Ancient and medieval geographers, first maps. Geography of the Middle Ages

DEVELOPMENT OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES

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Article topic:	DEVELOPMENT OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Rubric (thematic category)	Geography

1 Geography in Feudal Europe.

2 Geography in the Scandinavian world.

3 Geography in the Arab world.

4 Development of geography in medieval China.

1 Geography in Feudal Europe. From the end of the 2nd century. slave society was experiencing a deep crisis. The invasion of the Gothic tribes (III century) and the strengthening of Christianity, which began in 330 ᴦ. state religion, accelerated the decline of Roman-Greek culture and science. At 395 ᴦ. The Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern parts. Since that time, Western Europe has gradually begun to forget Greek language and literature. At 410 ᴦ. The Visigoths occupied Rome, and in 476 ᴦ. The Western Roman Empire ceased to exist (26,110,126,220,260,279,363,377).

Trade connections in this period began to decline significantly. The only significant incentive to explore distant countries were Christian pilgrimages to the “holy places”: Palestine and Jerusalem. According to many historians geographical science, this transition period did not bring anything new to the development of geographical ideas (126.279). At best, old knowledge has been preserved, and even then in an incomplete and distorted form. In this form they passed into the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages saw a long period of decline, when the spatial and scientific horizons of geography narrowed sharply. The extensive geographical knowledge and geographical ideas of the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians were largely forgotten. Previous knowledge was preserved only among Arab scientists. True, the accumulation of knowledge about the world continued in Christian monasteries, but in general the intellectual climate of that time was not favorable to their new understanding. At the end of the 15th century. The era of the Great Geographical Discoveries began, and the horizons of geographical science began to rapidly expand again. The flow of new information that poured into Europe had an extremely great influence on all aspects of life and gave rise to a certain course of events that continues to this day (110, p. 25).

Despite the fact that in Christian Europe of the Middle Ages the word “geography” practically disappeared from the common vocabulary, the study of geography still continued. Gradually, curiosity and inquisitiveness, the desire to find out what distant countries and continents were like, prompted adventurers to go on trips that promised new discoveries. The Crusades, carried out under the banner of the struggle for the liberation of the “holy land” from Muslim rule, drew into their orbit masses of people who had left their homes. Returning, they talked about foreign peoples and unusual nature that they had seen. In the 13th century. the routes laid by missionaries and merchants became so extensive that they reached China (21).

Geographical representations early Middle Ages consisted of biblical dogmas and some conclusions of ancient science, cleared of everything “pagan” (including the doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth). According to the “Christian Topography” of Kosma Indikopov (VI century), the Earth has the appearance of a flat rectangle washed by the ocean; The sun disappears behind the mountain at night; all great rivers originate in paradise and flow under the ocean (361).

Modern geographers unanimously characterize the first centuries of the Christian Middle Ages in Western Europe as a period of stagnation and decline in geography (110,126,216,279). Most of the geographical discoveries of this period were repeated. Countries known to the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean were often “discovered” a second, third and even fourth time.

In the history of geographical discoveries of the early Middle Ages, a prominent place belongs to the Scandinavian Vikings (Normans), who in the 8th-9th centuries. with their raids they devastated England, Germany, Flanders and France.

Along the Russian route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” Scandinavian traders reached Byzantium. About 866 ᴦ. The Normans rediscovered Iceland and settled there firmly, and around 983 ᴦ. Eric the Red discovered Greenland, where their permanent settlements also arose (21).

In the first centuries of the Middle Ages, the Byzantines had a relatively broad spatial horizon. Religious ties of the Eastern Roman Empire extended to the Balkan Peninsula, and later to Kievan Rus and Asia Minor. Religious preachers reached India. They brought their writing to Central Asia and Mongolia, and from there they penetrated into the western regions of China, where they founded their numerous settlements.

The spatial horizons of the Slavic peoples, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, or the Chronicle of Nestor (second half of the 11th - beginning of XII centuries), extended over almost the whole of Europe - up to approximately 60 0 N latitude. and to the shores of the Baltic and North Seas, as well as to the Caucasus, India, the Middle East and the northern coast of Africa. The Chronicle provides the most complete and reliable information about the Russian Plain, primarily about the Valdai Upland, from where the main Slavic rivers flow (110,126,279).

2 Geography in the Scandinavian world. The Scandinavians were excellent sailors and brave travelers. The most great achievement Scandinavians of Norwegian origin, or the so-called Vikings, was that they managed to cross the North Atlantic and visit America. At 874 ᴦ. The Vikings approached the shores of Iceland and founded a settlement, which then began to quickly develop and prosper. At 930 ᴦ. The world's first parliament, Altinᴦ, was created here.

Among the inhabitants of the Icelandic colony there was someone Eric the Red , distinguished by a frantic and stormy disposition. At 982 ᴦ. he and his family and friends were expelled from Iceland. Having heard about the existence of a land that lay somewhere far to the west, Eric set sail across the stormy waters of the North Atlantic and after some time found himself off the southern coast of Greenland. Perhaps the name Greenland, which he gave to this new land, was one of the first examples of arbitrary name creation in world geography - after all, there was nothing green around. However, the colony founded by Erik attracted some Icelandic residents. Close relations have developed between Greenland, Iceland and Norway. maritime connections (110,126,279).

About 1,000 ᴦ. son of Eric the Red, Leif Eirikson , returning from Greenland to Norway, was caught in a violent storm; the ship strayed from the correct course. When the sky cleared, he discovered that he was on an unfamiliar coastline, stretching north and south as far as he could see. Coming ashore, he found himself in a virgin forest, the tree trunks of which were entwined with wild grapes. Returning to Greenland, he described this new land, lying far to the west of his home country (21.110).

At 1003 ᴦ. someone Karlsefni organized an expedition to take another look at this new land. About 160 people - men and women - sailed with him, and a large supply of food and livestock was taken. There is no doubt that they managed to reach the coast of North America. The large bay they described with a strong current emanating from it is probably the estuary of the St. Lawrence River. Somewhere here people landed on the shore and stayed for the winter. The first child of Europeans on American soil was born right there. The following summer they all sailed south, reaching the peninsula of South Scotland. They may have visited even further south, near the Chesapeake Bay. They liked this one new land, but the Indians behaved too warlike towards the Vikings. The raids of the local tribes caused such damage that the Vikings, who had worked so hard to settle here, were eventually forced to return to Greenland. All the stories associated with this event are captured in the “Saga of Eric the Red”, which was passed down from mouth to mouth. Historians of geographical science are still trying to find out where exactly the people who sailed from Karlsefni landed. It is very possible that before the 11th century, voyages to the shores of North America were made, but European geographers heard only vague rumors about such voyages (7,21,26,110,126,279,363,377).

3 Geography in the Arab world. From the 6th century Arabs are beginning to play a prominent role in the development of world culture. By the beginning of the 8th century. they created a huge state that covered all of Western Asia, part of Central Asia, northwestern India, North Africa and most of the Iberian Peninsula. Among the Arabs, crafts and trade prevailed over subsistence farming. Arab merchants traded with China and African countries. In the 12th century. The Arabs learned about the existence of Madagascar, and according to some other sources, in 1420 ᴦ. Arab sailors reached the southern tip of Africa (21,110,126).

Many peoples have contributed to Arab culture and science. Beginning in the 8th century. decentralization of the Arab Caliphate gradually led to the emergence of a number of major cultural scientific centers in Persia, Spain and North Africa. Scientists from Central Asia also wrote in Arabic. The Arabs learned a lot from the Indians (including the written counting system) and the Chinese (knowledge of magnetic needles, gunpowder, making paper from cotton). Under Caliph Harun ar-Rashid (786-809), a board of translators was created in Baghdad, which translated Indian, Persian, Syrian and Greek scientific works into Arabic.

Of particular importance for the development of Arabic science were the translations of the works of Greek scientists - Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Strabo, Ptolemy, etc.
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Largely influenced by the ideas of Aristotle, many thinkers in the Muslim world rejected the existence of supernatural forces and called for the experimental study of nature. Among them, first of all, it is extremely important to note the outstanding Tajik philosopher and encyclopedist scientist Ibn Sinu (Avicenna) 980-1037) and Muggamet Ibn Roshd, or Avverroes (1126-1198).

To expand the spatial horizons of the Arabs, the development of trade was of paramount importance. Already in the 8th century. Geography in the Arab world was considered as “the science of postal communication” and “the science of routes and regions” (126). Travel description becomes the most popular species Arabic literature. From travelers of the 8th century. The most famous merchant is Suleiman from Basra, who sailed to China and visited Ceylon, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the island of Socotra.

In the works of Arab authors, information of a nomenclatural and historical-political nature predominates; unjustifiably little attention is paid to nature. In the interpretation of physical and geographical phenomena, scientists writing in Arabic did not contribute anything significantly new and original. The main significance of Arabic literature of geographical content lies in the new facts, but not in the theories it adhered to. The theoretical ideas of the Arabs remained underdeveloped. In most cases, the Arabs simply followed the Greeks without bothering to develop new concepts.

Indeed, the Arabs gathered in the region physical geography a lot of material, but failed to process it into a harmonious scientific system(126). At the same time, they constantly mixed the creations of their imagination into reality. Nevertheless, the role of the Arabs in the history of science is very significant. Thanks to the Arabs, in Western Europe after the Crusades, a new system of “Arabic” numbers, their arithmetic, astronomy, as well as Arabic translations of Greek authors, incl. Aristotle, Plato and Ptolemy.

The works of the Arabs on geography, written in the 8th-14th centuries, were based on a variety of literary sources. At the same time, Arab scientists used not only translations from Greek, but also information received from their own travelers. As a result, the knowledge of the Arabs was much more correct and accurate than the knowledge of Christian authors.

