Eigentliche contrafactur des gewaltigen Schloss zu Meyland/mit ettlicher desselbigen Wehren verzeichnung

Title

Eigentliche contrafactur des gewaltigen Schloss zu Meyland/mit ettlicher desselbigen Wehren verzeichnung

Map shows the Castello Sforzesco of Milan.

ca. 1550

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

Soon after 400 BC, the area around Milan was settled by the Celtic Insubrians. In 222 BC the Romans conquered this settlement and used the Latin name Mediolanum. After several centuries of Roman rule, Milan was made one of the residential cities of the Empire in 286 under Emperor Diocletian. In 402 the city was besieged by Visigoths, after which the imperial residence was transferred to Ravenna. In the Lombard League of Cities, founded in 1167, Milan took the leading role. In 1450 Milan fell to the noble Sforza family, who developed it into one of the leading cities of the Italian Renaissance. In 1492, the French king Louis XII first laid claim to the duchy. After his victory over the Swiss in 1515 at the Battle of Marignano, the duchy was once again granted to France's King Francis I. After Charles V's victory over Francis I in 1525, Milan also fell to the House of Habsburg along with northern Italy. In 1556 Charles V abdicated in favor of his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand of Habsburg, so that the Italian possessions passed to the Spanish line of the Habsburgs founded by Philip II. In 1714, in the Peace of Rastatt, Lombardy with its capital Milan and the Duchy of Mantua were formally granted to the Austrian Habsburgs. Napoleon conquered Lombardy in 1796. Milan was declared the capital of the Cisalpine Republic. After the end of Napoleon's occupation, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Milan and Lombardy, as well as Veneto, were again granted to Austria. After the defeat of Austria by the troops of Sardinia-Piedmont allied with France at the Battle of Solferino, all of Lombardy fell in 1859 to the House of Sardinia-Piedmont under Victor Emmanuel II, the nucleus of the then nascent Kingdom of Italy.