The fift table of Ireland. / Hiberniae v. Tabula.

Title

The fift table of Ireland. / Hiberniae v. Tabula.

Description

Map showing the southern part of Ireland with title and mile indicator cartouche. This map is part of a collection of maps in Gerard Mercator's atlas ‘Historia Mundi or Mercator's Atlas’. This particular print appeared in the 1637 edition of ‘Historia Mundi’, published by Michaell Sparke. Sparke added English titles to the left margin of the original titles. A rare English-language edition!

ca. 1637

Artist

Sparke (1588-1653)

Michael Sparke was a printerpublisher, writer, compiler-editor, and promoter of conservative Puritan political and religious views. The years before 1627 were years of preparation for Sparke, during which he acquired professional skills, built up his business, and began to write. The years between 1627 and 1640 were he formed a working alliance with William Prynne to devote himself to the political and and religious policies of the government of Charles I and Archbishop William Laud and Archbishop William, he got into great legal trouble over the controversial books he printed for Prynne and other notable Puritan figures. The years between 1627 and 1640 were those crowned with success for Sparke, the political and religious principles he had long supported gaining official recognition with his more influential ally Prynne.

Historical Description

In the Roman Empire, Ireland was known as Hiberna, the classical latin name. The Norman invasion of the late 12th century marked the beginning of more than 800 years of direct English rule and, later, British involvement in Ireland. Attempts to either conquer or assimilate the Irish lordships into the Kingdom of Ireland provided the initial impetus for a series of Irish military campaigns between 1534 and 1603. This period was marked by a Crown policy of plantation, involving the arrival of thousands of English and ScottishProtestant settlers, and the consequent displacement of the pre-plantation Catholic landholders. As the military and political defeat of Gaelic Ireland became more pronounced in the early seventeenth century, sectarian conflict became a recurrent theme in Irish history.