One of the earliest Arab travelers was Ibn Haukal. He devoted the last thirty years of his life (943-973) to traveling to the most remote and remote areas of Africa and Asia. During my visit east coast Africa at that point, which was approximately twenty degrees south of the equator, he drew his attention to the fact that here, in these latitudes, which the Greeks considered uninhabited, lived a large number of of people. At the same time, the theory about the uninhabitability of this zone, which was adhered to by the ancient Greeks, was revived again and again, even in the so-called modern times.

Arab scientists made several important observations on climate. At 921 ᴦ. Al-Balkhi summarized information about climatic phenomena collected by Arab travelers in the first climate atlas of the world - ʼʼKitab al-Ashkalʼʼ.

Masudi (died 956 ᴦ.) penetrated as far south as modern Mozambique and made a very accurate description of the monsoons. Already in the 10th century. he correctly described the process of evaporation of moisture from the water surface and its condensation in the form of clouds.

At 985 ᴦ. Makdisi proposed a new division of the Earth into 14 climatic regions. He discovered that climate varies not only with latitude, but also in westerly and eastern directions. He also came up with the idea that most of the southern hemisphere is occupied by the ocean, and the main land masses are concentrated in the northern hemisphere (110).

Some Arab geographers expressed correct thoughts about the formation of the forms of the earth's surface. At 1030 ᴦ. Al-Biruni wrote a huge book on the geography of India. In it, he spoke, in particular, about rounded stones that he discovered in alluvial deposits south of the Himalayas. He explained their origin by the fact that these stones acquired a rounded shape due to the fact that rapid mountain rivers rolled them along their bed. He also drew attention to the fact that alluvial sediments deposited near the foot of the mountains have a coarser mechanical composition, and that as they move away from the mountains they are composed of smaller and smaller particles. He also talked about how, according to the Hindus, tides are caused by the Moon. His book also contains an interesting statement that when moving towards the South Pole, night disappears. This statement proves that even before the onset of the 11th century, some Arab sailors penetrated far to the south (110,126).

Avicenna, or Ibn Sina , who had the opportunity to directly observe how mountain streams carve out valleys in the mountains Central Asia, also contributed to deepening knowledge about the development of forms of the earth's surface. He came up with the idea that the most high peaks composed of hard rocks that are especially resistant to erosion. As they rise, the mountains, he pointed out, immediately begin to undergo this grinding process, which proceeds very slowly, but relentlessly. Avicenna also noted the presence in the rocks that make up the highlands of fossil remains of organisms, which he considered as examples of nature’s attempts to create living plants or animals that ended in failure (126).

Ibn Battuta - one of the greatest Arab travelers of all times and peoples. He was born in Tangier in 1304. in a family in which the profession of judge was hereditary. In 1325 ᴦ. At the age of twenty-one, he went as a pilgrim to Mecca, where he hoped to complete his study of the laws. At the same time, on the way through northern Africa and Egypt, he realized that he was much more attracted to the study of peoples and countries than to study legal intricacies. Having reached Mecca, he decided to devote his life to travel and in his endless wanderings through the lands inhabited by the Arabs, he was most concerned about not going the same way twice. He managed to visit those places of the Arabian Peninsula where no one had ever been before. He sailed the Red Sea, visited Ethiopia and then, moving further and further south along the coast of East Africa, reached Kilwa, which lies at almost 10 0 S latitude. There he learned about the existence of an Arab trading post in Sofala (Mozambique), located south of the current port city of Beira, that is, almost 20 degrees south of the equator. Ibn Battuta confirmed what Ibn Haukal had insisted, namely that the hot zone of East Africa was not swelteringly hot and that it was inhabited by local tribes who did not oppose the creation of trading posts by the Arabs.

Returning to Mecca, he soon hit the road again, visiting Baghdad, traveling through Persia and the lands adjacent to the Black Sea. Following through the Russian steppes, he eventually reached Bukhara and Samarkand, and from there through the mountains of Afghanistan he entered India. For several years, Ibn Battuta was in the service of the Delhi Sultan, which gave him the opportunity to travel around the country without hindrance. The Sultan appointed him as his ambassador to China. Moreover, many years passed before Ibn Battuta arrived there. During this time he managed to visit Maldives, in Ceylon and Sumatra, and only after that he ended up in China. At 1350 ᴦ. he returned to Fes, the capital of Morocco. However, his travels did not end there. After a trip to Spain, he returned to Africa and, moving through the Sahara, reached the Niger River, where he was able to collect important information about the black Islamized tribes living in the area. In 1353 ᴦ. he settles in Fez, where, by order of the Sultan, he dictates a long narrative about his travels. Over the course of about thirty years, Ibn Battura covered a distance of about 120 thousand km, which was an absolute record for the 14th century. Unfortunately, his book, written in Arabic, did not have any significant influence on the thinking of European scientists (110).

4 Development of geography in medieval China. Starting around the 2nd century. BC. and until the 15th century, the Chinese people had the highest level of knowledge among other peoples of the Earth. Chinese mathematicians began to use zero and created a decimal calculation system, which was much more convenient than the sexagesimal one that was used in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Decimal calculation was borrowed from the Hindus by the Arabs about 800 ᴦ., but it is believed that it penetrated into India from China (110).

Chinese philosophers differed from ancient Greek thinkers mainly in that they attached paramount importance to the natural world. According to their teaching, individuals should not be separated from nature, since they are an organic part of it. The Chinese denied the divine power that prescribes laws and creates the Universe for man according to a specific plan. In China, for example, they did not believe that after death life continues in the paradise gardens of Eden or in the circles of hell. The Chinese believed that the dead are absorbed into the all-pervading universe, of which all individuals are an inseparable part (126,158).

Confucianism taught a way of life in which friction between members of society was reduced to a minimum. At the same time, this teaching remained relatively indifferent to the development of scientific knowledge about the surrounding nature.

The activity of the Chinese in the field of geographical research looks very impressive, although it is more characterized by achievements of a contemplative plan than by the development scientific theory (110).

In China, geographical research was primarily associated with the creation of methods that made it possible to make precise measurements and observations with their subsequent use in various useful inventions. Since the 13th century. BC, the Chinese conducted systematic observations of weather conditions.

Already in the 2nd century. BC. Chinese engineers made precise measurements of the amount of silt deposits carried by rivers. At 2 ᴦ. AD The world's first population census was conducted in China. China's technical inventions include paper production, book printing, rain gauges and snow gauges to measure precipitation, and a compass for sailors.

Geographical descriptions of Chinese authors can be divided into the following eight groups: 1) works devoted to the study of people (human geography); 2) descriptions of the interior regions of China; 3) descriptions foreign countries; 4) travel stories; 5) books about the rivers of China; 6) descriptions of the coasts of China, especially those that are important for shipping; 7) local history works, including descriptions of areas subordinate to and governed by fortified cities, famous mountain ranges, or certain cities and palaces; 8) geographical encyclopedias (110, p.96). Great attention was also paid to the origin geographical names (110).

The earliest evidence of Chinese travel is a book probably written between the 5th and 3rd centuries. BC. It was discovered in the tomb of a man who ruled about 245 ᴦ. BC. territory that occupied part of the Wei He Valley. The books found in this burial were written on strips of white silk glued to bamboo cuttings. For better preservation, the book was rewritten at the end of the 3rd century. BC. In world geography, both versions of this book are known as ʼʼThe Travels of Emperor Muʼʼ.

The reign of Emperor Mu was from 1001-945. BC. Emperor Mu, they say in these works, wanted to travel around the whole world and leave traces of his carriage in every country. The story of his wanderings is full of amazing adventures and embellished with artistic fiction. At the same time, the descriptions of wanderings contain details that could hardly be a figment of imagination. The emperor visited forested mountains, saw snow, and hunted a lot. On his way back, he crossed a vast desert, so waterless that he even had to drink horse blood. There is no doubt that in very ancient times, Chinese travelers traveled considerable distances from the Wei He Valley, the center of the development of their culture.

Well-known descriptions of travel from the Middle Ages belong to Chinese pilgrims who visited India, as well as the adjacent areas (Fa Xian, Xuan Zang, I. Jing, etc.). By the 8th century. treatise refers Jia Danya ʼʼDescription of nine countriesʼʼ, which is a guide to the countries of Southeast Asia. In 1221 ᴦ. Taoist monk Chang Chun (XII-XIII centuries) traveled to Samarkand to the court of Genghis Khan and collected fairly accurate information about the population, climate, and vegetation of Central Asia.

In medieval China, there were numerous official descriptions of the country, which were compiled for each new dynasty. These works contained a variety of information on history, natural conditions, population, economy and various attractions. The geographical knowledge of the peoples of South and East Asia had virtually no influence on the geographical horizons of Europeans. On the other hand, geographical representations medieval Europe remained almost unknown in India and China, except for some information obtained through Arab sources (110,126,158,279,283,300).

Late Middle Ages in Europe (XII-XIV centuries). In the 12th century. feudal stagnation in economic development Western European countries gave way to a certain upsurge: crafts, trade, commodity-money relations developed, and new cities emerged. The main economic and cultural centers in Europe in the 12th century. there were Mediterranean cities through which trade routes to the East passed, as well as Flanders, where various crafts flourished and commodity-money relations developed. In the XIV century. The region of the Baltic and North Seas, where the Hanseatic League of trading cities was formed, also became a sphere of lively trade relations. In the XIV century. Paper and gunpowder appear in Europe.

In the 13th century. sailing and rowing ships are gradually replaced by caravels, the compass comes into use, the first nautical charts– portolans, methods for determining the latitude of a place are being improved (by observing the height of the Sun above the horizon and using solar declination tables). All this made it possible to move from coastal sailing to sailing on the high seas.

In the 13th century. Italian merchants began to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar to the mouth of the Rhine. It is known that at that time trade routes to the East were in the hands of the Italian city-republics of Venice and Genoa. Florence was the largest industrial and banking center. It is in this regard that the cities of Northern Italy in the mid-14th century. were the center of the Renaissance, centers of the revival of ancient culture, philosophy, science and art. The ideology of the urban bourgeoisie that was emerging at that time found its expression in the philosophy of humanism (110.126).

