[This press release, posted to lismaps and maphist, was sent to me and is
passed on without comment. It relates to a Welsh TV series starting on
Tuesday, 8 March - Tony Campbell]
CHARTING THE COURSE OF HISTORY
An ambitious new S4C series, Mapio'r Byd (Mapping the World), looks at how
navigators, explorers, spies, traitors and thieves created maps, documents
that changed the world.
In the first programme, presenter Dafydd Du concentrates on the world's most
expensive map, the Waldseemuller Map of 1507. Following its dramatic
discovery in a German castle after being lost for centuries, it is now one
of the main attractions in the USA's Library of Congress. But at $10
million, it didn't come cheap!
The Americans were keen to own the map as it holds the first written record
of the name of the new continent. Dr Huw Owen, an Aberystwyth-based map
expert, explains, "This remarkable piece of paper is so important it's been
dubbed 'America's Birth Certificate'. It chronicles an utterly thrilling
period in history, when the nations of Europe were struggling for supremacy,
trying to win the riches of the new-found territories. This map was the
first to show America as a separate continent and to suggest the existence
of a huge ocean between it and Asia. It therefore expanded our knowledge of
the geography of the whole world."
The map also hides many secrets, including how the map-makers came to choose
a name for the new continent. "One of the interesting theories is that the
term 'America' comes from a Welshman, named Rhisiart ap Meurig, or Richard
Americke," explains Dafydd Du. "He was one of the backers of John Cabot's
expedition from Bristol to the New World in 1497 - a mission that claimed
the island of Newfoundland for the English Crown. The series also looks at
the stories of two other explorers in the New World - Columbus and
Vespucci."
The second programme concentrates on the 16th Century, an age when spying
and map-making went hand-in-hand, with map-makers being drawn into dangerous
conspiracies. Dafydd Du reveals the web of treachery and deceit surrounding
one particularly detailed map of Britain, commissioned as part of a plot to
depose Queen Elizabeth. The third programme explores the importance of maps
during the Second World War, when the Allies went to exceptional lengths to
secure reliable and up-to-date maps of the Normandy beaches in the run-up to
D-Day.
"It was a real eye-opener to see how much influence maps have had throughout
history," says Dafydd. "They say that 'knowledge is power' and the stories
surrounding maps prove this statement. Kingdoms could be overthrown if maps
fell into enemy hands, merchants could win great riches by getting hold of
maps of new-found territories and the skills of some map-makers brought them
fame and wealth."
Mapio'r Byd
Starts Tuesday, 8 March, 9.00pm, S4C
With English and Welsh subtitles available
A Wild Dream Films production for S4C in association with S4C International
In Wales, on analogue, S4C is available on button 4.
S4C digidol is available on 104 on Sky (151 for non-subscribers), 4 on
Freeview and 752 on ntl in Wales.
In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, S4C digidol is available on 151
on Sky
RACHEL MATTHEWS
Swyddog y Wasg S4C
S4C Press Officer
S4C
Parc Ty Glas
Llanisien / Llanishen
Caerdydd / Cardiff
CF14 6DU
029 2074 1336
[log in to unmask]
www.s4c.co.uk
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