Von Erfindung derselben durch underschieliche Schiffart.

Title

Von Erfindung derselben durch underschieliche Schiffart.

Description

Illustration of locals in Maramures in Chile.

ca. 1600

Artist

Bry, de (1528-1598)

Theodorus de Bry (1528-1598) Frankfurt a.M. Around 1570, Theodorus de Bry, a Protestant, fled religious persecution south to Strasbourg, along the west bank of the Rhine. In 1577, he moved to Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant, which was part of the Spanish Netherlands or Southern Netherlands and Low Countries of that time (16th Century), where he further developed and used his skills as a copper engraver. Between 1585 and 1588 he lived in London, where he met the geographer Richard Hakluyt and began to collect stories and illustrations of various European explorations, most notably from Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues. Depiction of Spanish atrocities in the New World, as recounted by Bartolome de las Casas in Narratio Regionum indicarum per Hispanos Quosdam devastatarum verissima. In 1588, Theodorus and his family moved permanently to Frankfurt-am-Main, where he became citizen and began to plan his first publications. The most famous one is known as Les Grands Voyages, i.e., The Great Travels, or The Discovery of America. He also published the largely identical India Orientalis-series, as well as many other illustrated works on a wide range of subjects. His books were published in Latin, and were also translated into German, English and French to reach a wider reading public. The two collections of travelogues published by Theodor de Bry in Frankfurt are among the most important of the early modern period and established his reputation for posterity: He created The Arrival of Columbus in the New World in 1594. The West Indian Voyages (ed. 1590-1618) chronicled the discovery and conquest of the Americas by Europeans, while the East Indian Voyages followed the rise of Holland as a trading power in Asia around 1600. Both series appeared in German and Latin, were intended for a European audience, and were richly illustrated with copper engravings. Theodor de Bry was only able to publish six parts of his complete works. After his death, his sons Johann Theodor and Johann Israel and then Johann Theodor's son-in-law Matthäus Merian continued the work until 1634. In the end, it contained 25 parts and over 1500 copper engravings. The brothers were succeeded as engravers and publishers by Sebastian Furck.

Historical Description

In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, Ferdinand Magellan discovered the southern passage now named after him (the Strait of Magellan) thus becoming the first European to set foot on what is now Chile. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold. The Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Spanish Empire. Buccaneers and English adventurers menaced the colony in addition to the Mapuche, as was shown by Sir Francis Drake's 1578 raid on Valparaíso, the colony's principal port. Chile hosted one of the largest standing armies in the Americas, making it one of the most militarized of the Spanish possessions, as well as a drain on the treasury of the Viceroyalty of Peru.