Humanism (from the Latin humanus - human, humane) - recognition of the value of man as an individual, his right to free development and manifestation of his abilities, affirmation of the good of man as an evaluation criterion public relations. In a narrower sense, humanism is the secular freethinking of the Renaissance, opposed to scholasticism and the spiritual dominance of the church, and associated with the study of the rediscovered works of classical antiquity (291).

The greatest humanist of the Italian Renaissance and world history in general was Francis of Azis (1182-1226) – an outstanding preacher, author of religious and poetic works, the humanistic potential of which is comparable to the teachings of Jesus Christ. In 1207-1209. he founded the Franciscan order.

The most advanced philosophers of the Middle Ages came from among the Franciscans - Roger Bacon (1212-1294) and William of Ockham (about 1300 - about 1350), who opposed scholastic teaching and called for the experimental study of nature. It was they who laid the foundation for the disintegration of official scholasticism.

In those years, there was an intensive revival of interest in ancient culture, the study of ancient languages, and translations of ancient authors. The first most prominent representatives of the Italian Renaissance were Petrarch (1304-1374) and Boccaccio (1313–1375), although, undoubtedly, it was Dante (1265-1321) was the herald of the Italian Renaissance.

Science of the Catholic countries of Europe in the XIII-XIV centuries. was in the firm hands of the church. Moreover, already in the 12th century. the first universities were created in Bologna and Paris; in the 14th century there were more than 40 of them. All of them were in the hands of the church, and theology occupied the main place in teaching. Church councils of 1209 and 1215. decided to ban the teaching of Aristotle's physics and mathematics. In the 13th century. the most prominent representative of the Dominicans Thomas Aquinas (1225-1276) formulated the official teachings of Catholicism, using some reactionary aspects of the teachings of Aristotle, Ibn Sina and others, giving them their own religious and mystical character.

Undoubtedly, Thomas Aquinas was an outstanding philosopher and theologian, a systematizer of scholasticism on the methodological basis of Christian Aristotelianism (the doctrine of act and potency, form and matter, substance and accident, etc.). He formulated five proofs of the existence of God, described as the first cause, the ultimate goal of existence, etc. Recognizing the relative independence of natural being and human reason (the concept of natural law, etc.), Thomas Aquinas argued that nature ends in grace, reason in faith, philosophical knowledge and natural theology, based on the analogy of existence, in supernatural revelation. The main works of Thomas Aquinas are the Summa Theologica and the Summa against the Gentiles. The teachings of Aquinas lie at the basis of such philosophical and religious concepts as Thomism and neo-Thomism.

The development of international relations and navigation, the rapid growth of cities contributed to the expansion of spatial horizons and aroused the keen interest of Europeans in geographical knowledge and discoveries. In world history, the entire XII century. and the first half of the 13th century. represent the period of Western Europe's emergence from centuries-old hibernation and the awakening of vibrant intellectual life in it.

At this time, the main factor in expanding the geographical understanding of European peoples were the crusades undertaken between 1096 and 1270. under the pretext of liberating the Holy Land. Communication between Europeans and Syrians, Persians and Arabs significantly enriched their Christian culture.

In those years, representatives of the Eastern Slavs also traveled a lot. Daniil from Kyiv , for example, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and Benjamin of Tudela traveled to different countries of the East.

A noticeable turning point in the development of geographical concepts occurred approximately in the middle of the 13th century, one of the reasons for which was the Mongol expansion, which reached 1242 ᴦ. its westernmost limit. From 1245 ᴦ. The Pope and many Christian crowns begin to send their embassies and missions to the Mongol khans for diplomatic and intelligence purposes and in the hope of converting the Mongol rulers to Christianity. Following the diplomats and missionaries, merchants rushed to the east. The greater accessibility of countries under Mongol rule compared to Muslim countries, as well as the presence of a well-established system of communications and routes of communication, opened the way for Europeans to Central and East Asia.

In the XIII century, namely from 1271 to 1295, Marco Polo traveled around China, visited India, Ceylon, South Vietnam, Burma, the Malay Archipelago, Arabia and East Africa. After the journey of Marco Polo, merchant caravans from many countries of Western Europe were often equipped for China and India (146).

Russian Novgorodians successfully continued their exploration of the northern outskirts of Europe. After they in the XII-XIII centuries. All the major rivers of the European North were discovered, they paved the way to the Ob basin through the Sukhona, Pechora and the Northern Urals. The first campaign to the Lower Ob (to the Ob Bay), about which there are indications in the chronicles, was undertaken in 1364-1365. At the same time, Russian sailors were moving east along the northern shores of Eurasia. By the end of the 15th century. they explored the southwestern coast of the Kara Sea, the Ob and Taz bays. At the beginning of the 15th century. The Russians sailed to Grumant (Spitsbergen archipelago). It is possible that these voyages began much earlier (2,13,14,21,28,31,85,119,126,191,192,279).

Unlike Asia, Africa remained for Europeans of the 13th-15th centuries. an almost unexplored continent, with the exception of its northern outskirts.

The development of navigation is associated with the emergence of a new type of map - portolans, or complex maps, which had direct practical significance. Οʜᴎ appeared in Italy and Catalonia around 1275-1280. Early portolans were images of the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, often made with very great precision. Bays, small islands, shoals, etc. were especially carefully marked on these drawings. Later, portolans appeared on the western coasts of Europe. All portolans were oriented to the north, at a number of points compass directions were marked on them, and for the first time a linear scale was given. Portolans were in use until the 17th century, when they began to be replaced by nautical charts in the Mercator projection.

Along with portolans, which were unusually accurate for their time, in the late Middle Ages there were also ʼʼmonastery cardsʼʼ, which for a long time retained their primitive character.
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Later they increased in format and became more detailed and accurate.

Despite the significant expansion of spatial horizons, the XIII and XIV centuries. gave very little new in the field of scientific geographical ideas and concepts. Even the descriptive-regional studies direction did not show much progress. The term “geography” itself was apparently not used at all at that time, although literary sources contain extensive information related to the field of geography. This information, of course, became even more numerous in the XIII-XV centuries. The main place among the geographical descriptions of that time is occupied by the stories of the crusaders about the wonders of the East, as well as writings about travel and the travelers themselves. Of course, this information is not equivalent both in volume and in objectivity.

The greatest value among all geographical works of that period is the “Book” of Marco Polo (146). Contemporaries treated its contents very skeptically and with great distrust. Only in the second half of the 14th century. and in later times, Marco Polo’s book began to be valued as a source of various information about the countries of East, Southeast and South Asia. This work was used, for example, by Christopher Columbus during his travels to the shores of America. Until the 16th century. Marco Polo's book served important source a variety of information for compiling maps of Asia (146).

Particularly popular in the 14th century. They used descriptions of fictitious travels, full of legends and stories of miracles.

In general, it can be said that the Middle Ages were marked by an almost complete degeneration of general physical geography. The Middle Ages gave practically no new ideas in the field of geography and only preserved for posterity some ideas of ancient authors, thereby preparing the first theoretical prerequisites for the transition to the Great Geographical Discoveries (110,126,279).

Marco Polo and his “Book”. The most famous travelers of the Middle Ages were the Venetian merchants the Polo brothers and the son of one of them, Marco. In 1271, when Marco Polo was seventeen years old, he, along with his father and uncle, went on a long journey to China. The Polo brothers had already visited China up to this point, spending nine years on the way there and back - from 1260 to 1269. The Great Khan of the Mongols and Emperor of China invited them to visit his country again. The return trip to China lasted four years; for another seventeen years three Venetian merchants remained in this country.

Marco served with the khan, who sent him on official missions to various regions of China, which allowed him to acquire deep knowledge about the culture and nature of this country. The activities of Marco Polo were so useful for the khan that the khan agreed with great displeasure to Polo's departure.

In 1292 ᴦ. The khan provided all Polos with a flotilla of thirteen ships. Some of them were so large that their crew numbered more than a hundred people. In total, together with the Polo merchants, about 600 passengers were accommodated on all these ships. The flotilla left a port located in Southern China, approximately from the place where the modern city of Quanzhou is located. Three months later, the ships reached the islands of Java and Sumatra, where they stayed for five months, after which the voyage continued.

The travelers visited the island of Ceylon and South India, and then, following its western coast, reached the Persian Gulf, anchoring in the ancient port of Hormuz. By the end of the voyage, out of 600 passengers, only 18 remained alive, and most of the ships were lost. But all three Polos returned unharmed to Venice in 1295 after a twenty-five-year absence.

During sea battle 1298 ᴦ. in the war between Genoa and Venice, Marco Polo was captured until 1299 ᴦ. was kept in a Genoese prison. While in prison, he dictated stories about his travels to one of the prisoners. His descriptions of life in China and the perilous adventures along the way there and back were so vivid and vivid that they were often perceived as the product of a fervent imagination. In addition to stories about the places where he directly visited, Marco Polo also mentioned Chipango, or Japan, and the island of Madagascar, which, according to him, was located at the southern limit of the inhabited earth. Since Madagascar was located much south of the equator, it became obvious that the sizzling, sultry zone was not such at all and belonged to the inhabited lands.

DEVELOPMENT OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "DEVELOPMENT OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES" 2017, 2018.

