The Cartography of Crete in the First Half of the 17th Century: a collective Work of a Generation of Engineers

In 1982 Elisabeth Clutton wrote a very interesting article pointing out the major phases of the historic cartography of Crete and the fact that 17th century cartography of the island was indebted to Francesco Basilicata's manuscript map of 1612. In particular Clutton examined and compared thoroughly the map of Basilicata with that of Marco Boschini, whose publication in 1651 strongly influenced the mainstream cartography of the area -- both in Italy and abroad -- suggesting that the latter was no more but a copy of Basilicata's work. The aim of this paper is to throw new light on this process of transition of information from authors with first hand experience of the area to others. The ultimate goal is to suggest that the cartography of Crete in the first half of the 17th century was not the work of a single author (however remarkable this may have been, as was the case with Basilicata's map of Crete) but the outcome of the work of a whole generation of engineers, keen to satisfy the Venetian Republic's thirst for information.