Plan of the Town and Fortifications of Gibraltar, exactly taken on the Spot in the Year 1738

Title

Plan of the Town and Fortifications of Gibraltar, exactly taken on the Spot in the Year 1738

Description

Bird's eye view of the city and fortifications of Gibraltar in 1738, with sailing ships in front and a cartouche with index.

ca. 1740

Artist

Rapin de Thoyras (1661-1725)

Paul de Rapin de Thoyras ( 1661 – 1725), sieur of Thoyras (and therefore styled Thoyras de Rapin), was a French historian writing under English patronage. The son of Jacques de Rapin, an avocat at Castres (Tarn), he was educated at the Protestant Academy of Saumur, and in 1679 became an advocate, but soon afterwards joined the army. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and the death of his father led him to move to England; but, unable to find work there, he went on to the Netherlands where he enlisted in a company of French volunteers at Utrecht, commanded by his cousin, Daniel de Rapin. He accompanied William III to England in 1688, and during the Williamite war in Ireland he took part in the Siege of Carrickfergus and the Battle of the Boyne, and was wounded at the Siege of Limerick (1690). Soon afterwards he was promoted to captain; but in 1693 he resigned in order to become tutor to the Earl of Portland's son. After travelling with the boy, he settled with his family (he married Marie-Anne Testart in 1699) in Holland, first at the Hague, then,at Wesel, in 1707.

Historical Description

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet, representing the Grand Alliance, captured the town of Gibraltar on behalf of the Archduke Charles of Austria in his campaign to become King of Spain. The occupation of the town by Alliance forces caused the exodus of the population to the surrounding area of the Campo de Gibraltar.As the Alliance's campaign faltered, the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht was negotiated and ceded control of Gibraltar to Britain to secure Britain's withdrawal from the war. Unsuccessful attempts by Spanish monarchs to regain Gibraltar were made with the siege of 1727 and again with the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779 to 1783), during the American War of Independence. Gibraltar became a key base for the Royal Navy and played an important role prior to the Battle of Trafalgar.