In Western Europe during the early Middle Ages, many scientific achievements were denied. The Christian religion played a major role in the stagnation and decline of science. The Church persecuted everything that did not agree with the Bible. The doctrine of the spherical shape of the Earth was rejected, and the Earth again began to be depicted as a flat circle covered with “firmament.” The maps compiled at this time are strikingly primitive: they do not show degree grid, they are oriented east up (this is explained by the fact that paradise was placed in the east), the contours of the continents are less accurate than on ancient Greek maps.
An interesting document that allows one to judge the geographical ideas of church ministers in the early Middle Ages was created in the 6th century. Cosma Indicoplov (sailor to India). He lived in Egypt, which was then part of Byzantine Empire, in Alexandria, was a merchant and then became a monk. Traveling for trading purposes, Indicoplov saw many countries (Abyssinia, India, Ceylon). Later, he wrote “The Christian Topography of the Universe” - a book in which, along with completely plausible descriptions of the countries the author saw, his idea of the world was outlined. According to Indikoplov, the Earth is like a box, the length of which is twice the width. The flat quadrangular land is divided into inhabited land, washed on all sides by the Ocean, and land beyond the Ocean, where people lived before the flood. In the east is the earthly paradise. The land, together with paradise, is limited by walls that turn into a double sky. The space between the two heavens is occupied by the kingdom of heaven. On the hard lower sky above there is water pouring onto the Earth through special holes (this is how rain was explained). Angels control precipitation, winds, and the movements of the stars.
Indicoplos explained the change and inequality of day and night by the fact that the Sun moves around a large cone-shaped mountain located in the north of the inhabited land. The orbit in which the Sun moves changes its inclination throughout the year. In summer, it is inclined to the south and the Sun briefly disappears behind the top of the mountain (the night is short), while in winter the orbit is inclined to the north, so the Sun goes around the base of the mountain from the north for a long time (the night is long).
The role of Arabs in the development of geography. In the VII-VIII centuries. Muslim Arabs conquered vast territory. Wars, widespread trade, pilgrimages to cities sacred to Muslims required geographical knowledge, and the Arabs used the knowledge of the Greeks, studied and translated many of their works into their language. So, for example, Ptolemy’s “Great Construction” was translated (the Arabs called it “Almagest”, from the Greek “megastos” - the greatest). Arab scientists and travelers themselves made valuable contributions to geography. In the 9th century. they managed to measure the length of the meridian degree and quite accurately calculate the size of the Earth. The Peru of Arab scientists owns many books devoted to general questions of geography and descriptions of the entire world known to them. The Arabs received new geographical information about previously little-known countries during military campaigns and trade expeditions. In addition, they traveled for scientific purposes. The Arab scientist Masudi (10th century) visited East Africa, discovered by the Arabs in the 9th century. O. Madagascar, countries of the Near and Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. Perhaps he was in China too. Masudi’s works (two books have survived to this day - “Golden Meadows” and “Messages and Observations”) contain interesting descriptions and conclusions. Masudi doubted the lack of connection between the Indian Ocean and other oceans. The works of Masudi, like many other Arab scientists, contain some element of the fantastic: they wrote about angels supporting the Earth, about seven heavens, etc.

A significant contribution to the development of geodesy was made by the Khorezm scientist Biruni (11th century). He made a new attempt to measure the Earth (by determining the angle at which the horizon line is visible from high mountain); he developed the doctrine of heliocentrism (long before Copernicus).
Arab cartographers compiled maps of the entire territory known to them. However, these maps, including the Idrisi map (XII century) - on 70 sheets, do not have a degree grid and are not distinguished by the accuracy of their contours.
In the XIV century. The Moroccan merchant Ibn Battuta, having traveled 120,000 km (having spent 25 years of his life on this), visited all Muslim possessions in Europe, Byzantium, East Africa, Western and Central Asia, India, Ceylon and China, crossed the Sahara twice, in different ways. The geographical and historical information contained in the description of Ibn Battuta’s travels has still not lost its value.
Discoveries of the Normans. The peoples who inhabited the Scandinavian Peninsula in the Middle Ages (northern people-Normans), undertaking bold sea expeditions, made a number of remarkable discoveries in the North Atlantic: in the 9th century. They discovered and colonized Iceland for the second time (after the Irish) (867-874), and Greenland in the 10th century (Eirik the Red, 982). In 1000, the Normans reached the Labrador Peninsula, Newfoundland Island and the eastern coast of North America (Leif Eirikson, son of Eirik the Red).
The Normans knew the Baltic Sea well, climbed up the rivers flowing into it and along waterway, laid by the Slavs, penetrated to the south, into the Black Sea. The Normans also sailed into the White Sea.
Ancient Rus'. In the 9th century. V Eastern Europe, on the site of several small states, a feudal ancient Russian arose state - Kyiv Rus' (until the 12th century - capital Kyiv). The oldest Russian chronicle that has come down to us - “The Tale of Bygone Years” (chronicler Nestor, 12th century) contains valuable historical and geographical information.
In the 12th century. The Novgorod feudal republic separated from Kievan Rus and took possession of almost all the northern lands up to the Urals. Novgorodians have long known the way to the Mediterranean Sea through the Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean, Novgorod has become a “window” to Europe.

1 Geography in Feudal Europe.

2 Geography in the Scandinavian world.

3 Geography in the Arab world.

4 Development of geography in medieval China.

1 Geography in Feudal Europe. From the end of the 2nd century. slave society was experiencing a deep crisis. The invasion of the Gothic tribes (3rd century) and the strengthening of Christianity, which became the state religion in 330, accelerated the decline of Roman-Greek culture and science. In 395, the Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern parts. From this time on, Western Europe gradually began to forget the Greek language and literature. In 410 the Visigoths occupied Rome, and in 476 the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist (26,110,126,220,260,279,363,377).

Trade ties began to decline significantly during this period. The only significant incentive to explore distant countries was Christian pilgrimages to the “holy places”: Palestine and Jerusalem. According to many historians of geographical science, this transition period did not introduce anything new into the development of geographical ideas (126,279). At best, old knowledge has been preserved, and even then in an incomplete and distorted form. In this form they passed into the Middle Ages.

The geographical ideas of the early Middle Ages consisted of biblical dogmas and some conclusions of ancient science, cleared of everything “pagan” (including the doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth). According to “Christian Topography” by Cosmas Indikopov (VI century), the Earth has the shape of a flat rectangle washed by the ocean; The sun disappears behind the mountain at night; all great rivers originate in paradise and flow under the ocean (361).

Scandinavian traders traveled along the Russian route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” to Byzantium. Around 866, the Normans rediscovered Iceland and established a strong foothold there, and around 983, Eric the Red discovered Greenland, where they also established permanent settlements (21).

The spatial horizons of the Slavic peoples, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, or the chronicle of Nestor (second half of the 11th - early 12th centuries), extended to almost all of Europe - to approximately 60 0 N latitude. and to the shores of the Baltic and North Seas, as well as to the Caucasus, India, the Middle East and the northern coast of Africa. The Chronicle provides the most complete and reliable information about the Russian Plain, primarily about the Valdai Upland, from where the main Slavic rivers flow (110,126,279).

2 Geography in the Scandinavian world. The Scandinavians were excellent sailors and brave travelers. The greatest achievement of the Scandinavians of Norwegian origin, or the so-called Vikings, was that they managed to cross the North Atlantic and visit America. In 874, the Vikings approached the shores of Iceland and founded a settlement, which then began to quickly develop and prosper. In 930, the world's first parliament, the Althing, was created here.

Among the inhabitants of the Icelandic colony there was someone Eric the Red , distinguished by a frantic and stormy disposition. In 982, he and his family and friends were expelled from Iceland. Having heard about the existence of a land that lay somewhere far to the west, Eric set sail across the stormy waters of the North Atlantic and after some time found himself off the southern coast of Greenland. Perhaps the name Greenland, which he gave to this new land, was one of the first examples of arbitrary name creation in world geography - after all, there was nothing green around. However, the colony Erik founded attracted some Icelandic residents. Close maritime connections developed between Greenland, Iceland and Norway (110,126,279).

Around 1000, the son of Eric the Red, Leif Eirikson , returning from Greenland to Norway, was caught in a violent storm; the ship strayed from the correct course. When the sky cleared, he discovered that he was on an unfamiliar coastline, stretching north and south as far as he could see. Coming ashore, he found himself in a virgin forest, the tree trunks of which were entwined with wild grapes. Returning to Greenland, he described this new land, lying far to the west of his home country (21.110).

In 1003 someone Karlsefni organized an expedition to take another look at this new land. About 160 people - men and women - sailed with him, and a large supply of food and livestock was taken. There is no doubt that they managed to reach the coast of North America. The large bay they described with a strong current emanating from it is probably the estuary of the St. Lawrence River. Somewhere here people landed on the shore and stayed for the winter. The first child of Europeans on American soil was born right there. The following summer they all sailed south, reaching the peninsula of South Scotland. They may have visited even further south, near the Chesapeake Bay. They liked this new land, but the Indians were too warlike towards the Vikings. The raids of the local tribes caused such damage that the Vikings, who had worked so hard to settle here, were eventually forced to return to Greenland. All the stories related to this event are captured in the “Saga of Eric the Red,” which was passed down from mouth to mouth. Historians of geographical science are still trying to figure out where exactly the people who sailed from Karlsefni landed. It is very possible that before the 11th century, voyages to the shores of North America were made, but European geographers heard only vague rumors about such voyages (7,21,26,110,126,279,363,377).

3 Geography in the Arab world. From the 6th century Arabs are beginning to play a prominent role in the development of world culture. By the beginning of the 8th century. they created a huge state that covered all of Western Asia, part of Central Asia, northwestern India, North Africa and most of the Iberian Peninsula. Among the Arabs, crafts and trade prevailed over subsistence farming. Arab merchants traded with China and African countries. In the 12th century. the Arabs learned about the existence of Madagascar, and according to some other sources, in 1420 Arab sailors reached the southern tip of Africa (21,110,126).

Many peoples have contributed to Arab culture and science. Beginning in the 8th century. the decentralization of the Arab Caliphate gradually led to the emergence of a number of large cultural scientific centers in Persia, Spain and North Africa. Scientists from Central Asia also wrote in Arabic. The Arabs learned a lot from the Indians (including the written counting system) and the Chinese (knowledge of magnetic needles, gunpowder, making paper from cotton). Under Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809), a board of translators was created in Baghdad, which translated Indian, Persian, Syrian and Greek scientific works into Arabic.

