on Early Modern Geographical Maps and Nautical Charts", Cartography and Geoinformation 22 (2): 20-41. DOI: 1 0.32909/kg.22.39.2
ABSTRACT: The implementation of graticules on geographical maps and nautical charts, initially developed in the Hellenistic period, was a rediscovered novelty to Western European cartographers of the early modern period. The research sought to computationally examine the accuracy of spherical coordinates’ data extracted from selected geographical maps and nautical charts. Research results suggest that the cartographers who made geographic maps relied significantly on Claudius Ptolemy’s data on locations but managed to make certain accuracy improvements. The nautical charts with graticules showed significantly greater longitudinal accuracy, which suggests that they were created by using other data sources as their graphical templates; most likely the portolan charts that were already in existence at the time.
link: http://kig.kartografija.hr/index.php/kig/article/view/1001
Marelić, T. (2023) "Geometric Stalemate and De-Evolution of Adriatic Sea Representations on Early Modern Age Nautical Charts", The Cartographic Journal 60 (3): 216-229. DOI: 10.1080/00087041.2023.2172533
ABSTRACT: Cartographic representations of the Adriatic Sea basin on 11 (manuscript and printed) Early Modern Age nautical charts, made between 1538 and 1771, were subjected to a cartometric analysis in which their geometrical features were inspected. Additionally, four of them on which the graticules were plotted and were subjected to the analysis of their spherical coordinates, which was conducted in parallel. The results show that cartographers who produced printed charts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, never succeeded in surpassing the geometric accuracy of manuscript portolan charts from the sixteenth century, regardless of whether their charts contained graticules or not. According to the results and the historical context of contemporary technological development, it appears that in the era that preceded systematic hydrographic surveys, their authors had no other choice but to (partially) copy the inherited ‘framework’ of portolan charts as a reference model, and to implement certain localized trial and error modifications.
link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00087041.2023.2172533
Faričić, J., Kljajić, I., Mirošević, L., Mlinarić, D. (2023) "Symbolism of Compass Roses on Early Modern Nautical Charts of the Adriatic Sea", KN - Journal of Cartography and Geographic Information, Published online: 03 February 2023, DOI: 10.1007/s42489-022-00129-z
ABSTRACT: This qualitative analysis of symbolic elements in nautical cartography aims to provide an interdisciplinary insight into some aspects of early modern cartographic representations of the Adriatic Sea. The nautical charts were supplemented with compass roses, a graphic structure that facilitates orientation and correlates with rhumb lines. The research objective focusses primarily on the variety of signs for the cardinal directions north and east, additionally considering some rare but innovative and avant-garde pragmatic uses of compass roses to indicate magnetic declination. On the majority of the selected nautical charts, most of which were created in Mediterranean and Western European cultural centres, decorative elements such as the fleur-de-lis and the cross were used in compass roses to determine the cardinal points. The compass roses of these nautical charts often served as symbolic evidence of the social and economic belonging of the Adriatic to the European part of the Mediterranean geographical system, as well as to the Christian sphere of tradition and influence. The study has thus proved the existence of significant symbolic communication capacity of a compass rose, which was not only a utilitarian but also an artistic element.
link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42489-022-00129-z
Krleža, P., Mlinarić, D. (2022) „Visual Images on Medieval and Early Modern World Maps: Iconography of the Known and the Unknown“, Cartography and Geoinformation 21 (38): 26-51. DOI: 10.32909/kg.21.38.2
ABSTRACT: This interdisciplinary research is focused on visual images on maps of the known world spanning from the medieval to the early modern period. Regardless of their purpose, which could range from ideological representations of the medieval world, as were O or T maps, to practical sailing maps like portolan charts and other early modern nautical charts of the (already known) world in a smaller scale, they carried the standard scope of geo-cartographic data and content. Besides, they offered a rich illustrative component of respectable graphic quality. This depended on the purpose of the map, as well as the geographical knowledge of its author on one hand and on the skill and expertise of its creator on the other. Through this short synchronic and diachronic overview of the iconographic elements of Old World maps, especially in respect to Croatian lands, some chronological continuities of cartographic presentation were revealed. The spread of ideas and ideologies communicated and disseminated by these will also be discussed.
link: http://kig.kartografija.hr/index.php/kig/article/view/984
Faričić, J., Marelić, T., Dundović, Z. (2022) "Manuscript Map of Illyricum, 1663, in the Pontifical Croatian College of St Jerome: a Supplement to Previous Knowledge", Cartography and Geoinformation, 21 (Special Issue): 26-46. DOI: 10.32909/kg.21.si.3
ABSTRACT: In the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome in Rome, a manuscript geographic map of Illyricum is kept, drawn in 1663 by the architect and geographer, Pietro Andrea Buffalini of Rome. Cartographic analysis of this map has been carried out on several occasions, and the ecclesiastico-legal and historico-geographic context of its origin analysed. As contribution to previous research on the 1663 map of Illyricum, the depiction of the coast on that map is cartometrically compared with that on geographic maps and nautical charts from the late 16th century and the first half of the 17th. On the basis of these analyses it is confirmed that, with the 1663 map of Illyricum, a qualitative step forward was taken in depicting the northeast coast of the Adriatic. In addition, on the basis of research into available written data sources, it is concluded that Ivan Lučić made a key (co)authorial contribution to the shaping of the geographic content of this manuscript map.
link: http://kig.kartografija.hr/index.php/kig/article/view/973
Mirošević, L., Faričić, J. (2022) "The Island of Korčula on Early Modern Maps", Cartography and Geoinformation, 21 (Special Issue): 98-124, DOI: 10.32909/kg.21.si.8
ABSTRACT: Based on selected cartographic depictions of Korčula from the early modern age, the paper examines the geographical knowledge about that island at the time the maps were made. Special attention is directed to the hitherto unknown map of the island of Korčula from the second half of the 16th or the first half of the 17th century, which is kept in the Archivio do Stato di Venezia, given that it shows a very detailed escription of the island of Korčula, especially its western part. The objective of this paper, using the example of the island of Korčula, is to point out the importance of cartographic renderings as an important source of spatial data and to determine whether there was a gradual improvement in the quality of the displayed geographical content in accordance with the assumed development of geographical knowledge and cartographic techniques from the beginning of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. On the basis of the selected cartographic depictions of the island of Korčula, the significance of the island of Korčula in maritime and geographic frameworks characterized by different political interests, primarily that of Venice, was confirmed. The diachronic series of early modern geographical maps and nautical charts points to the gradual development of geographical knowledge about the island of Korčula, as well as to the improvement of the quality of graphical visualization of the relevant spatial data about that Croatian island.
link: http://kig.kartografija.hr/index.php/kig/article/view/978
bottom of page