King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, was buried at Reading Abbey in 1136. Yet over centuries of war, dissolution, and urban growth, his tomb was lost — possibly lying beneath a car park or modern buildings. The search for his grave echoes a broader truth: geography often hides as much as it reveals.
Medieval maps, known as mappae mundi, blended fact, faith, and imagination. They showed Jerusalem at the center, strange creatures at the edges, and kings who shaped their time. Globes and maps have since grown more precise, but mysteries remain — vanished cities, lost tombs, undiscovered sites beneath our feet.
An educational globe can be a starting point for these stories. By tracing medieval England, the Norman conquests, and the shifting borders of Europe, we begin to understand Henry’s world. The globe becomes not only a tool of navigation but a portal into hidden histories. Geography is never static; it shifts, erodes, and conceals — just as Henry’s tomb has slipped beneath the layers of time.