Of particular importance for the development of Arab science were the translations of the works of Greek scientists - Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Strabo, Ptolemy, etc. Largely under the influence of Aristotle's ideas, many thinkers of the Muslim world rejected the existence of supernatural forces and called for the experimental study of nature. Among them, first of all, it is necessary to note the outstanding Tajik philosopher and encyclopedist scientist Ibn Sinu (Avicenna) 980-1037) and Muggamet Ibn Roshd, or Avverroes (1126-1198).

To expand the spatial horizons of the Arabs, the development of trade was of paramount importance. Already in the 8th century. Geography in the Arab world was considered as “the science of postal communication” and “the science of routes and regions” (126). Travel writing is becoming the most popular type of Arabic literature. From travelers of the 8th century. The most famous is the merchant Suleiman of Basra, who sailed to China and visited Ceylon, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the island of Socotra.

Indeed, the Arabs collected a lot of material in the field of physical geography, but were unable to process it into a coherent scientific system (126). In addition, they constantly mixed the creations of their imagination into reality. Nevertheless, the role of the Arabs in the history of science is very significant. Thanks to the Arabs, a new system of “Arabic” numbers, their arithmetic, astronomy, as well as Arabic translations of Greek authors, including Aristotle, Plato and Ptolemy, began to spread in Western Europe after the Crusades.

The works of the Arabs on geography, written in the 8th-14th centuries, were based on a variety of literary sources. In addition, Arab scholars used not only translations from Greek, but also information received from their own travelers. As a result, the knowledge of the Arabs was much more correct and accurate than the knowledge of Christian authors.

One of the earliest Arab travelers was Ibn Haukal. He devoted the last thirty years of his life (943-973) to traveling to the most remote and remote areas of Africa and Asia. During his visit to the eastern coast of Africa at a point that was approximately twenty degrees south of the equator, he drew his attention to the fact that here, in these latitudes, which the Greeks considered uninhabited, a large number of people lived. However, the theory that this zone was uninhabitable, held by the ancient Greeks, was revived again and again, even in so-called modern times.

Arab scientists made several important observations on climate. In 921 Al-Balkhi summarized information about climatic phenomena collected by Arab travelers in the first climate atlas of the world - “Kitab al-Ashkal”.

Masudi (died 956) penetrated as far south as modern Mozambique and made very accurate descriptions of the monsoons. Already in the 10th century. he correctly described the process of evaporation of moisture from the water surface and its condensation in the form of clouds.

In 985 Makdisi proposed a new division of the Earth into 14 climatic regions. He discovered that climate varies not only with latitude, but also in westerly and eastern directions. He also came up with the idea that most of the southern hemisphere is occupied by the ocean, and the main land masses are concentrated in the northern hemisphere (110).

Some Arab geographers expressed correct thoughts about the formation of the forms of the earth's surface. In 1030 Al-Biruni wrote a huge book on the geography of India. In it, he spoke, in particular, about rounded stones that he discovered in alluvial deposits south of the Himalayas. He explained their origin by the fact that these stones acquired a rounded shape due to the fact that rapid mountain rivers rolled them along their bed. He also drew attention to the fact that alluvial sediments deposited near the foot of the mountains have a coarser mechanical composition, and that as they move away from the mountains they are composed of increasingly fine particles. He also talked about how, according to the Hindus, tides are caused by the Moon. His book also contains an interesting statement that when moving towards the South Pole, night disappears. This statement proves that even before the onset of the 11th century, some Arab sailors penetrated far to the south (110,126).

Avicenna, or Ibn Sina , who had the opportunity to directly observe how mountain streams carve out valleys in the mountains of Central Asia, also contributed to deepening knowledge about the development of forms of the earth's surface. He came up with the idea that the highest peaks are composed of hard rocks that are especially resistant to erosion. As they rise, the mountains, he pointed out, immediately begin to undergo this grinding process, which proceeds very slowly, but relentlessly. Avicenna also noted the presence in the rocks that make up the highlands of fossil remains of organisms, which he considered as examples of nature’s attempts to create living plants or animals that ended in failure (126).

Ibn Battuta - one of the greatest Arab travelers of all times. He was born in Tangier in 1304 into a family in which the profession of judge was hereditary. In 1325, at the age of twenty-one, he went as a pilgrim to Mecca, where he hoped to complete his study of the laws. However, on the way through northern Africa and Egypt, he realized that he was much more attracted to the study of peoples and countries than to study legal intricacies. Having reached Mecca, he decided to devote his life to travel and in his endless wanderings through the lands inhabited by the Arabs, he was most concerned about not going the same way twice. He managed to visit those places of the Arabian Peninsula where no one had ever been before. He sailed the Red Sea, visited Ethiopia and then, moving further and further south along the coast of East Africa, reached Kilwa, which lies at almost 10 0 S latitude. There he learned about the existence of an Arab trading post in Sofala (Mozambique), located south of the current port city of Beira, that is, almost 20 degrees south of the equator. Ibn Battuta confirmed what Ibn Haukal had insisted, namely that the hot zone of East Africa was not swelteringly hot and that it was inhabited by local tribes who did not oppose the creation of trading posts by the Arabs.

Returning to Mecca, he soon hit the road again, visiting Baghdad, traveling through Persia and the lands adjacent to the Black Sea. Following through the Russian steppes, he eventually reached Bukhara and Samarkand, and from there through the mountains of Afghanistan he entered India. For several years, Ibn Battuta was in the service of the Delhi Sultan, which gave him the opportunity to travel around the country without hindrance. The Sultan appointed him as his ambassador to China. However, many years passed before Ibn Battuta arrived there. During this time, he managed to visit the Maldives, Ceylon and Sumatra, and only after that he ended up in China. In 1350 he returned to Fes, the capital of Morocco. However, his travels did not end there. After a trip to Spain, he returned to Africa and, moving through the Sahara, reached the Niger River, where he was able to collect important information about the black Islamized tribes living in the area. In 1353 he settled in Fez, where, by order of the Sultan, he dictated a long narrative about his travels. Over the course of about thirty years, Ibn Battura covered a distance of about 120 thousand km, which was an absolute record for the 14th century. Unfortunately, his book, written in Arabic, did not have any significant influence on the thinking of European scientists (110).

4 Development of geography in medieval China. Starting around the 2nd century. BC. and until the 15th century, the Chinese people had the highest level of knowledge among other peoples of the Earth. Chinese mathematicians began to use zero and created a decimal number system, which was much more convenient than the sexagesimal one that was used in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Decimal calculation was borrowed from the Hindus by the Arabs around 800, but it is believed that it came to India from China (110).

Confucianism taught a way of life in which friction between members of society was reduced to a minimum. However, this teaching remained relatively indifferent to the development of scientific knowledge about the surrounding nature.

The activity of the Chinese in the field of geographical research looks very impressive, although it is more characterized by contemplative achievements than by the development of scientific theory (110).

Already in the 2nd century. BC. Chinese engineers made precise measurements of the amount of silt deposits carried by rivers. In 2 AD The world's first population census was conducted in China. China's technical inventions include paper production, book printing, rain gauges and snow gauges to measure precipitation, and a compass for sailors.

Geographical descriptions of Chinese authors can be divided into the following eight groups: 1) works devoted to the study of people (human geography); 2) descriptions of the interior regions of China; 3) descriptions of foreign countries; 4) travel stories; 5) books about the rivers of China; 6) descriptions of the coasts of China, especially those that are important for shipping; 7) local history works, including descriptions of areas subordinate to and governed by fortified cities, famous mountain ranges, or certain cities and palaces; 8) geographical encyclopedias (110, p.96). Much attention was also paid to the origin of place names (110).

The earliest evidence of Chinese travel is a book probably written between the 5th and 3rd centuries. BC. It was discovered in the tomb of a man who ruled around 245 BC. territory that occupied part of the Wei He Valley. The books found in this burial were written on strips of white silk glued to bamboo cuttings. For better preservation, the book was rewritten at the end of the 3rd century. BC. In world geography, both versions of this book are known as "The Travels of Emperor Mu".

Emperor Mu reigned from 1001-945. BC. Emperor Mu, these works say, wanted to travel around the whole world and leave traces of his carriage in every country. The story of his wanderings is full of amazing adventures and embellished with artistic fiction. However, the descriptions of the wanderings contain details that could hardly be a figment of imagination. The emperor visited forested mountains, saw snow, and hunted a lot. On his way back, he crossed a vast desert, so waterless that he even had to drink horse blood. There is no doubt that in very ancient times, Chinese travelers traveled considerable distances from the Wei He Valley, the center of the development of their culture.

Well-known descriptions of travel from the Middle Ages belong to Chinese pilgrims who visited India, as well as the adjacent areas (Fa Xian, Xuan Zang, I. Jing, etc.). By the 8th century. treatise refers Jia Danya "Description of Nine Countries" which is a guide to the countries of Southeast Asia. In 1221, a Taoist monk Chang Chun (XII-XIII centuries) traveled to Samarkand to the court of Genghis Khan and collected fairly accurate information about the population, climate, and vegetation of Central Asia.

In medieval China, there were numerous official descriptions of the country, which were compiled for each new dynasty. These works contained a variety of information on history, natural conditions, population, economy and various attractions. The geographical knowledge of the peoples of South and East Asia had virtually no influence on the geographical horizons of Europeans. On the other hand, the geographical ideas of medieval Europe remained almost unknown in India and China, except for some information obtained through Arab sources (110,126,158,279,283,300).

