Why the North Pole looked like this on Old Maps

Check out this map of the Arctic from the 16th century. There are four major land masses surrounding a polar sea with a massive magnetic rock in the center, called Rupes Nigra the Latin words for Black Rock. Book Sources ----- “The Phantom Atlas” - Edward Brooke-Hitching "Half Moon" - Douglas Hunter "A New World Voyager" - Edward Butts RareMaps.com Sources ----- 1596 Geradus Mercator Arctic Map - https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/92479/first-state-septentrionalium-terrarum-descriptio-mercator 1590 Petrus Plancius World Map - https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/75350/orbis-terrarum-typus-de-integro-multis-in-locis-emendatus-au-plancius-van-deutecum 1570 Ortelius First World Atlas - https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/94771/theatrum-orbis-terrarum-1570a-first-edition-first-issue-ortelius Social Media ----------------------- Map Shop - http://thegeographygeek.com/ Instagram - http://instagram.com/thegeographygeek Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/geographygeek