De la duche de Brabant , u. des principales villes d’icelle. De la Cosmographie 620

Title

De la duche de Brabant , u. des principales villes d’icelle. De la Cosmographie 620

Description

Map shows the Netherlands (e.g., Maastricht, Utrecht, Nijmegen), Belgium (e.g., Namur, Liège, Mechelen, Brussels), and partly Germany with Cologne, Bonn, Wesel, Aachen, and Münster. Verso in French languish.

ca. 1566

Artist

Münster Sebastian (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

The area, which later includes the Benelux area, is called de Lage Landen in Dutch, Low Countries in English, consisting of Belgium, the Netherlands (Nederland) and Luxembourg. In the 19th century, three countries were united under the crown of the Dutch king from 1815 to 1830, until Belgium became independent. The forerunners of the Benelux Treaty were the economic union concluded between Luxembourg and Belgium on July 25, 1921.