For modern citizens it can be difficult to understand the impact of religion on something like the development of maps. What could medieval religious observation have to do with the canada map you bought to use for planning your vacation?

The first maps, other than crude directions of trade routes or military boarders, were created for religious purposes. In the 12th century, the T-O world map was quite common. It depicted Jerusalem as the center of the world with east at the top of the map. These maps were carefully illuminated by hand , usually by religious orders, and designated the spread of various religions, which was pretty much synonymous with political power at the time.

With the rise of world exploration during the early Renaissance, cartography in the west began to focus more on navigation. Printing presses made dissemination of maps easier and by the 16th century the first globes were produced, reflecting a truer shape of the world and incorporating the New World for the first time. Politics and religion were still tightly tied during the exploration of the New World, so, although more geographically accurate, many of these maps were still used to calculate the spread of Christianity or plan where to send missionaries.