Clavus, Claudius
Claudius Clavus (Danish: Claudius Claussøn), (September 14, 1388 - ?) was a Danish geographer, remembered for having produced the first mapping of Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland: his medieval mapping of the north remained the standard for the mapping of Iceland until well into the 16th century. He is thought to have been born on the island of Funen, in the village of Salling. At the age of 25 he began to travel in Europe - he is thought to have traveled as to the northernmost parts of Norway - but he arrived in Rome in around 1423. There he befriended well placed papal scholars who were working to update Ptolemy's geographical ideas; he contributed the first realistic description of the north parts of Europe, particularly those beyond 63° North, which had been the northern limit of Ptolemy's Oikoumene. Clavus included the first accurate placement of Iceland, and what was probably the first instance of Greenland to appear on a map. (He included as well a number of placenames, which he invented - or rather, repurposed - from the lyrics of songs. Most of his own work has been lost. Copies of his map of the north were made by Donnus Nicolaus Germanus, and through him Clavus' map became part of canon. He also drew up a manuscript copy of the Ptolmaic maps, 27 maps of which survive.
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