----------------------------Original message----------------------------
 
I asked a question here about the symbology of the compass rose a couple
of weeks ago, and the following is a summary.  I only got one response,
but it was all I needed.
 
The questions were:
 
   "... why is the fleur de lys used as the north point of the
    compass on so many of these?"
 
   "And what is the object on the east point supposed to be?"
 
   "Finally, why are there 32 points to the compass, and why is it
    called a 'rose'?"
 
Francis Herbert <[log in to unmask]> gave me this great reference:
 
     "A concise definition, followed by a historical
     essay on details of the term's innovation and diffusion, and
     ending with a bibliography, for both 'Compass direction' and for
     'Windrose' can be discovered in:-
 
     Cartographical innovations: an international handbook of mapping terms
     to 1900 / ed. by Helen M. Wallis and Arthur H. Robinson. - Tring,
     Herts: Map Collector Publications in association with International
     Cartographic Association, 1987. - ISBN 0-906430-04-6."
 
I checked it out, and found this book to be a real gold mine of
information about the history of maps and mapmaking techniques!
 
The answers to my questions are:
 
(1.) that the fleur-de-lys probably evolved from the earlier symbol
for north which was a spearhead placed above a T (for tramontana,
which was what the north wind was named in the Middle Ages).
 
(2.) The object on the east side of the rose is a cross, replacing the L
for the east wind (then known as levante), and points to the Holy Land,
or the Levant.
 
(3.) The 32 points of the compass evolved from the earlier wind rose's
32 winds: eight major winds (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW), eight
half-winds (bisecting the eight major winds), and 16 quarter-winds
(bisecting the eight half-winds).
 
(3.5.) The figure is called a rose because the pointers to the winds
resemble the petals of that flower.
 
 
For more about the compass rose, plus pictures and details of the
Medieval names of the winds, and the names and directions of the 32
points (so you can impress and amaze your friends at cocktail parties
by being able to "box the compass" as well as any 17th century seaman),
see the web page, http://www.gisnet.com/gis/notebook/comprose.html
 
Thanks again folks,
 
_   /|   Bill Thoen <[log in to unmask]>
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