My argument is that the earliest Western type of Holy Land map was formulated in a purely religious context — not in relation to the Crusader enterprise and ideology — and that this type of map was a pure devotional image.

Maps of the Holy Land were first produced in the Latin West only at the beginning of the twelfth century. It is generally accepted that the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (in 1099) led to the creation of these maps and that the purpose was to represent Jerusalem and the biblical land in its renewed Christian appearance, with an emphasis on the Crusader achievement.