Das neunte Buch von Guatimal und Fondura.

Title

Das neunte Buch von Guatimal und Fondura.

Illustration of a volcanic eruption in 1542 near the city of Guatemala with German description. Further descriptions of Nicaragua and Yucatán.

ca. 1645

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

Guatemala is the most populous state in Central America. The country has two coasts, in the east a narrow access to the Gulf of Honduras, part of the Caribbean Sea, and in the south-west the Pacific coast. There is archaeological evidence that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers. Pollen samples from Peten and the Pacific coast indicate that humans lived up to 3500 BC. Had developed corn cultivation. Archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the pre-classical period (2999 BC to 250 AD), the classical period (250 to 900 AD), and the post-classical period (900 to 1500 AD). Until recently, the preclassic was viewed by researchers as a formative time when peoples typically lived in huts in small farming villages and a few permanent buildings. After they arrived in the New World, the Spanish started several expeditions to Guatemala, beginning in 1519. Before long, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hernán Cortés, who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico, granted a permit to Captains Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado, to conquer this land. Alvarado at first allied himself with the Kaqchikel nation to fight against their traditional rivals the K'iche' (Quiché) nation. Alvarado later turned against the Kaqchikel, and eventually brought the entire region under Spanish domination. During the colonial period, Guatemala was an audiencia, a captaincy-general (Capitanía General de Guatemala) of Spain, and a part of New Spain (Mexico). 1821, the Captaincy General of Guatemala, formed by Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras, officially proclaimed its independence from Spain. The Captaincy-general was dissolved two years later. This region was formally a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain throughout the colonial period, but as a practical matter had been administered separately. It was not until 1825 that Guatemala created its own flag.