Le Cercle de la Haute Saxe ou sont compris..

Title

Le Cercle de la Haute Saxe ou sont compris..

Description

Map shows Saxony and Thuringia with two cartouches and a coat of arms.

c. 1708

Artist

Jaillot (1632-1712)

Alexis Hubert Jaillot (1632-1712) was an important French cartographer and publisher. In 1665 Jaillot married into the Berey family of map publishers. After the death of his brother-in-law Nicolas II Berey (1640–1667) he bought the Berey card collection from his sister-in-law. This gave him a valuable foundation that he could market straight away without ever having made a map himself. Jaillot entered the card business at an opportune moment. In early 1668, Louis XIV won the first of his Reunion Wars, and a period began when France was constantly expanding its territory. There was a great demand for maps depicting the French triumphs and the new frontiers, as well as upcoming expansion plans. Jaillot's map collection also included printing plates that Pierre Duval (1619–1683) (nephew of Nicolas Sanson) had created and originally sold to Nicolas Berey. But Duval, who also mislaid his cards himself, resisted the re-edition of his old cards. At the height of the dispute with Duval, Jaillot won Nicolas Sanson's sons Guillaume and Adrien in late 1670 as card makers and business partners. With them he was able to market new cards with the prestigious name Sansons. His first atlas of 1681, Atlas Nouveau, became such a great commercial success that other publishers began selling plagiarism.

Historical Description

Saxony-Wittenberg, in modern Saxony-Anhalt, became subject to the margravate of Meissen, ruled by the Wettin dynasty in 1423. This established a new and powerful state, occupying large portions of the present Free State of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria (Coburg and its environs). Although the centre of this state was far to the southeast of the former Saxony, it came to be referred to as Upper Saxony and then simply Saxony, while the former Saxon territories were now known as Lower Saxony. In 1485, Saxony was split. A collateral line of the Wettin princes received what later became Thuringia and founded several small states there (see Ernestine duchies). The remaining Saxon state became still more powerful and was known in the 18th century for its cultural achievements, although it was politically weaker than Prussia and Austria, states which oppressed Saxony from the north and south, respectively.