Universus Terrarum orbis. 296 / Questa Tauola, E l’ Antica Siria ch’Cra destinta in dodici Tribu

Title

Universus Terrarum orbis. 296 / Questa Tauola, E l’ Antica Siria ch’Cra destinta in dodici Tribu

Description

Map shows Asia Minor with Terra Sancta, Cyprus and a title cartouche, as well as a sailing ship and four sea monsters. The reverse shows a bird's-eye view of the Croatian island of Pag with several ship staffages and three sea monsters.

ca. 1580

Artist

Valegio (1560-)

Francesco Valegio (born 1560) was an italien painter, Lithograph and publisher in Venice until around 1580.

Historical Description

Since the Bronze Age, Cyprus has supplied the eastern Mediterranean with copper. In the late Bronze Age, trading cities such as Enkomi arose on Cyprus, which were in close contact with the Levant. To the Hittites and Ugarites, Cyprus (or part of the island) was known as Alašija. In 332 BC the kings of Cyprus passed to Alexander the Great and Cyprus was incorporated into his empire. In 1191, the English King Richard the Lionheart, who helped lead the Third Crusade, conquered the island. Ottoman rule lasted from 1571 to 1878. In 1878, the Ottoman Empire leased the island to Britain in return for support against an advance by the Russians in the Russo-Ottoman War (1877-1878). Efforts by Greek Cypriots to unify Cyprus with Greece led to an uprising in 1931. In 1960 Cyprus became independent as a result of the Zurich and London Agreements between Britain, Greece, and Turkey.