Von Erfindung derselben durch underschiedliche Schiffart 251

Title

Von Erfindung derselben durch underschiedliche Schiffart 251

The map depicts the battle of Las Salinas. The Battle of Las Salinas was a military conflict and decisive confrontation between the forces of Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro against those of rival conquistador Diego de Almagro, on April 26, 1538, during the Conquest of Peru. Both camps claimed to represent the authority of the Spanish Crown. Pizarros forces controlled the province of Nueva Castilla, and those of Almagro, Nueva Toledo. After an hour of carnage, the battle yielded a victory for Pizarros forces: with Almagro captured and his lieutenant, Rodrigo Orgonez killed on the field of battle, the Pizarros routed the enemy and took possession of Cuzco. Almagro was executed in July 1538. De Bry’s Grand Voyages, an illustrated collection of accounts of the Americas, defined the early European picture of the New World. Published by Matthäus Merian. (1st edition 1597).

ca. 1628

Artist

Bry, de - Merian (1528-1598)

In 1631, Matthäus Merian and Johann Ludwig Gottfried published Historia Antipodum, a heavily abridged, single-volume version of Theodor De Bry’s 14-part America series. After De Bry’s death, his sons continued the project. Merian, a skilled engraver, later married De Bry’s daughter and collaborated with Gottfried. The Historia Antipodum reorganized numerous travel accounts into three chapters covering nature, exploration, and recent colonial developments. Merian and Gottfried significantly reworked the content, merging reports and integrating illustrations into the text. Their depiction of the natural world and Indigenous cultures—drawing in part on José de Acosta’s writings—was particularly influential. The book stands as one of the most ambitious works of early modern travel literature.

Historical Description

In April 1532 Francisco Pizarro landed on the Peruvian coast. In November 1533 Pizarro reached the capital Cusco, which was handed over to him without any significant resistance. He appointed the younger brother Huáscars, Manco Cápac II as an Inca, who in 1536 dared a barely failed uprising. Pizarro had thus conquered the Inca Empire for the Spanish crown, and King Charles I, also known as the German-Roman Emperor Charles V, could say of himself: "The sun never sets in my empire." Pizarro founded today's capital in January 1535 Lima. The Spanish founded the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542 with Lima as the capital, which, with the exception of Venezuela, included all Spanish possessions in South America. In 1572 the Spaniards took Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Incas. Lima was developed by the Spaniards into a magnificent city and called the city of kings. While independence movements developed in most countries in South America from 1809, the situation in Peru remained relatively stable. The Bolivian dictator Andrés Santa Cruz invaded Lima in the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation War in 1836 and united the two countries into the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation.