Hispalensis conventus delineatio

Title

Hispalensis conventus delineatio

Description

Map shows Andalusia with Sevilla

dated 1579

Artist

Ortelius (1527-1598)

Abraham Ortelius, (1527 - 1598) Antwerp, comes from an Augsburg family and was born in Antwerp, Spain, where he lived throughout his life. After thorough training, he joined the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1547 as a card painter. In 1554 he took over an antiquarian bookshop that mainly deals with the coloring, distribution and publishing of maps. Basically he is more of a publisher than a scholar. And so he also made the acquaintance of another great man of his time, Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594), who encouraged him to draw cards and to make maps of the most varied of countries. His first cartographic work of his own is a large 8-sheet map of the world that appears in Antwerp in 1564. This is followed by a two-sheet map of Egypt (1565) and another of Asia (1567). The great achievement of Ortelius, who was one of the most famous European cartographers of his time, and the enthusiastic reception of his theater, mark a decisive turning point in the history of the world map. The new path is mapped out with the Theatrum. For the general view of the world, the appearance of Ortelius-Theatrum is important insofar as it emphatically confirms that America is a completely independent continent, which is also not connected to the Asian mainland mass at its northern tip. Ortelius was the first to come up with the idea of ​​producing a handy collection of reliable maps, all kept in the same format and only by the same author for each country. These sheets could also be bound into a book for easy storage and use. Mercator, who also realized the idea of ​​a world atlas from 1569, persuaded his friend to publish the famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarrum. Ortelius collected, traveled, corresponded and negotiated for 10 years before he could have his work printed in the best European printing house (Plantijn / Amsterdam). In addition to technical difficulties, Ortelius had to submit to the political / religious conditions, since maps were also subject to strict scrutiny during the Inquisition. Biblical scenes are pleasant, portraits of outstanding Catholics are welcome, but not family coats of arms or other emblems that could be politically suspect. On May 20, 1570, his first edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first collection of maps in book form, was published, financed and edited by Gillis Hooftman, an Antwerp merchant, banker and shipowner. Atlases did not yet have this name at that time. This collection was published between 1570 and 1612 in 42 editions and in 7 languages: Latin, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, English and Italian. Unlike his professional colleagues, he clearly referenced the sources of his maps and texts. The work contains, among other things, an illustration of the world known until 1492 and was therefore already looking back at the time the map was created.

Historical Description

From the beginning of the 9th century BC at the latest, the Phoenicians sailed as far as the Andalusian coast, even beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, and traded with the local population. After Phoenician activities were apparently initially limited to trade and the establishment of trading posts in indigenous coastal settlements, they founded their own settlements from the 8th century BC. At the time of Roman rule in Hispania, the Andalusians quickly learned the Latin language and got along quite well with the Roman legionaries. In late antiquity, when the Western Roman Empire was showing signs of dissolution, Vandals and other Germanic tribes invaded Hispania at the beginning of the 5th century. After the middle of the 5th century, the Visigoths conquered Hispania and established their own empire with Toledo as its capital. In the 6th century, parts of Andalusia were occupied by the Eastern Romans, who, however, had to withdraw at the beginning of the 7th century. In 711 the Moors crossed the straits and within a few years conquered most of the Visigoth Empire. Of all the Spanish regions, Andalusia was under Islamic rule the longest. It reached its zenith under the Emirate of Córdoba, the Caliphate of Córdoba, and the Nasrids in the Emirate of Granada. The influences of the Muslims can be seen above all in the architecture, including the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita of Córdoba and the Giralda in Seville. The rule of the Moors in Spain was ended by the Reconquista (1492) in Granada. Despite all the guarantees of religious freedom granted in the Treaty of Granada (1491), the forced conversion of the Mudejares by the Catholic Church and the expropriation of Muslim religious institutions soon began (formally in 1502). The city of Seville became the maritime trade center of Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. During this period, the port of Seville held the monopoly over overseas trade. Amerigo Vespucci and Ferdinand Magellan planned and launched their voyages of discovery here.