Das Vierdte Buch / Von der Siebenbürgenregierung.

Title

Das Vierdte Buch / Von der Siebenbürgenregierung.

Description

The upper image shows how gold is found and mined in Transylvania. The lower image depicts Dracula's tyranny. Both images are described with German text. The back side shows a view of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) in Transylvania.

ca. 1574

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münsters (1489-1552) is one of the famous cosmographers of the Renaissance. Its real importance in the field of cartography is based on its famous cosmography, which he published in 1544 with 24 double-sided maps (including Moscow and Transylvania). The material for this came largely from research and the collection of information from around 1528, which he initially only wanted to use for a description of Germany, but was now sufficient for a map of the entire world and ultimately led to a cosmography. He constantly tried to improve this work, i.e. to replace or add to maps. In the edition of 1550, only 14 maps were taken over from the earlier editions. The 52 maps printed in the text were also only partially based on the old maps. The great success of this cosmography was also based on the precise work of the woodcuts mostly by Hans Holbein the Younger, Urs Graf, Hans Rudolph Deutsch and David Kandel. It was the first scientific and at the same time generally understandable description of the knowledge of the world in German, in which the basics of history and geography, astronomy and natural sciences, regional and folklore were summarized according to the state of knowledge at that time. Cosmography is the science of describing the earth and the universe. Until the late Middle Ages, geography, geology and astronomy were also part of it. The first edition of the Cosmographia took place in 1544 in German, printed in Heinrich Petri's office in Basel. Heinrich Petri was a son from the first marriage of Münster's wife to the Basel printer Adam Petri. Over half of all editions up to 1628 were also published in German. However, the work has also been published in Latin, French, Czech and Italian. The English editions all comprised only a part of the complete work. Viktor Hantzsch identified a total of 46 editions in 1898 (German 27; Latin 8; French 3; Italian 3; Czech 1) that appeared from 1544 to 1650, while Karl Heinz Burmeister only had 36 (German 21; Latin 5; French 6; Italian 3; Czech 1) that appeared between 1544 and 1628. The first edition from 1544 was followed by the second edition in 1545, the third in 1546, the fourth edition in 1548 and the fifth edition in 1550, each supplemented by new reports and details, text images, city views and maps and revised altogether. Little has been known about who - apart from the book printers Heinrich Petri and Sebastian Henricpetri - were responsible for the new editions after Münster's death. The 1628 edition was edited and expanded by the Basel theologian Wolfgang Meyer. With Cosmographia, Sebastian Münster has published for the first time a joint work by learned historians and artists, by publishers, wood cutters and engravers. The numerous vedute are usually made as woodcuts. Sebastian Münster obtained his knowledge from the travel reports and stories of various scholars, geographers, cartographers and sea travelers. Long after his death, "Kosmographie" was still a popular work with large editions: 27 German, 8 Latin, 3 French, 4 English and even 1 Czech editions appeared. The last edition appeared in Basel in 1650.

Historical Description

The area where today's Transylvania is located was the political center of the Dacian Kingdom in ancient times. From about 895, in the course of their land seizures, the Hungarians settled the Carpathian Basin and thus also the area of present-day Transylvania. The political power in the Carpathian region fell to the Hungarians quite unresistingly compared to other land grabs of the Migration Period, as the population groups encountered there formed only some weak ruling structures. Between 1211 and 1225, the Order of Teutonic Knights was also present, which the Hungarian king Andrew II had called into the country to protect it from the Cumans in Burzenland. The Order settled its territory with German settlers. When the knights, encouraged by the Pope and the Grand Master, tried to establish their own state, they were expelled and the Burzenland was annexed to the king's territory. The region of Transylvania developed as a part of the medieval kingdom of Hungary. When the Hungarian army was devastatingly defeated by Suleyman I in the Battle of Mohács on August 29, 1526, an almost 200-year period of constant threat to the country began. The Turkish advance into Hungary (1526-1686) devastated central Hungary in particular. Suleyman I concluded a peace treaty with John Zápolya as early as 1528, counting on the weakening of the Habsburg Empire through what would later become the Principality of Transylvania. For Transylvania as a social and economic entity, the 17th century was a time of great upheaval and constant threat from outside and within. After the victory over the Ottomans at the Second Vienna Turkish Siege of 1683, Transylvania tried in vain to resist the growing influence of Austria. The Peace of Sathmar in 1711 finally established Austrian control over all of Hungary and Transylvania. Transylvania, which remained independent from the Kingdom of Hungary, was now administered by so-called gubernators under the supervision of the Viennese court. From 1733, the ethnic group of the so-called Transylvanian Landler was settled in southern Transylvania. In the meantime, the Romanians constituted the majority of the population of Transylvania. Due to their large numbers and proximity to the Kingdom of Romania, the Romanians resisted Magyarization and found themselves systematically disadvantaged by the ruling Hungarians on many levels. The takeover of Transylvania by Romania was enshrined in the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.