Late Middle Ages in Europe (XII-XIV centuries). In the 12th century. Feudal stagnation in the economic development of the countries of Western Europe gave way to some recovery: crafts, trade, commodity-money relations developed, and new cities emerged. The main economic and cultural centers in Europe in the 12th century. there were Mediterranean cities through which trade routes to the East passed, as well as Flanders, where various crafts flourished and commodity-money relations developed. In the XIV century. The region of the Baltic and North Seas, where the Hanseatic League of trading cities was formed, also became a sphere of lively trade relations. In the XIV century. Paper and gunpowder appear in Europe.

In the 13th century. sailing and rowing ships are gradually being replaced by caravels, the compass comes into use, the first nautical charts - portolans - are created, methods for determining the latitude of a place are being improved (by observing the height of the Sun above the horizon and using solar declination tables). All this made it possible to move from coastal sailing to sailing on the high seas.

In the 13th century. Italian merchants began to sail through the Strait of Gibraltar to the mouth of the Rhine. It is known that at that time trade routes to the East were in the hands of the Italian city-republics of Venice and Genoa. Florence was the largest industrial and banking center. That is why the cities of Northern Italy in the middle of the 14th century. were the center of the Renaissance, centers of the revival of ancient culture, philosophy, science and art. The ideology of the urban bourgeoisie that was emerging at that time found its expression in the philosophy of humanism (110.126).

Humanism (from the Latin humanus - human, humane) is the recognition of the value of man as an individual, his right to free development and manifestation of his abilities, the affirmation of the good of man as a criterion for assessing social relations. In a narrower sense, humanism is the secular freethinking of the Renaissance, opposed to scholasticism and the spiritual dominance of the church, and associated with the study of the rediscovered works of classical antiquity (291).

Science of the Catholic countries of Europe in the XIII-XIV centuries. was in the firm hands of the church. However, already in the 12th century. the first universities were created in Bologna and Paris; in the 14th century there were more than 40 of them. All of them were in the hands of the church, and theology occupied the main place in teaching. Church councils of 1209 and 1215 decided to ban the teaching of Aristotle's physics and mathematics. In the 13th century. the most prominent representative of the Dominicans Thomas Aquinas (1225-1276) formulated the official teachings of Catholicism, using some reactionary aspects of the teachings of Aristotle, Ibn Sina and others, giving them their own religious and mystical character.

Undoubtedly, Thomas Aquinas was an outstanding philosopher and theologian, a systematizer of scholasticism on methodological basis Christian Aristotelianism (the doctrine of act and potency, form and matter, substance and accident, etc.). He formulated five proofs of the existence of God, described as the first cause, the ultimate goal of existence, etc. Recognizing the relative independence of natural being and human reason (the concept of natural law, etc.), Thomas Aquinas argued that nature ends in grace, reason in faith, philosophical knowledge and natural theology, based on the analogy of existence, in supernatural revelation. The main works of Thomas Aquinas are the Summa Theologica and the Summa against the Gentiles. Aquinas's teaching underlies such philosophical and religious concepts as Thomism and neo-Thomism.

At this time, the main factor in expanding the geographical understanding of European peoples was the crusades undertaken between 1096 and 1270. under the pretext of liberating the Holy Land. Communication between Europeans and Syrians, Persians and Arabs significantly enriched their Christian culture.

A noticeable turning point in the development of geographical concepts occurred approximately in the middle of the 13th century, one of the reasons for which was the Mongol expansion, which reached its extreme western limit by 1242. From 1245, the Pope and many Christian crowns began to send their embassies and missions to the Mongol khans for diplomatic and intelligence purposes and in the hope of converting the Mongol rulers to Christianity. Following the diplomats and missionaries, merchants rushed to the east. The greater accessibility of countries under Mongol rule compared to Muslim countries, as well as the presence of a well-established system of communications and routes of communication, opened the way for Europeans to Central and East Asia.

In the 13th century, namely from 1271 to 1295, Marco Polo traveled around China, visited India, Ceylon, South Vietnam, Burma, the Malay Archipelago, Arabia and East Africa. After the journey of Marco Polo, merchant caravans from many countries of Western Europe were often equipped for China and India (146).

Russian Novgorodians successfully continued their exploration of the northern outskirts of Europe. After they in the XII-XIII centuries. All the major rivers of the European North were discovered, they paved the way to the Ob basin through the Sukhona, Pechora and the Northern Urals. The first campaign to the Lower Ob (to the Ob Bay), about which there are indications in the chronicles, was undertaken in 1364-1365. At the same time, Russian sailors were moving east along the northern shores of Eurasia. By the end of the 15th century. they explored the southwestern coast of the Kara Sea, the Ob and Taz bays. At the beginning of the 15th century. The Russians sailed to Grumant (Spitsbergen archipelago). However, it is possible that these voyages began much earlier (2,13,14,21,28,31,85,119,126,191,192,279).

Unlike Asia, Africa remained for Europeans of the 13th-15th centuries. an almost unexplored continent, with the exception of its northern outskirts.

The development of navigation is associated with the emergence of a new type of map - portolans, or complex maps, which had direct practical significance. They appeared in Italy and Catalonia around 1275-1280. Early portolans were images of the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, often made with very great precision. Bays, small islands, shoals, etc. were especially carefully marked on these drawings. Later, portolans appeared on the western coasts of Europe. All portolans were oriented to the north, at a number of points compass directions were marked on them, and for the first time a linear scale was given. Portolans were in use until the 17th century, when they began to be replaced by nautical charts in the Mercator projection.

Along with portolans, which were unusually accurate for their time, in the late Middle Ages there were also "monastery cards" which retained their primitive character for a long time. Later they increased in format and became more detailed and accurate.

The greatest value among all geographical works of that period is the “Book” of Marco Polo (146). Contemporaries treated its contents very skeptically and with great distrust. Only in the second half of the 14th century. and in later times, Marco Polo’s book began to be valued as a source of various information about the countries of East, Southeast and South Asia. This work was used, for example, by Christopher Columbus during his travels to the shores of America. Until the 16th century. Marco Polo's book served as an important source of various information for compiling maps of Asia (146).

Particularly popular in the 14th century. They used descriptions of fictitious travels, full of legends and stories of miracles.

Marco Polo and his "Book". The most famous travelers of the Middle Ages were the Venetian merchants the Polo brothers and the son of one of them, Marco. In 1271, when Marco Polo was seventeen years old, he, along with his father and uncle, went on a long journey to China. The Polo brothers had already visited China up to this point, spending nine years on the way there and back - from 1260 to 1269. The Great Khan of the Mongols and Emperor of China invited them to visit his country again. The return trip to China lasted four years; for another seventeen years three Venetian merchants remained in this country.

In 1292, the Khan provided all Polos with a flotilla of thirteen ships. Some of them were so large that their crew numbered more than a hundred people. In total, together with the Polo merchants, about 600 passengers were accommodated on all these ships. The flotilla left a port in southern China, approximately from the place where the modern city of Quanzhou is located. Three months later, the ships reached the islands of Java and Sumatra, where they stayed for five months, after which the voyage continued.

The travelers visited the island of Ceylon and South India, and then, following its western coast, entered the Persian Gulf, anchoring in the ancient port of Hormuz. By the end of the voyage, out of 600 passengers, only 18 remained alive, and most of the ships were lost. But all three Polos returned unharmed to Venice in 1295 after an absence of twenty-five years.

During a naval battle in 1298 in the war between Genoa and Venice, Marco Polo was captured and until 1299 he was kept in a Genoese prison. While in prison, he dictated stories about his travels to one of the prisoners. His descriptions of life in China and the perilous adventures along the way there and back were so vivid and vivid that they were often perceived as the product of a fervent imagination. In addition to stories about the places where he directly visited, Marco Polo also mentioned Chipango, or Japan, and the island of Madagascar, which, according to him, was located at the southern limit of the inhabited earth. Since Madagascar was located much south of the equator, it became obvious that the sizzling, sultry zone was not such at all and belonged to the inhabited lands.

It should be noted, however, that Marco Polo was not a professional geographer and did not even know about the existence of such a field of knowledge as geography. Nor was he aware of the heated discussions between those who believed in the uninhabitability of the hot zone and those who disputed this idea. He also heard nothing of the disputes between those who believed the underestimated size of the earth's circumference to be correct, following Posidonius, Marinus of Tire and Ptolemy, and those who preferred the calculations of Eratosthenes. Marco Polo did not know anything about the assumptions of the ancient Greeks that the eastern tip of the Oecumene is located near the mouth of the Ganges, just as he did not hear about Ptolemy’s statement that Indian Ocean“closed” to the south by land. It is doubtful that Marco Polo ever attempted to determine the latitude, let alone the longitude, of the places he visited. However, it tells you how many days you need to spend and in which direction you should move to reach a particular point. He says nothing about his attitude to the geographical ideas of previous times. At the same time, his book is one of those that tells about great geographical discoveries. But in medieval Europe it was perceived as one of the numerous and ordinary books of that time, filled with the most incredible, but very interesting stories. It is common knowledge that Columbus had a personal copy of Marco Polo's book with his own notes (110,146).

Prince Henry the Navigator and the Portuguese sea voyages . Prince Henry , nicknamed the Navigator, was the organizer of major Portuguese expeditions. In 1415, a Portuguese army under the command of Prince Henry attacked and stormed a Muslim stronghold on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar at Ceuta. Thus, for the first time, a European power came into possession of territory lying outside Europe. With the occupation of this part of Africa, the period of European colonization of overseas territories began.

In 1418, Prince Henry founded the world's first geographical research institute in Sagrish. In Sagrish, Prince Henry built a palace, a church, an astronomical observatory, a building for storing maps and manuscripts, as well as houses for the staff of this institute. He invited here scientists of different faiths (Christians, Jews, Muslims) from all over the Mediterranean. Among them were geographers, cartographers, mathematicians, astronomers and translators who were able to read manuscripts written in different languages.

