Peregrinationis divi Pauli typus Corographicus.

Title

Peregrinationis divi Pauli typus Corographicus.

Decorative example of Ortelius' map of the travels of St. Paul the Apostle through the Mediterranean, extending west to Italy and east to the Euphrates, including parts of the Red Sea and the Black Sea. Two ornate scenes from the St. Paul's travels are illustrated and colored with unusual detail. Several sailing ships and sea monsters in the Mediterranean. At the bottom, a quote from Corinthians.Reference: Van den Broecke 181; Laor 545; Karrow 16c.

ca. 1589

Artist

Ortelius (1527-1598)

Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) was a Flemish cartographer and publisher from Antwerp. Originally a map colorist, he became a major figure in cartography through his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570), considered the first modern atlas—a uniform collection of reliable maps in book form. Influenced by Gerardus Mercator, Ortelius published several maps before compiling the Theatrum, which clearly showed America as a separate continent. The work was published in 42 editions and 7 languages by 1612. Unlike many of his peers, Ortelius cited his sources, and his atlas became a milestone in mapmaking and geographic knowledge.

Historical Description

Numerous paleoanthropological finds, for example from the Arago cave near Perpignan, prove that Homo erectus already lived in the Mediterranean. In the period of several hundred thousand years, the polar ice caps repeatedly expanded, glaciers covered the high mountains during the ice ages. The sea level was therefore temporarily up to 150 meters below today's level. The Strait of Gibraltar temporarily closed. The Stone Age replaced the Stone Age in different regions. Copper spreads first, then bronze. Spain, rich in metals, began around 2300 BC. The Bronze Age (El Argar culture). Numerous fortified settlements were created. The first states emerged with the Pharaoh dynasties around 3000 BC. BC in Egypt. Almost simultaneously, the first city-states were formed on the Levant and Aegean coasts. The great empires of the early days of Assyria, Babylonia and the Hittites - temporarily expanded into the Mediterranean area. Since the archaic period, i.e. from 800 BC BC, ancient Greece also emerged as a trading power and increasingly created competition for the Phoenicians. The Greeks settled as far as the Rhône (Massilia) and the Crimea and set up offices and factories as far as Egypt. Tuscany was the settlement area of the Etruscans, who also controlled the rich iron deposits of Elba. This culture developed from the local Villanova culture, later under strong Greek and Syrian ("oriental") influence. In Rome, the founding of Rome began with the slow but steady rise of the Romans, which began around 500 BC. BC finally emancipated from the Etruscans and founded the republic. The south of the Apennine Peninsula was characterized by the Greek colonies ("Magna Graecia"). At the same time, the Persian empire extended to Egypt and the Bosphorus, subjugating the Phoenicians and the Egyptians. The period of great Persian expansion coincided with the blossoming of Greece, which was able to ward off the Persian invasions in several battles. While the Greeks colonized large parts of the northern Mediterranean coast, the Phoenicians - after (Tire) had lost their independence - built Carthage in North Africa as a new power base and also established commercial branches in Spain (Cadiz), Morocco, Corsica and Sardinia. Sicily was contested between the great powers at that time because of its rich resources and location. In late antiquity, the slow Christianization of the Roman state began, which should have far-reaching consequences, such as the rejection of paganism. The late Middle Ages were characterized by a sustained upswing in the Italian area. Especially the Republic of Venice. The most important naval powers of the early modern period continued to be Venice and Genoa, which dominated trade with the Arab world and thus to Southeast Asia. They also had numerous colonies in the eastern Mediterranean. The War of the Spanish Succession brought about a reorganization of the western and central Mediterranean region in 1713. The French expansion was initially stopped, Spain was reduced to the mainland and the Balearic Islands and the Italian area was redistributed among the rulers. The winner was above all the Habsburg-Austrian line, which also won southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and Milan. However, this situation did not last long: the Spanish-Bourbon royal family soon regained control of the Italian territory. Most of the Maghreb were now ruled by Berber tribes, which were beyond the control of the Ottoman Empire but neglected the economy. Morocco and Algeria were marginalized economically, which invited the Spaniards to invasions. The Ceuta and Melilla bases are still under Spanish control.