The following article was written by Master Ulric von der Insel and is published here as part of the Gazette’s ongoing “How to…” series.

There’s a handy tool that the current military uses regularly to scope out the lay of the land called Google Earth. It’s an easy download that gives a layered look at the globe. Those of us using it have enjoyed the pictures that people upload of the places across the Earth as they appear in uploaded photos. So how can we use this to help us out with our medieval selves? The two biggest ways are by seeing the shape of the land and by seeing the sights in the places.

I should make a big caveat right now, that with the change of sea levels and the silting of rivers and all, that the lay of the land isn’t exactly what it used to be. That’s okay – we’re not using Google Earth as documentation, just as a starting point for further persona story research (rather like Wikipedia, eh? Use cautiously!)

Maybe an example would be appropriate at this moment. We fly to the Tyrolean Alps south of Munich and there we are. Type the place name “Innsbruck, Austria” into the search box in the upper left. Modern-day, it’s a cosmopolitan center with autobahns zipping by. But look at the lay of the land: mountains around a sheltered valley and the Inn River. Follow the road south, and you get to see the Brenner Pass to Milan and Venice. Follow the road northeast and you get to Munich. This was a major European artery of traffic since the Neolithic Age! Zoom right into the mountains to appreciate what it would take to travel this route with a wagon or a caravan of wagons laden with goodies for the market. This gives you a feel for scale that you can’t get from text alone.

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