From the Space of the World to the Space of the Local

In 1414, the English Benedictine monk, chronicler and cartographer Thomas Elmham of St Augustine&s;s left that abbey to become the abbot of Lenton Abbey, Nottinghamshire. Identifying how and where Elmham&s;s maps fit into the development of cartographic practices and their temporal place within the genre of medieval local maps is key to understanding their particular significance. Turning to consider Elmham&s;s maps, it is clear that they are striking images drawn with considerable care. Elmham would have known the chancel space intimately but was probably far less familiar with the Thanet churches. Each medieval local map was a unique image; they had no prescribed focus, but depicted a wide variety of small spaces and places around England. Time was as much a component of world cartography as Christianity and geography; the medieval world maps were an amalgamation of geographical, topographical, historical and philosophical images and concepts.