Plan of Turin as Besieged in 1706

Title

Plan of Turin as Besieged in 1706

Description

Plan of the besieged city of Turin in 1706, Italy.

ca. 1710

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

The name of the town comes from tau, a Celtic word meaning "mountains". In the first century B.C. (probably in 28 B.C.) the Romans built a military camp here (Castra Taurinorum), which was later dedicated to the Emperor Augustus (Augusta Taurinorum). After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city was conquered first by the Lombards, then by the Franks, and ruled by bishops. At the end of the 13th century the Dukes of Savoy took the city. Emanuel Philibert made Turin the capital of the Duchy of Savoy in 1563. The unification of Italy in 1861 made Turin the Italian capital. King Victor Emmanuel II ruled from here, and 14 different castles bear witness to its stately past. However, being the capital was a status that the city had to pass on to Florence just four years later. The opening of the Mont-Cenis railroad tunnel in 1871 made Turin an important transportation hub.