The French King and the Ostrich: Reflections on the Date of the Medieval Vercelli Map of the World.

The Vercelli map has never been accorded its due place in the mappaemundi canon. Faced with problems of illegibility, few scholars have dared to research it. The availability of multispectral imaging (MSI), however, has provoked closer investigation. In this short note, attention is limited to the question of its date. Attempting to discover the genesis of a medieval map remains largely a matter of reasoned guesswork in stages. In this article, based on new assessments, a process of evolution is suggested that may enable us to reconcile the dating proposed more than hundred years ago by Carlo Errerà (1270–1285), half a century ago by Carlo Felice Capello (1191–1218) and, more recently, by Dan Terkla (1217). It is hoped that further MSI will challenge scholars to detect additional layers in the map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]