ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Abraham Cresques

Abraham Cresques was a man who lived a long time ago, before our grandparents and great-grandparents were even born. He was very good at making maps, like the ones you might see in your geography book. But his maps were special because they were made a very long time ago, when people didn't travel as easily as they do now.

Cresques was born in the city of Majorca, which is in the country of Spain. He was a Jewish man, which means he followed a religion that was different from most people around him. He lived during a time when there were many different kingdoms and empires in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

People didn't have planes or cars back then, so if they wanted to travel to a new place, they had to walk or ride a horse. This made it hard for people to explore new lands and find out what was there. That's where Cresques came in.

He made maps that showed people where they could go, how far it was, and what they would find when they got there. His maps were very detailed and colorful, and they showed mountains, rivers, and seas. He even drew pictures of people and animals that lived in those places.

Cresques was very creative and used lots of different materials to make his maps. He used a special kind of paper that was made from animal skin, and he used ink made from plants and bugs. He also used gold and silver to make his maps shine.

People loved Cresques' maps so much that they wanted to own them. They would pay him lots of money just to have one of his maps. Some of his maps are still around today, and people still look at them to find out about the world a long time ago.

So, Abraham Cresques was a very talented mapmaker who made colorful and detailed maps that showed people where to go and what they would find when they got there.