Freyburg der fürnemmen Statt in Uchtland wahre abcontrafactur

Title

Freyburg der fürnemmen Statt in Uchtland wahre abcontrafactur

Map shows the general view of the city of Freibug in Üechtland, Switzerland. Reverse with three coat of arms and two lions.

ca. 1550

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

Fribourg was founded in 1157 by Duke Berthold IV of Zähringen in a strategically well-protected location on a rocky promontory above the Saane and endowed with generous liberties. The Zähringers were thus able to consolidate and expand their position of power in the Swiss midlands in the area between the Aare and the Saane. From its beginnings, Fribourg formed a city state, i.e. a city dominion, to which hardly any territory from the regional hinterland belonged. When the Zähringer dynasty died out in 1218, Fribourg passed by inheritance to the Counts of Kyburg. By purchase, the city came to the House of Habsburg in 1277 for 3040 marks of silver, becoming its westernmost base in competition with the House of Savoy for power in the region, and was repeatedly involved in wars with the Dukes of Savoy and Bern. Already since the middle of the 13th century, trade and commerce flourished. The period around the middle of the 15th century was marked by various warlike conflicts. First of all, major losses were suffered in the war against Savoy. From the end of the 14th century, various rich families emerged from the cloth and leather trade, among them Gottrau, Lanthen, Affry, Diesbach. This, however, was an important reason for the decline of cloth production, because the families that had once risen through trade and commerce now increasingly took care of the town government and the administration of the acquired and from then on continuously rounded up landed property. A milestone in the city's politics was the year 1627, when the patriciate of the time declared itself the sole regent with a new constitution and thus claimed the active and passive right to vote for itself. This sealed the oligarchy with restrictive organizational structures that had already become apparent in the course of the 15th century.