Cornubia, Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria Monumetha, Glamorgan, Caermarden, Penbrok, Cardigan, Rador, Breknoke, Refordia,..

Title

Cornubia, Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria Monumetha, Glamorgan, Caermarden, Penbrok, Cardigan, Rador, Breknoke, Refordia,..

Description

Map shows several counties in south-west England and parts of Wales in great detail. Also features a large title cartouche, reverse side with French text. Author: Gerhard Mercator, Hendrik and Jodocus Hondius. Published by Hendrik Hondius.

ca. 1623

Artist

Hondius (1597-1650)

Jodocus Hondius (1563 –1612) was a Dutch engraver, and cartographer. He is best known for his early maps of the New World and Europe, for re-establishing the reputation of the work of Gerard Mercator, and for his portraits of Francis Drake. He helped establish Amsterdam as the center of cartography in Europe in the 17th century. He was born in Wakken and grew up in Ghent. In his early years he established himself as an engraver, instrument maker and globe maker. In 1584 he moved to London to escape religious difficulties in Flanders. While in England, Hondius was instrumental in publicizing the work of Francis Drake, who had made a circumnavigation of the world in the late 1570s. In particular, in 1589 Hondius produced a now famous map of the bay of New Albion, where Drake briefly established a settlement on the west coast of North America. Hondius' map was based on journal and eyewitness accounts of the trip and has long fueled speculation about the precise location of Drake's landing, which has not yet been firmly established by historians. Hondius is also thought to be the artist of several well-known portraits of Drake that are now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 1593 he moved to Amsterdam, where he remained until the end of his life. In co-operation with the Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz. in 1604 he purchased the plates of Gerard Mercator's Atlas from Mercator's grandson. Mercator's work had languished in comparison to the rival Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius. Hondius republished Mercator's work with 36 additional maps, including several which he himself had produced. Despite the addition of his own contributions, Hondius gave Mercator full credit as the author of the work, listing himself as the publisher. Hondius' new edition of Mercator's work was a great success, selling out after a year. Hondius later published a second edition, as well as a pocket version Atlas Minor. The maps have since become known as the ""Mercator/Hondius series"" . In the French edition of the Atlas Minor we find one of the first instances of a thematic map using map symbols. This is a map entitled Designatio orbis christiani (1607) showing the dispersion of major religions. Between 1605 and 1610 he was employed by John Speed to engrave the plates for Speed's The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Hondius died, aged 48, in Amsterdam. After his death, his publishing work in Amsterdam was continued by his widow, two sons, Jodocus II and Henricus, and son-in-law Johannes Janssonius, whose name appears on the Atlas as co-publisher after 1633. Eventually, starting with the first 1606 edition in Latin, about 50 editions of the Atlas were released in the main European languages. In the Islamic world, the atlas was partially translated by the Turkish scholar Katip Çelebi. The series is sometimes called the ""Mercator/Hondius/Janssonius"" series because of Janssonius's later contributions.

Historical Description

The Romans settled for the first time under the leadership of Caesar 55 and 54 BC. BC in England, but initially not as a conqueror. It was not until almost a century later that the Romans occupied England. Scottish ethnic groups repeatedly penetrated the power vacuum that emerged after the Roman withdrawal around 410 AD. Subsequently, groups of Anglers, Jutters and Saxons immigrated. This was the beginning of the early Middle Ages in Britain. The Danish Vikings finally sailed to England in the late 8th century. At first, they only carried out raids, but later they established themselves, asked for tribute payments and built their own villages. Wilhelm's victory in the High Middle Ages led to the introduction of the Normans' effective armrest system. A small Norman upper class almost completely replaced the established nobility. In the period from the middle of the 10th to the middle of the 14th century, the population tripled, and agriculture was intensified with the introduction of three-field farming and land reclamation. However, self-sufficiency with food only succeeded in climatically favorable and politically stable times. The Hundred Years War broke out in the late Middle Ages, the deposition of Richard II by later Henry IV and the failures in the Hundred Years War were the reasons for the outbreak of the subsequent Rose Wars. During the Tudor period, the Renaissance of England peaked through Italian courtiers who reintroduced the artistic, educational, and scientific debate from antiquity. England began to develop naval skills, and exploration of the West and Europe intensified. Henry VIII broke out of communion with the Catholic Church in connection with his divorce under the Acts of Supremacy of 1534, which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England. Unlike much of European Protestantism, the roots of the split were political rather than theological. There were internal religious conflicts during the reign of Henry's daughters Mary I and Elizabeth I. The former brought the country back to Catholicism, while the latter abandoned it and vigorously maintained the predominance of Anglicanism. The Elizabethan era began with Elizabeth I's accession to the throne in 1588. The new, Protestant queen was enthusiastically received by the people. From the beginning of her reign, a possible marriage of the queen was the dominant issue. Parliaments repeatedly asked them to obtain a male heir to the throne. She was responsible for the implementation of the Reformation, but also for the poorer relations with Spain.