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On the Division of the Earth and the Ocean

Introduction

This folio presents a schematic representation of the Earth divided into climatic zones, accompanied by a cosmological framework that links the physical world with celestial and intermediary regions. The text combines geographical description with elements of natural philosophy, offering an explanation of the ocean, the formation of islands, and the structure of the inhabited world.

Transliteration

(lightly normalized, abbreviations expanded where clear)

extremitates refusi occurrunt ab occidente
totaque cingens utriusque regionis terrae demissae.
Et dum vi summa et impetu extrema sinibus suis ambiens,
binas in superiorum immaniores miscentur, minimeque se separant.
Atque inferioris terrae superficie insulas facit.
Unde ex ipsa aquarum collisione nascitur
illa famosa oceani accessio pariter et recessio.

In nostro mari contingit quaedam insula,
maxime in angustis fretis,
ubi ex ipsis oceani finibus efficiuntur.

Omnia autem quae oceanum nunc vocamus eveniunt,
quia nostrum mare ex illis influit.

Ceterum, ut ita dicam, eius alveus tenet zonam perustam,
et eam quae aequinoctialis dicitur.

[...]

Zona habitabilis angustior est in verticibus,
latior vero in lateribus.

Translation

The extremities of the waters meet from the west, enclosing entirely both regions of the lowered earth. And when, with great force and momentum, the outer waters press into their bays, they merge into larger masses and do not separate.

On the surface of the lower earth they form islands. Thus, from the collision of the waters arises that well‑known advance and retreat of the ocean.

In our sea, certain islands occur, especially in narrow straits, where they are formed from the very boundaries of the ocean.

All things that we now call the ocean come to pass because our sea flows from it.

Moreover, its basin, so to speak, holds the burnt zone and that which is called equinoctial.

The habitable zone is narrower at the poles and broader across its sides.

Notes

This passage describes a world in which the ocean surrounds and actively shapes the land. The movement of water is not static but dynamic: the sea presses inward, collides, and forms islands. Particularly striking is the attempt to explain the tides as the result of the “collision of waters,” suggesting an effort to account for natural phenomena through observable processes rather than purely symbolic reasoning.

The reference to the zona perusta and the equinoctial region situates the text within the classical tradition of dividing the Earth into climatic zones. In this model, only certain regions are habitable, while others are either too hot or too cold. The description of the habitable zone as narrower at the poles and wider toward the middle reflects an understanding of the Earth as spherical and structured according to latitude.

Although primarily geographical, the folio also gestures toward a broader cosmological framework, in which the Earth is positioned within a layered universe that includes celestial and intermediary regions. The coexistence of physical explanation and cosmological structure suggests a synthesis of inherited classical knowledge and medieval intellectual concerns.

Some passages remain difficult to interpret with certainty, particularly where the manuscript is abbreviated or ambiguous. The text appears to move fluidly between description, explanation, and inherited terminology, making it both rich and at times elusive.