Dem allerdurchlauchtigsten Gross mächtigsten Fürsten und Herrn, Herrn Friedrich Augusto, Koenig in Pohlen und Churfürsten zu Sachsen,..

Title

Dem allerdurchlauchtigsten Gross mächtigsten Fürsten und Herrn, Herrn Friedrich Augusto, Koenig in Pohlen und Churfürsten zu Sachsen,..

Description

Map shows the office of the city of Grossenhain in Saxony, a partial map of the layout of the royal camp and quarters, a wind rose and a very detailed index.

ca. 1700

Artist

Schenk (1660-1718)

Petrus Schenck, (1660 – 1711) was a German engraver and cartographer active in Amsterdam and Leipzig. Valck was married to Maria Bloteling, the sister of the Amsterdam engraver Abraham Bloteling. In 1687 Schenk married Gerard's sister Agatha Valck. In 1694, together with Valck, he bought some of the copperplates of the artdealer and cartographer Johannes Janssonius. Along with Valck and Bloteling, he produced prints for the London market, though it is not known if he ever went there with them.

Historical Description

Saxony-Wittenberg, in modern Saxony-Anhalt, became subject to the margravate of Meissen, ruled by the Wettin dynasty in 1423. This established a new and powerful state, occupying large portions of the present Free State of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria (Coburg and its environs). Although the centre of this state was far to the southeast of the former Saxony, it came to be referred to as Upper Saxony and then simply Saxony, while the former Saxon territories were now known as Lower Saxony. In 1485, Saxony was split. A collateral line of the Wettin princes received what later became Thuringia and founded several small states there (see Ernestine duchies). The remaining Saxon state became still more powerful and was known in the 18th century for its cultural achievements, although it was politically weaker than Prussia and Austria, states which oppressed Saxony from the north and south, respectively.