Leodiensis Diocesis Typus.

Title

Leodiensis Diocesis Typus.

Description

The map shows a detailed the Diocese of Liège, which was a significant ecclesiastical region at that time. This area is now part of Belgium and the Netherlands. It features two magnificent scrollwork cartouches, and the engraver Babtista Doetecomius is credited in the bottom right-hand corner. The reverse side has Latin text, an initial, and a decorative finale in the form of an ornament, p. 223.

ca. 1623

Artist

Hondius (1597-1650)

Jodocus Hondius (1563 –1612) was a Dutch engraver, and cartographer. He is best known for his early maps of the New World and Europe, for re-establishing the reputation of the work of Gerard Mercator, and for his portraits of Francis Drake. He helped establish Amsterdam as the center of cartography in Europe in the 17th century. He was born in Wakken and grew up in Ghent. In his early years he established himself as an engraver, instrument maker and globe maker. In 1584 he moved to London to escape religious difficulties in Flanders. While in England, Hondius was instrumental in publicizing the work of Francis Drake, who had made a circumnavigation of the world in the late 1570s. In particular, in 1589 Hondius produced a now famous map of the bay of New Albion, where Drake briefly established a settlement on the west coast of North America. Hondius' map was based on journal and eyewitness accounts of the trip and has long fueled speculation about the precise location of Drake's landing, which has not yet been firmly established by historians. Hondius is also thought to be the artist of several well-known portraits of Drake that are now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. In 1593 he moved to Amsterdam, where he remained until the end of his life. In co-operation with the Amsterdam publisher Cornelis Claesz. in 1604 he purchased the plates of Gerard Mercator's Atlas from Mercator's grandson. Mercator's work had languished in comparison to the rival Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by Ortelius. Hondius republished Mercator's work with 36 additional maps, including several which he himself had produced. Despite the addition of his own contributions, Hondius gave Mercator full credit as the author of the work, listing himself as the publisher. Hondius' new edition of Mercator's work was a great success, selling out after a year. Hondius later published a second edition, as well as a pocket version Atlas Minor. The maps have since become known as the ""Mercator/Hondius series"" . In the French edition of the Atlas Minor we find one of the first instances of a thematic map using map symbols. This is a map entitled Designatio orbis christiani (1607) showing the dispersion of major religions. Between 1605 and 1610 he was employed by John Speed to engrave the plates for Speed's The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Hondius died, aged 48, in Amsterdam. After his death, his publishing work in Amsterdam was continued by his widow, two sons, Jodocus II and Henricus, and son-in-law Johannes Janssonius, whose name appears on the Atlas as co-publisher after 1633. Eventually, starting with the first 1606 edition in Latin, about 50 editions of the Atlas were released in the main European languages. In the Islamic world, the atlas was partially translated by the Turkish scholar Katip Çelebi. The series is sometimes called the ""Mercator/Hondius/Janssonius"" series because of Janssonius's later contributions.

Historical Description

The name in Roman times was Leodicum or Vicus Leodicus. In 717 the town developed as an episcopal see and in the Middle Ages it was an important political and cultural center. At the end of the Middle Ages it belonged to the territory of the Liege High Diocese. The ruling prince-bishops of Liège mostly came from the nobility of the Holy Roman Empire. n 1789, partly in connection with the French Revolution, the so-called Liège Revolution took place. It was directed against the absolutist rule of Prince-Bishop Caesar Constantin Franz von Hoensbroech and was put down in early 1791 by troops commissioned by the Holy Roman Empire. Liège is a cradle of the continental European coal and steel industry. In 1795, Liège was occupied by French troops, assigned to the Département de l'Ourthe and became part of the First French Republic. After the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, it became part of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands in 1815 and became part of the independent Kingdom of Belgium in 1830. As early as 1720, the first steam engine on the European mainland had started operation in a coal mine near Liège. From here, industrialization spread across the entire continent from the beginning of the 19th century. In particular, the steel company Cockerill-Sambre had its headquarters near Liège.