Someone Jacome from Mallorca was appointed chief geographer. He was given the task of improving navigation methods and then teaching them to the Portuguese captains, as well as teaching them the decimal system. It was also necessary to find out, on the basis of documents and maps, the possibility of sailing to the Spicy Islands, first going south along the African coast. In this regard, a number of very important and complex issues. Are these lands near the equator inhabited? Does the skin of people who end up there turn black, or is this a fiction? What is the size of the Earth? Is the size of the Earth as large as Marinus of Tire believed? Or is it as the Arab geographers imagined it when they carried out their measurements in the vicinity of Baghdad?

Prince Henry was developing a new type of ship. The new Portuguese caravels had two or three masts and lateen sails. They were quite slow-moving, but were distinguished by their stability and ability to sail long distances.

Prince Henry's captains gained experience and confidence in their abilities by sailing to the Canary and Azores islands. At the same time, Prince Henry sent his more experienced captains on long voyages along the African coast.

The first reconnaissance voyage of the Portuguese was undertaken in 1418. But soon the ships turned back, as their teams were afraid to approach the unknown equator. Despite repeated attempts, it took 16 years for the Portuguese ships to pass 26 0 7'N in their advance south. At this latitude, lying slightly south Canary Islands, on the African coast, a low sandy cape called Bojador juts into the ocean. A strong ocean current runs along it, directed to the south. At the foot of the cape it forms whirlpools, marked by foaming wave crests. Whenever the ships approached this place, the teams demanded that they stop sailing. Of course, there was boiling water here, as ancient Greek scientists wrote about!!! This is where people should become black!!! Moreover, an Arab map of this coastline immediately south of Bojador showed the hand of the devil rising from the water. However, the portolan of 1351 near Bojador did not show anything unusual, and it itself was only a small cape. In addition, in Sagrish there was an account of the travels of the Phoenicians under the leadership of Hanno , who in time immemorial sailed far south of Bojador.

In 1433, captain of Prince Henry Gil Eanish tried to round Cape Bojador, but his crew mutinied and he was forced to return to Sagrish.

In 1434, Captain Gil Eanish resorted to a maneuver suggested by Prince Henry. From the Canary Islands he boldly turned into the open ocean so far that the land disappeared from view. And south of the latitude of Bojador, he directed his ship to the east and, approaching the shore, he became convinced that the water there did not boil and no one turned into a black man. The Bojador barrier was taken. The next year, Portuguese ships penetrated far south from Cape Bojador.

Around 1441, Prince Henry's ships sailed so far south that they had already reached the transition zone between desert and humid climates, and even countries beyond its borders. South of Cap Blanc, in what is now Mauritania, the Portuguese captured first a man and a woman, and then ten more people. They also found some gold. In Portugal this created a sensation; hundreds of volunteers immediately appeared who wanted to sail south.

Between 1444 and 1448 Almost forty Portuguese ships visited the African coast. As a result of these voyages, 900 Africans were captured to be sold into slavery. The discoveries as such were forgotten in the pursuit of profits from the slave trade.

Prince Henry, however, managed to return the captains he had nurtured to the righteous path of research and discovery. But this happened after ten years. Now the prince understood that a much more valuable reward awaited him if he managed to sail around Africa and reach India.

The coast of Guinea was explored by the Portuguese in 1455-1456. Prince Henry's sailors also visited the Cape Verde Islands. Prince Henry the Navigator died in 1460, but the work he started continued. More and more expeditions left the coast of Portugal to the south. In 1473, a Portuguese ship crossed the equator without catching fire. A few years later, the Portuguese landed on the shore and erected their stone monuments (padrans) - evidence of their claims to the African coast. Placed near the mouth of the Congo River, these monuments, according to eyewitnesses, were still preserved in the last century.

Among the famous captains of Prince Henry was Bartolomeu Dias. Dias, sailing along the African coast south of the equator, found himself in a zone of headwind and current directed to the north. To avoid the storm, he turned sharply to the west, leaving the coast of the continent, and only when the weather improved did he sail east again. However, having traveled, according to his calculations, in this direction more time than was necessary to reach the shores, he turned north in the hope of discovering land. So, he sailed to the shores South Africa off Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth). On his way back he passed Cape Agulhas and the Cape of Good Hope. This brave voyage took place in 1486-1487. (110)

Geography in feudal Europe

Slave society, starting from the end of the $2nd century. was experiencing a deep crisis. The strengthening of Christianity and the invasion of Gothic tribes contributed to the acceleration of the decline of Roman-Greek culture and science. The Roman Empire in $395 was divided into Western And Eastern part, and in $476$ the Western Roman Empire ceases to exist. Trade ties are significantly reduced and the main incentive to explore distant countries remains Christian pilgrimages to the “holy places” - Palestine and Jerusalem. No new ideas have appeared in geography; at best, old knowledge has been preserved, no longer complete and quite distorted. In this form they passed into the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages are a period of decline, when the spatial and scientific horizons of geography narrowed sharply, and the geographical knowledge and ideas of the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians were simply forgotten. Only among Arab scientists was the previous knowledge still preserved. The horizons of geographical science began to rapidly expand at the end of the 15th century. with the beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries.

Note 1

Word "geography" in Christian Europe of the Middle Ages practically disappeared, although its study continued. Curiosity and the desire to find out what distant countries are like forced adventurers to travel. Merchants and missionaries in the $13th century. paved their way all the way to China.

Biblical dogmas and some conclusions of ancient science, cleared of everything “pagan”, provided geographical ideas in the early Middle Ages. So, for example, in "Christian Topography" Kosma Indikopov, it was said that the Earth has the form of a flat rectangle around which there is an ocean, the sun disappears behind the mountains at night, and all the big rivers originate in paradise and flow under the ocean. Discoveries during this period were repeated, i.e. “opened up” for the second, third and even fourth time.

The most prominent place in the early Middle Ages belongs to Scandinavian Vikings , which devastated England, Germany, Flanders, and France with its raids. Scandinavian traders reached Byzantium along the Russian route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” Having rediscovered Iceland in $866, the Normans firmly settled there. In $983, Eric the Red discovered Greenland, where their permanent settlements arose.

In the first centuries of the Middle Ages, people had a relatively broad spatial horizon Byzantines . Their religious ties extended to the Balkan Peninsula, later to Kievan Rus and Asia Minor. Religious preachers reached India, penetrating Central Asia, Mongolia, and the western regions of China.

According to "Tales of Bygone Years"(Nestor's chronicle), the spatial horizons of the Slavic peoples extended to almost all of Europe.

Geography in the Scandinavian world

The excellent sailors of that time were Scandinavians . Those of Norwegian descent were called Vikings. It was they who approached the shores of Iceland in $874 and founded the first settlement. The world's first parliament, the Althing, was created here in $930.

The history of geography suggests that among the Icelanders there was Eric the Red. For his stormy and violent temper, he and his family and friends are expelled from the country. He had no choice but to set off on a long voyage across the Atlantic, especially since Eric had heard a lot about the existence of land there. It turned out that the rumors were confirmed - it was Greenland. Translated into Russian - green land, green country. It is not clear why Eric gave it such a name - there was nothing green around. He founded a colony here, which attracted some Icelanders. Later, close maritime ties were established between Greenland, Iceland, and Norway.

Note 2

Sometimes accidents lead to big and important discoveries, this happened to Eric’s son, who, returning from Greenland to Norway, was caught in a strong storm. This event happened around $1000, the ship lost its course and ended up off an unfamiliar coast. Leif Eirikson- Eric's son found himself in a dense forest, the trees of which were entwined with wild grapes. Far to the west lay an unknown land, which much later was named North America.

Geography in the Arab world

Development of world culture from the $6th century. characterized by a prominent role Arabs , which by $VIII$ century. created a huge state. It included all of Western Asia, part of Central Asia, the North-Western part of India, North Africa and most of the Iberian Peninsula. The main occupation of the Arabs was crafts and trade with China and African countries.

The decentralization of the Arab Caliphate, which began in the 8th century, led to the emergence of large scientific and cultural centers in Persia, Spain, and North Africa. Scientists of Central Asia wrote in Arabic, the works of Greek scientists Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Strabo, etc. were translated into it. At this time, geography in the Arab world was considered as “the science of postal communication.”

Travel writing is becoming the most popular type of Arabic literature., in which information of a nomenclatural and historical-political nature predominates. It must be said that the scientists who wrote in slave language did not contribute anything new or significant to the interpretation of physical-geographical phenomena. The theoretical ideas of the Arabs remained primitive; they did not bother to develop new concepts. Having collected a large amount of material in the field of physical geography, they were unable to process it into a coherent scientific system. Despite this, their role in the history of science remains significant. For example, the new system of “Arabic” numbers that has spread in Western Europe, arithmetic, astronomy, Arabic translations of Greek authors. Among the Arab travelers one can name such names as Ibn Haukal, who traveled through the remote regions of Africa and Asia, Al-Balkhi, who summarized information about climatic phenomena in the first climate atlas of the world, Masudi, who visited Mozambique and made accurate descriptions of the monsoons.

Note 3

Some Arab scientists made correct assumptions about the formation of the forms of the earth's surface, among them the famous scientist Avicenna. One of the greatest Arab travelers was Ibn Battuta. He managed to visit Mecca, visit Ethiopia, and walk along the Red Sea. He was later appointed ambassador to China. In about thirty years, Ibn Battura covered a distance of $120,000 km.

Development of geography in medieval China

Up to the $15th century. most high level knowledge was Chinese people. Suffice it to say that Chinese mathematicians used zero and created a decimal, more convenient, number system. Chinese philosophers attached primary importance to the natural world, thereby differing from thinkers Ancient Greece. The activity of the Chinese in the field of geographical research looks very impressive. Chinese geographical exploration was concerned with the development of methods that allowed for precise measurements and observations. Chinese engineers back in the $II$ century. BC. they measured the amount of silt deposits carried by rivers, conducted the world's first population census, and learned how to produce paper and print books. Rain gauges and snow gauges were used to measure precipitation.

