Metz / dere welt Das Lxxii blat

Title

Metz / dere welt Das Lxxii blat

Description

Illustration of the city of Metz in Lorraine, France. On the reverse side are three figures: Plinius, Swetonius, and Plutarchus. From Liber chronicarum, the so-called “little Schedel,” published by Johann Schönsperger the Elder in 1497. The first major pirated edition in the history of book printing.

ca. 1497

Artist

Schedel (1440-1515)

Hartmann Schedel (1440–1515) from Nuremberg is best known for the 1493 publication of the Schedel’s World Chronicle (Liber chronicarum), a universal history featuring 1,809 woodcuts—making it the most richly illustrated book of early printing. The chronicle, written in Latin by Schedel for merchants Sebald Schreyer and Sebastian Kammermeister, was translated into German by Georg Alt and printed by Anton Koberger. The illustrations came from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The work covers world history up to 1492/93, divided into eight ages of the world, and draws on numerous sources, including Jacobus Foresta and Enea Silvio Piccolomini. Notably, it features highly accurate city views, many depicted in detail for the first time. Pleydenwurff introduced a new perspective by portraying cities from a fixed viewpoint, emphasizing their unique architectural and landscape features. The project was funded in part by the patron Sebald Schreyer.

Historical Description

The area around the Moselle, populated mainly by Celtic tribes, was conquered by Gaius Iulius Caesar in the Gallic War between 58 and 51 BC and later became part of the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From a division of the Frankish Empire into three parts, the Lotharii Regnum, the "Empire of Lothar" or Lotharingia, named after its king, emerged in 843. s lay in the middle between the East and West Frankish Empires and originally stretched as an elongated territory from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. In 870, the area was again divided between the East and West Frankish Empires. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Metz became Frankish and later the capital of the Merovingian sub-kingdom of Austrasia. In the High Middle Ages, Metz developed into a prosperous Free Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire, shaped by trade, church building, and city walls. In 1552, Metz was occupied by France and was later definitively made French in the Peace of Westphalia (1648). However, the city remained culturally and linguistically influenced by German for a long time.