Political Props

King Manuel of Portugal rides a sea creature
(Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius, first published in 1570. Reprinted with permission by British Library and the University of Chicago Press.)

Long before they disappeared from maps, sea monsters were repurposed for politics. Here, King Manuel of Portugal rides a sea creature off the Southern tip of Africa, symbolizing Portugal’s control of the seas, on Martin Waldseemüller’s 1516 Carta Marina.

Tags: Maps