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Decorative double page view illustrating prominent cities of Saxony in the 16th century: Halberstadt and Quedlinburg.
Halberstadt, depicted in the upper portion of the engraving, was a significant ecclesiastical center during the 16th century. The city’s prominent features in the illustration include its impressive cathedral and other notable churches, reflective of its status as the seat of the Bishopric of Halberstadt, established in the early Middle Ages. The city was an important hub for the Catholic Church, but like many regions in Germany, it experienced the religious upheavals of the Reformation.
During the 16th century, Halberstadt was a city marked by political and religious shifts. The Reformation led to the secularization of the bishopric's lands in 1540, transforming Halberstadt into a Lutheran stronghold under the influence of the Protestant Reformation. The city became a key player in the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes and cities opposing the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who sought to maintain Catholic dominance.
Halberstadt’s political significance during this period was further accentuated by its leaders, including Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who became the Administrator of Halberstadt in 1566. His tenure was characterized by efforts to maintain religious balance, although he faced challenges due to the broader conflicts between Protestant and Catholic forces in the region.
The lower portion of the engraving features Quedlinburg, a city renowned for its rich history and religious significance. Quedlinburg had been a center of imperial power since the early Middle Ages, originally founded by King Henry the Fowler in the 10th century. By the 16th century, Quedlinburg was an important abbey town, governed by the powerful Abbess of Quedlinburg, who wielded both spiritual and temporal authority over the city and its surrounding territories.
The illustration highlights the city's fortified walls and numerous churches, with the iconic Quedlinburg Abbey prominently featured. This Benedictine abbey was not only a religious center but also a political one, as the Abbess was a member of the Holy Roman Empire’s Imperial Diet, representing the interests of Quedlinburg as a Reichsstift (Imperial Abbey).
In the 16th century, Quedlinburg, like Halberstadt, was deeply affected by the Reformation. The abbey and its surrounding lands became a contested site between Protestant and Catholic forces. The abbess during much of this period, Anna II, Abbess of Stolberg, managed to maintain Catholic worship within the abbey, despite the growing influence of Lutheranism in the surrounding areas. However, the Protestant Reformation eventually took hold, and by the end of the century, Quedlinburg had largely embraced Protestantism.
Civitates Orbis Terrarum: The Greatest City Book
Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg began the process of creating a comprehensive atlas of the cities of the world in 1572. Their book, Civitates Orbis Terrarum, was originally intended as a companion to Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first true atlas.
The great atlas was edited by Georg Braun, with Franz Hogenberg engraving many of the views. When the project was finished, the series would contain over 546 views (sometimes with multiple views on a single plate).
Civitates Orbis Terrarum includes the work of over 100 artists and topographers, perhaps most notable among them was the superlative talent of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600). He provided original drawings of Spanish and Italian towns, as well as reworking and improving the town drawings of other artists. After Joris's death, his son Jakob continued the project.
The Civitates provides an incredibly comprehensive view of urban life in the late 16th century. Many of the views in these volumes are the earliest of their respective towns -- either absolutely, or they are predated only by impossible rarities, as in the case of London. Cities portrayed range from the great capitals of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas to small Swiss hamlets and other tiny villages. As such, this singular and indispensable source for understanding the early modern world.
The work was published in six volumes, each of which contained approximately sixty plates. The subject matter of each plate varied widely, it could provide a single view of a city, two views of the same city, or views of up to nine different cities. The range of designs is extensive, and it is interesting to compare the variety between views of the same city by two different authors.
Georg Braun (1541-1622) was born and died in Cologne. His primary vocation was as Catholic cleric; he spent thirty-seven years as canon and dean at the church St. Maria ad Gradus, in Cologne. Braun was the chief editor of the Civitates orbis terrarum, the greatest book of town views ever published. His job entailed hiring artists, acquiring source material for the maps and views, and writing the text. In this role, he was assisted by Abraham Ortelius. Braun lived into his 80s, and he was the only member of the original team to witness the publication of the sixth volume in 1617.
Frans Hogenberg (ca. 1540-ca. 1590) was a Flemish and German engraver and mapmaker who also painted. He was born in Mechelen, south of Antwerp, the son of wood engraver and etcher Nicolas Hogenberg. Together with his father, brother (Remigius), uncle, and cousins, Frans was one member of a prominent artistic family in the Netherlands.
During the 1550s, Frans worked in Antwerp with the famous mapmaker Abraham Ortelius. There, he engraved the maps for Ortelius’ groundbreaking first atlas, published in Antwerp in 1570, along with Johannes van Deotecum and Ambrosius and Ferdinand Arsenius. It is suspected he engraved the title page as well. Later, Ortelius supported Hogenberg with information for a different project, the Civitates orbis terrarium (edited by Georg Braun, engraved by Hogenberg, published in six volumes, Cologne, 1572-1617). Hogenberg engraved the majority of the work’s 546 prospects and views.
It is possible that Frans spent some time in England while fleeing from religious persecution, but he was living and working in Cologne by 1580. That is the city where he died around 1590. In addition to his maps, he is known for his historical allegories and portraits. His brother, Remigius, also went on to some fame as an engraver, and he died around the same time as his brother.
![Soest [and] Warborch (Warburg)](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/100676.jpg)
