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Cartography of France
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Cartography of France
The history of French cartography can be traced to developments in the Middle Ages. This period was marked by improvements in measuring instruments and also by an upgrade of work in registers of all types. What is thought to be the oldest land map in Europe, the Saint-Bélec slab, representing an area of the Odet valley, was found in 1900, and rediscovered in a castle cellar in France in 2014. The Bronze-Age stone is thought to be 4,000 years old.
The first map of France was drawn by Oronce Finé and printed in woodcuts in 1525. It testifies to the will of the political power to mark its presence on the territory; to affirm, to build limits, borders, to arrange its territory, and to consolidate the internal economic markets. In the 16th century, Dieppe appeared as an important school of cartography. Pierre Desceliers allowed the realization of many maps. At the same time, the Portolan maps of the Portuguese sailors had the most recent knowledge obtained by the Dieppois sailors in their exploration of Canada.
Developments in cartography continually progressed, through new techniques and by the expanding will of political powers to amass and control territories. Very powerful companies testify support to some of the cartographic missions at the end of the 19th century. Two major milestones in cartographic study was successfully determining longitude and latitude.
In France, the first general maps of the territory using a measuring apparatus were made by the Cassini family during the 18th century on a scale of 1:86,400 (one centimeter on the chart corresponds to approximately 864 meters on the ground). The map of Cassini is the first geometrical map covering the entire kingdom of France. Before the surveys, it was necessary to carry out a triangulation of the territory.
These maps were, for their time, a technical innovation. They were the first maps based on geodetic triangulation, and took more than fifty years to complete; four generations of the Cassini family were involved in their production. These maps, known as "Cassini Maps" or "maps of the Academy," are still referenced by geographers, historians and genealogists.
The work of the Cassinis left its mark on the world; toponyms known as "Cassini signs" still exist, revealing where triangulated measurements at that time were made. The "map of Cassini" or "map of the Academy" is the first general map of the kingdom of France. It was drawn up by the Cassini family—primarily César-François Cassini de Thury (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Cassini IV)—during the 18th century. The adopted scale is one ligne to 100 toises, or 1:86,400 (the measuring apparatus contained 864 lines).
The map does not pinpoint dwellings or the boundaries of marshes and forests; however, the level of precision of the road networks is such that satellite photographs correspond almost completely with drawn roads more than 200 years later. This map is still consulted today by researchers. It interests historians, in particular those in the fields of geography, genealogy and ecology.
César-François Cassini (Cassini III) began the map:
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Cartography of France
The history of French cartography can be traced to developments in the Middle Ages. This period was marked by improvements in measuring instruments and also by an upgrade of work in registers of all types. What is thought to be the oldest land map in Europe, the Saint-Bélec slab, representing an area of the Odet valley, was found in 1900, and rediscovered in a castle cellar in France in 2014. The Bronze-Age stone is thought to be 4,000 years old.
The first map of France was drawn by Oronce Finé and printed in woodcuts in 1525. It testifies to the will of the political power to mark its presence on the territory; to affirm, to build limits, borders, to arrange its territory, and to consolidate the internal economic markets. In the 16th century, Dieppe appeared as an important school of cartography. Pierre Desceliers allowed the realization of many maps. At the same time, the Portolan maps of the Portuguese sailors had the most recent knowledge obtained by the Dieppois sailors in their exploration of Canada.
Developments in cartography continually progressed, through new techniques and by the expanding will of political powers to amass and control territories. Very powerful companies testify support to some of the cartographic missions at the end of the 19th century. Two major milestones in cartographic study was successfully determining longitude and latitude.
In France, the first general maps of the territory using a measuring apparatus were made by the Cassini family during the 18th century on a scale of 1:86,400 (one centimeter on the chart corresponds to approximately 864 meters on the ground). The map of Cassini is the first geometrical map covering the entire kingdom of France. Before the surveys, it was necessary to carry out a triangulation of the territory.
These maps were, for their time, a technical innovation. They were the first maps based on geodetic triangulation, and took more than fifty years to complete; four generations of the Cassini family were involved in their production. These maps, known as "Cassini Maps" or "maps of the Academy," are still referenced by geographers, historians and genealogists.
The work of the Cassinis left its mark on the world; toponyms known as "Cassini signs" still exist, revealing where triangulated measurements at that time were made. The "map of Cassini" or "map of the Academy" is the first general map of the kingdom of France. It was drawn up by the Cassini family—primarily César-François Cassini de Thury (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Cassini IV)—during the 18th century. The adopted scale is one ligne to 100 toises, or 1:86,400 (the measuring apparatus contained 864 lines).
The map does not pinpoint dwellings or the boundaries of marshes and forests; however, the level of precision of the road networks is such that satellite photographs correspond almost completely with drawn roads more than 200 years later. This map is still consulted today by researchers. It interests historians, in particular those in the fields of geography, genealogy and ecology.
César-François Cassini (Cassini III) began the map:
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