The Dukdome of Brabant. / Barabantia 451

Title

The Dukdome of Brabant. / Barabantia 451

Description

Map shows Brabant in the Netherlands with title cartouche. Verso p. 452 with English description.

ca. 1630

Artist

Hondius/Sparke (1563-1612)

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

After the division of the Franconian Empire, the lower lands belonged to the East Franconian Kingdom (Regnum Teutonicum) and then to the Holy Roman Empire. Under Emperor Charles V, who was also King of Spain, the country was divided into seventeen provinces and also included what is now Belgium and parts of northern France and western Germany. The rift between Catholics loyal to Spain and radical Calvinists was torn too deep and led to the Calvinist provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht joining together in a defensive alliance in 1579, the Union of Utrecht. This treaty became the charter of a new state, the Republic of the United Netherlands. Only after an eighty-year war was the independence of the Netherlands from Spain recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in May 1648. This date is considered the birthday of today's Netherlands. As a result, as the republic of the Seven United Provinces, the Netherlands grew to become the greatest trading and economic power of the 17th century. This era is known as the Golden Age. However, this did not come from the state, but from the first two public companies in history, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC). The founding of New Amsterdam is well known (Nieuw Amsterdam), which was later renamed New York. In Asia, the Dutch created their colonial empire, the Dutch East Indies, what is now Indonesia. The Netherlands also gained colonies in northeastern South America. In Europe, the Netherlands was a great power in the 17th century, led by bourgeois politicians like Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Johan de Witt.