Aragonia et Catalonia

Title

Aragonia et Catalonia

Description

Map shows Catalonia and Aragon, partly Valencia, a title and a mileage scale cartouche.

ca. 1620

Artist

Hondius/Sparke (1563-1612)

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 Pyrenean region has always been a preferred transit area for culture and trade between the Near East and the British Isles. In the course of the wars between the Frankish Empire and the Arabs, several counties were created at the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th century in the northern part of Catalonia, which today belongs to Spain, and in northern Catalonia, which today belongs to France. At first, these counties were under the control of the West Frankish or French king, but in the course of the following centuries they became increasingly independent. As a result of the marriage contract between Raimund Berengar IV, Count of Barcelona, and Petronila/Peronella, heiress to the Crown of Aragon, who was only one year old, a state community known as the Crown of Aragon was created in 1137 from Aragon and the lands of the Counts of Barcelona, which were largely identical to Catalonia in the 12th century. The Franco-Spanish War of 1635-1659 saw separatist movements in Spain. In 1640, Portugal successfully regained its independence. Catalonia also tried to regain its former independence, but was not successful in it. In the Peace of the Pyrenees, Spain had to cede the Catalan territories north of the Pyrenees to France, while the rest of Catalonia remained with Spain. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1700-1713), which was about the succession to the throne after the death of Charles II, who remained childless, most Catalans supported the Habsburg pretender to the throne, Archduke Charles, against the Bourbon Philip of Anjou. Between 1812 and 1814, Catalonia was part of the French Empire and was divided first into four and later into two French départements. In the Second Republic, Catalonia was initially granted provisional autonomy in 1931 with the re-establishment of the Generalitat; this was codified in the Statute of Autonomy of 1932. Because of its historical, linguistic and cultural differences from the rest of Spain, Catalonia sees itself as a separate nation. The term nation is understood in the sense of a cultural nation and is not defined by ethnic affiliation.