Evidence of the earliest Chinese voyages is presented in a book entitled "The Travels of Emperor Mu". The book was written between the $V-III$ centuries. BC. and was discovered in the tomb of a man who during his lifetime ruled the territory that occupied part of the Wei He valley. For better preservation, the book was written on strips of white silk glued to bamboo cuttings.

During the Middle Ages known descriptions travel belong Chinese pilgrims who visited India and its surrounding areas. Sufficiently accurate information about the population, climate, and flora of Samarkand was collected in $1221 by the Taoist monk Chang Chun. Each new Chinese dynasty in the Middle Ages compiled numerous official descriptions of the country, which contained a variety of information on the history, natural conditions, population, economy and attractions of the country. These are wide enough geographical knowledge did not have an impact on the horizons of Europeans; moreover, the geographical ideas of medieval Europe in India and China also remained almost unknown.

Late Middle Ages in Europe (XII-XV centuries)

In place of feudal stagnation in the economic development of Western European countries in the $12th century. there is some recovery coming. Crafts, trade, and commodity-money relations are beginning to revive again. During this period, the Mediterranean region was the main economic and cultural center, this is understandable - trade routes to the East passed here.

Later, already in the $14th century, busy trade routes moved north - to the region of the Baltic and North Seas. At this time, paper and gunpowder appeared in Europe. Sailing and rowing ships were replaced by caravels, a compass was used, and the first nautical charts, portolans, were created.

Are developing international relationships, navigation, cities are growing. All this contributes to the expansion of spatial horizons, arouses the keen interest of Europeans in geographical knowledge and discoveries, an important factor of which were the Crusades between $1096-1270. under the pretext of liberating the Holy Land.

In the middle of the $13th century. a noticeable turning point occurs in the development of geographical concepts, one of the reasons for which was the Mongol expansion.

Note 4

During this period, names such as Marco Polo, who traveled through China, India, Ceylon, Arabia and East Africa. Russian Novgorodians, who discovered all the major rivers of the European North and paved the way to the Ob basin. Moving east along the northern shores of Eurasia, Russian sailors explored the southwestern coast of the Kara Sea, the Ob and Taz bays. In the $15th century. The Russians sailed to the Spitsbergen archipelago, which at that time was called Grumant.

Famous names are Prince Henry the Navigator, Jacome of Mallorca, Gil Eanisha, Bartolomeu Dias.

The first information about geographical ideas appeared since the advent of writing. One can attest to the existence of two independent centers of geographical thought in the ancient world: Greco-Roman and Chinese. The thinkers of the ancient period described in some detail the world close to them, and also added a lot of fantastic things about distant lands. A combination of materialistic and idealistic views - characteristic scientists of antiquity. Many philosophers and historians have studied issues of geography. At that time, the SEG did not exist; even unified geography was a reference branch of knowledge. In ancient times, two directions arose: 1) description of special countries, their nature, ethnic make-up of the population, etc. (Herodotus, Strabo, etc.); 2) study of the Earth as a whole, its place relative to other planets, its shape and size (Ptolemy, Eratosthenes, etc.). The first direction was called regional geography, the second - general geography.

In European culture, the father of geography and history is the Greek Herodotus, who traveled a lot and in his descriptions spoke about distant lands and previously unknown peoples. Herodotus can also be considered the father of ethnography, because. he vividly described the traditions of other peoples. It also gave rise to geographical determinism.

The second prominent Greek, Aristotle, developed the concept of the different affiliation of the Earth for human life and dependence on geographical latitude. He presented settlement conditions as a function of geographic latitude and gave instructions on the best placement of cities. Aristotle's ideas were the basis for the development of science in Europe in the early Middle Ages.

Between 330 - 300 BC. V northwestern part Pytheas made the journey of Europe. He described the lifestyle and activities of the inhabitants of the British Isles and discovered Iceland. He noted the change in the nature of agriculture from the south to the north. Pytheas made the first scientific journey, i.e. travel for the purpose of scientific research. Upon returning home, no one believed him about what he saw, but in vain, because... He was the first to draw attention to the phenomena that today constitute the interests of agricultural geography.

At the beginning of our era, a reference book for sailors (peripla) and travelers (periges) already existed in Greece. The periplus described sea shores and ports in detail. The Periplus covered the coasts of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and the eastern coast of Africa. The authors of perigeses were often logographers, i.e. writers who traveled the Earth and described what they saw. Logographers composed specific geographical descriptions, in which special attention was paid to the life of the local population.

The spread of Greek culture was facilitated by the campaigns of Alexander the Great (IV century BC). They were attended by scientists who collected information about various lands.

Unlike the Greek thinkers, the Romans contributed less new things to the field of geography. But even among them we can note original researchers. For government officials and military representatives of the Roman Empire, the ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo created his “Geography”. He considered it his task to give necessary information about the world, so this work was the first of its kind “a reference book for management.” Strabo believed that every geographer should have mathematical knowledge. Strabo's "Geography" was found only 600 years after it was written, and those for whom this book was intended never saw it.

The ancient Romans were warlike and enterprising. Quite often they expanded their geographical horizons through military campaigns.

At this time, there was another center of geographical thought in eastern Asia - China. Generally European and Chinese world were reliably isolated from each other, but over time they gradually learned about themselves and their neighbors.

Chinese philosophers differed from the Greeks mainly in that they gave primary importance to the natural world. Geographical works by Chinese scientists can be divided into 8 groups: 1) works devoted to the study of people; 2) description of regions of China; 3) description of other countries; 4) about travel; 5) books about the rivers of China; 6) description of the coasts of China; 7) local history works; 8) geographical encyclopedias.

The ancient Romans, unlike the ancient Greeks, were great pragmatists. They mainly collected various information about countries, and the Greeks were more inclined to generalize materials. The ancient Chinese combined these traits together. SEG is an ancient science, because the life and production activities of mankind are inseparable from the natural and social environment, so society sought to actively study them. Practical requirements in the ancient period forced one to study natural conditions, population, natural wealth, settlements and communication routes, the economy of their own and neighboring countries.

Development geographical ideas in the Middle Ages

During the early Middle Ages, productive forces were underdeveloped - science was under the influence of religion. In Christian Europe, the perception of the world decreased to the size of the lands developed by man. Most of the materialistic ideas of ancient scientists were considered heretical. At that time, religion accompanied the development of new knowledge: chronicles, descriptions, and books appeared in monasteries. This period is characterized by isolation, separation and mass ignorance of people. The Crusades raised large masses of people from their places of residence who left their homes. Returning home, they brought rich trophies and information about other countries. During this period, Arabs, Normans and Chinese made a great contribution to the development of geography. In the Middle Ages, Chinese geographical science achieved great success. There was no deep gap between antiquity and the Middle Ages, as was believed among most scientists. In Western Europe, some geographical ideas of the ancient world were known. But at that time, scientists were not yet familiar with the works of Aristotle, Strabo, and Ptolemy. Philosophers of this time used mainly retellings of the works of commentators on Aristotle's texts. Instead of the ancient natural history perception of nature, there was a mystical perception of it.

During the early Middle Ages, starting from the 7th century, Arab scientists played a major role. With the expansion of Arab expansion to the West, they became acquainted with the works of ancient scientists. The geographical horizons of the Arabs were broad; they traded with many Mediterranean, Eastern and African countries. The Arab world was a "bridge" between Western and Eastern cultures. At the end of the 14th century. Arabs made a great contribution to the development of cartography.

Some modern scholars consider Albertus Magnus to be the first European commentator on Aristotle's works. He gave characteristics of various localities. It was a time of collecting new factual material, a time of empirical research using analytical method, but with a scholastic contribution. This is probably why the monks were engaged in this work, and they revived some ideas of ancient geography.

Development economic geography some Western scientists associate it with the name of Marco Polo, who wrote a book about life in China.

IN XII-XIII centuries In Europe, some economic growth began to manifest itself, which was reflected in the development of crafts, trade, and commodity-money relations. After the 15th century geographical research stopped in both China and Muslim world. But in Europe they began to expand. Basic acting force This was the spread of Christianity and the need for precious metals and hot spices. The Age of Great Geographical Discovery gave a powerful impetus general development society and also social sciences.

During the late Middle Ages (XIV-XV centuries), SEG as a science began to take shape. At the beginning of this period, the development of geographical science revealed a desire for “ historical geography”, when researchers looked for the location of objects that ancient thinkers spoke about in their writings.

Some scientists believe that the first economic-geographical work in history is the work of the Italian geographer Guicciardini “Description of the Netherlands,” which was published in 1567. He gave a general description of the Netherlands, including an analysis geographical location, assessment of the role of the sea in the life of the country, the state of manufactures and trade. Much attention was paid to the description of cities, and especially Antwerp. The work was illustrated with maps and city plans.

The theoretical foundation of geography as a science was first made in 1650 by the geographer B. Varenius in the Netherlands. In the book “General Geography” he emphasized the tendency of differentiation of geography and showed the connection between the geography of specific places and general geography. According to Varenius, works that characterize special places must be classified as special geography. And works that describe general, universal laws that apply to all places - general geography. Varenius considered special geography the most important for practical activities, especially in the field of trade and economic relations between countries. General geography provides these foundations, and they need to be rooted in practice. Thus, Varenius defined the subject of geography, the main methods of studying this science, and showed that special and general geography are two interconnected and interacting parts of the whole. Varenius considered it necessary to characterize the inhabitants, their appearance, crafts, trade, culture, language, methods of leadership or government, religion, cities, significant places and famous people.

At the end of the Middle Ages, geographical knowledge from Western Europe reached the territory of Belarus. In 1551, Bielski published the first work in Polish on world geography, which was later translated into Belarusian and Russian, which testified to the spread of knowledge in Eastern Europe about the great geographical discoveries of different countries of the world.