This mid-17th-century map, titled "Imperii Caroli Magni et Descriptio", meaning "The Description of the Empire of Charlemagne", offers a historical cartographic representation of Europe as it was perceived during the Carolingian period under Charlemagne (r. 768–814).
The map reflects renewed scholarly and cultural interest in Charlemagne’s empire, which spanned vast regions of Western and Central Europe. It served as both a historical and geographical depiction, showing territories across modern-day France, Germany, Italy, the Low Countries, and parts of the Balkans.
The map highlights key geographical and political divisions of Charlemagne’s dominion. Mountain ranges, rivers, and coastlines are rendered with remarkable clarity, emphasizing the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and North Sea as boundaries of the Carolingian influence. Regions such as Francia, Italia, Germania, and the Danube Valley are detailed, showcasing their significance in the empire. Notably, smaller insets—like the map of the British Isles—add context to Charlemagne’s interactions with peripheral territories.
The wind rose in the lower left corner is marked "Nomina Francica XII Ventorum" (The Names of the Twelve French Winds), attributed to Charlemagne, reflecting the scholarly effort to classify winds—a testament to Carolingian interest in science and navigation.
Produced during a time when the concept of a unified Europe under Christian rule gained prominence, this map is both an homage to Charlemagne and a reflection of the political ambitions of the 17th-century European powers. The Carolingian empire symbolized a golden age of centralized governance, culture, and religion, ideals that resonated deeply during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
In the textual excerpt near the upper left, notable nations such as the Dani (Danes), Sueones (Swedes), and Nordmanos (Norsemen) are mentioned, emphasizing Charlemagne’s conflicts and interactions with northern European tribes. The southern Slavic peoples (Sclavi) and Avars (Welatabi) are referenced as key groups subdued by Charlemagne’s campaigns.
The decorative compass rose below the wind diagram, labeled Pyxis Nautica Loquitur ("The Nautical Compass Speaks"), adds poetic flair, reinforcing the Carolingian legacy of exploration and order.
Petrus Bertius was a Flemish historian, theologian, geographer, and cartographer. Known in Dutch as Peter de Bert, Bertius was born in Beveren. His father was a Protestant preacher and his family fled to London around 1568. The young Bertius only returned to the Low Countries in 1577, to attend the University of Leiden. A bright pupil, Bertius worked as a tutor and was named subregent of the Leiden Statencollege in 1593. He ascended to the position of regent in 1606, upon the death of the former regent, who was also Bertius’ father-in-law. However, due to his radical religious views, he eventually lost his teaching position and was forbidden from offering private lessons.
His brothers-in-law were Jodocus Hondius and Pieter van den Keere, who were both prominent cartographers. Bertius began his own cartographic publishing in 1600 when he released a Latin edition of Barent Langenes’ miniature atlas Caert Thresoor (1598). He published another miniature atlas that first appeared in 1616.
By 1618, Bertius was named cosmographer to Louis XIII. He converted to Catholicism and took up a position as professor of rhetoric at the Collège de Boncourt (University of Paris). In 1622, Louis XIII created a chart of mathematics specifically for Bertius and named him his royal historian. He died in Paris in 1629.