Abstract

The paper explores medieval representations of potentates with maps, a model for showcasing spatial power still in use today. It shows that in different contexts of transmission – in texts and images or as elements of reconstructed palace furnishing – maps are always ingredients of a complex medial situation conveying perceptions of the nature of rulership to an educated public. Representing general or concrete claims on space, they interact individually with recurrent components of the stylisation of power-bearers, such as representations of divine and genealogical legitimation, and of knowledge and virtues.