Granata et Murcia regna

Title

Granata et Murcia regna

Description

Map shows Granada, Murcia and partly Andalusia

ca. 1610

Artist

Blaeu (1571-1638)

Joan Guilliemus Blaeu was the eldest son of Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), and was probably born in Alkmaar in the province of Noord-Holland in the final years of the 16th century. He was brought up in Amsterdam, and studied law at the University of Leiden before going into partnership with his father in the 1630s. Although his father Willem had cartographic interests, having studied under the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and having manufactured globes and instruments, his primary business was as a printer. It was under the control of Joan that the Blaeu printing press achieved lasting fame by moving towards the printing of maps and expanding to become the largest printing press in Europe in the 17th century. By the 1660s the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (or Atlas Maior as it had became known by this time) had expanded to between 9 and 12 volumes, depending on the language. With over 3,000 text pages and approximately 600 maps, it was the most expensive book money could buy in the later 17th century. The translation of the text from Latin into Dutch, English, German, French, and Spanish for several volumes created enormous work for those involved in typography and letterpress activities. It is estimated that over 80 men must have been employed full-time in the Blaeu printing house in Bloemgracht, not including engravers who worked elsewhere, with over 15 printing presses running simultaneously, and in 1667 a second press was acquired at Gravenstraat. At the same time as producing the Atlas Maior, Blaeu was also publishing town plans of Italy, maps for globes, and other volumes. At its peak the Blaeu press managed to produce over 1 million impressions from 1,000 copper plates within four years.

Historical Description

Granada is located in a protected position between the surrounding mountains, as well as with exceptionally fertile soil, which spurred an earlier settlement. First settlements were first mentioned under the name of Iliberra around 500 BC. In 711 Illiberis was conquered by the Moors and the name was Arabized to Ilbīra. In 1246, the then ruler of Granada, Muhammad I ibn Nasr called Ibn Al-Ahmar, surrendered the city of Jaen to the Christian powers after a siege that lasted for months. In 1492, the last Naṣrid ruler, Muhammad XII (Boabdil), surrendered and gave the city to Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, the so-called "Catholic Monarchs" (Reyes Católicos). This marked the end of the Reconquista, the "reconquest" of the Iberian Peninsula for Christianity. According to a passage of the treaty concluded in the process, the Moorish population in Granada was allowed to continue practicing their religion freely, but the Naṣrids had to leave Granada. After uprisings by the Muslims who remained in Spain, the so-called Moors, against the oppression (ban on religious practice, dispossession) by the new rulers, they were first forcibly resettled in other parts of the Iberian Peninsula in 1569-1571 and then expelled to Africa in 1609-1611. In 1500, the city provided the prelude to the partition of Italy between Spain and France: the Treaty of Partage of Granada confirmed the rights of the Crown of France to the Kingdom of Naples. The Crown of Aragon turned against its own kinship, against the collateral line of the bastard Ferdinand enfeoffed with Naples by the Pope in 1459. Granada has been the seat of an archbishopric since 1492. The University of Granada was built between 1526 and 1531 and was one of Granada's main sources of income, especially in the 20th century.