Gigeri in Africa preso. E poi abbandonato da Francesi anno 1662

Title

Gigeri in Africa preso. E poi abbandonato da Francesi anno 1662

Description

Engraved map showing the area between Algiers and Tunis (Gigeri in Africa). From Historia di Leopoldo Cesare, Continente the most memorable things that happened in Europe from 1656 to 1670.

ca. 1662

Artist

Priorato (1606-1678)

Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato (1606 - 1678) was an Italian mercenary, historian, geographer and diplomat. He came from an old Italian family of counts. After a long military career, he wrote numerous historical works about European rulers and cities. He wrote, among others, the history of Emperors Ferdinand III and Leopold I and the first biography of Wallenstein. Priorato first embarked on a military career, which he ended after 1645. Subsequently, Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato shifted his activity to historical studies and diplomacy. In 1652 he was called to Vincennes in France to write a history of Cardinal Jules Mazarin. During his stay in Vincennes he was awarded the dignity of Knight of the Order of St. Michael. In 1656 he stayed again in Rome, where he was awarded the title of Nobilis romanus. During this time he entered the service of Queen Christine of Sweden as a chamberlain in Rome. In this capacity he made another trip to France in 1659 and to Regensburg in 1664. In the same year he became an imperial councilor and historiographer in the service of Emperor Leopold I. He returned to his native Vicenza, where he remained until his death. There he wrote his history of Leopold I.

Historical Description

The area of today's Algeria was originally inhabited by Berber tribes, in the east of Tuareg. From the 12th century BC The Phoenicians established trading bases on the coast and founded it in 814 BC. BC the commercial city of Carthage in what is now Tunisia, which subsequently developed into a major power in the western Mediterranean. Around the middle of the 7th century, the Arabs advanced into the Maghreb. In 697 they conquered much of today's Algeria. The population was largely Islamized. In the 11th century, the Berber dynasty of the Almoravids prevailed in what is now Algeria; it ruled the country for almost 100 years until it was replaced by the Almohads in 1147. This dynasty subsequently conquered the Maghreb and southern Spain; the empire then fell apart in the second half of the 13th century. Eastern Algeria became part of a Tunisian principality. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spaniards tried to gain a foothold on the Algerian coast. The country then submitted to the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire in 1519 and became its vassal; Algeria, the Eyâlet Cezayir was converted to a Vilâyet within the Ottoman Empire and later. It remained under Ottoman sovereignty until 1830, but was effectively independent from 1711. Until the 19th century, Algeria successfully defended itself against attempts by the Spanish, Dutch, British and French to curb piracy.