Olaus Magnus

The Carta Marina is a highly detailed, large-scale map of the Nordic countries created by Olaus Magnus in 1539. It is notable for its inclusion of vivid illustrations depicting sea monsters, folklore, and regional customs. The map provided the rest of Europe with its most comprehensive look at Scandinavian geography at the time.

Yes, he authored "Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus" (History of the Northern Peoples), which was published in Rome in 1555. This extensive work served as a massive companion piece to his famous map, detailing the culture, folklore, and natural history of the region. It remained the primary source of European knowledge about Scandinavia for centuries.

As a Catholic ecclesiastic, Olaus Magnus was forced into exile following the Protestant Reformation that swept through Sweden in the 1520s. He traveled to Rome, where he continued his scholarly and cartographic work. He was eventually appointed as the titular Archbishop of Uppsala in exile by the Pope.

For centuries, the map was believed to be lost to history until a copy was miraculously rediscovered in the early 20th century. Today, only two original copies printed from the 1539 woodblocks are known to exist. One copy is housed in the Bavarian State Library in Munich, and the other is in the Uppsala University Library in Sweden.