Comitatus Burgundiae tam in Primarias Ejus Praefecturas …

Title

Comitatus Burgundiae tam in Primarias Ejus Praefecturas …

Description

Map shows Burgund

ca. 1710

Artist

Homann (1664-1724)

Johann Babtiste Homann (1664-1724), Nuremberg, was born in Oberkammlach, the Electorate of Bavaria. Although educated at a Jesuit school, and preparing for an ecclesiastical career, he eventually converted to Protestantism and from 1687 worked as a civil law notary in Nuremberg. He soon turned to engraving and cartography; in 1702 he founded his own publishing house. Homann acquired renown as a leading German cartographer, and in 1715 was appointed Imperial Geographer by Emperor Charles VI. Giving such privileges to individuals was an added right that the Holy Roman Emperor enjoyed. In the same year he was also named a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Of particular significance to cartography were the imperial printing privileges (Latin: privilegia impressoria). These protected for a time the authors in all scientific fields such as printers, copper engravers, map makers and publishers. They were also very important as a recommendation for potential customers. In 1716 Homann published his masterpiece Grosser Atlas ueber die ganze Welt (Grand Atlas of all the World). Numerous maps were drawn up in cooperation with the engraver Christoph Weigel the Elder, who also published Siebmachers Wappenbuch. Homann died in Nuremberg. He was succeeded by the Homann heirs company, which was in business until 1848. The company was known as Homann Erben, Homanniani Heredes, or Heritiers de Homann abroad.

Historical Description

The present region was already inhabited by people in the Paleolithic Age. The Duchy of Burgundy was ruled by a side line of the French royal house, the Capetians, from 1032 to 1361. It passed to Philip of Valois in 1363, who founded the House of Burgundy as a collateral line of the French royal house of Valois. The duchy was dissolved after the French Revolution in the course of the division of the state into departments in 1790; with it disappeared the name Burgundy for a political-administrative unit.