Cristoforo Buondelmonti: Book of the Islands of the Archipelago

Cristoforo Buondelmonti: Book of the Islands of the Archipelago

Between the years 1414 and 1430, Cristoforo Buondelmonti (ca. 1385 – ca. 1430) travelled throughout the Adriatic, Aegean, and Eastern Mediterranean visiting the most important locations in Greek civilization including Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus, and Constantinople. Buondelmonti was interested in ancient civilizations and his research expedition was patronized inter alia by Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437), a prominent Renaissance humanist. During this time, he not only acquired Greek manuscripts to be shipped to Italy but wrote two manuscripts of his own including the Liber insularum archipelagi or “Book of the Islands of the Archipelago”. First completed in 1420 with a dedication to Cardinal Giordano Orsini (1360/70–1438), the work was revised four times until a definitive edition was made in 1430. It was copied countless times and the Düsseldorf copy Ms. G 13 was produced in Northern Italy in the last quarter of the 15th century. 52 of the manuscript’s 61 pages are adorned with maps of various islands and drawings of settlements, cities, and castles.

The Oldest Map of Constantinople

Born into an important Florentine noble family that died out in the 18th century, Cristoforo Buondelmonti received a humanist education from Guarino da Verona (1374–1460), through whom he met Niccolò Niccoli. After being ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1414, he travelled throughout the Aegean islands before spending time in Constantinople during the 1420’s. While there, he created a map of the major landmarks of Constantinople and the Pera district that is separated from the rest of the city by the Golden Horn. Aside from a detailed depiction of the complex network of walls, towers, and fortresses defending the city and the Bosporus, it presents various churches, palaces, victory columns, forums, and various other public buildings. It is the oldest map of Constantinople to survive today and the only one to antedate the fall of the city to Ottoman forces in 1453.