Cornubia, Devonia…”

Title

Cornubia, Devonia…”

Description

Map of south-western England with a decorative title cartouche.

ca. 1595

Artist

Mercator (1512-1594)

Gerardus Mercator (1512 - 1594). He was a cartographer, philosopher and mathematician. He is best known for his work in cartography, in particular the world map of 1569 based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant bearing as straight lines. He is renowned to the present day as the cartographer who created a world map based on a new projection which represented sailing courses of constant bearing as straight lines. In his own day he was the world's most famous geographer but in addition he had interests in theology, philosophy, history, mathematics and magnetism as well as being an accomplished engraver, calligrapher and maker of globes and scientific instruments. He wrote few books but much of his knowledge is to be found in the copious legends on his wall maps and the prefaces that he composed for his atlas ,the first in which the term "atlas" appears and the sections within it.

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.