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Rare plan of the Battle of Moncontou, France, by an early anonymous 'Laferi School' mapmaker.
Finely engraved battle plan depicting the Battle of Moncontour (near Poictou, France) in 1563.
The map shows the area of La Rochelle , Nantes , Tours and Limoges with Poitiers in the center .
The view shows the Battle of Moncontour, which took place on October 3, 1569, illustrates the Catholic perception of the Huguenot wars, a successful outcome, broadcast to an Italian public which had provided both financial and military support.
The Battle of Moncontour was fought October 3, 1569, between the Catolic forces of King Charles IX of France and the Huguenots, during Third War of the French Wars of Religion. Coligny broke off the Siege of Poitou, and joined with German allies, moved south, after the French were reinforced with mercenaries.
Henry, Duke of Anjou, attacked before Coligny could join with Gabriel, comte de Montgomery. The Swiss pikemen shattered the Huguenot landsknechts. 8,000 Huguenots surrendered.
The Lafreri School is a commonly used name for a group of mapmakers, engravers, and publishers who worked in Rome and Venice from ca. 1544 to 1585. The makers, who were loosely connected via business partnerships and collaborations, created maps that were then bound into composite atlases; the maps would be chosen based on the buyer or compiler’s interests. As the maps were initially published as separate-sheets, the style and size of maps included under the umbrella of the “School” differed widely. These differences can also be seen in the surviving Lafreri atlases, which have maps bound in with varying formats including as folded maps, maps with wide, trimmed, or added margins, smaller maps, etc.
The most famous mapmakers of the School included Giacomo Gastaldi and Paolo Forlani, among others. The School’s namesake, Antonio Lafreri, was a map and printseller. His 1572 catalog of his stock, entitled Indice Delle Tavole Moderne Di Geografia Della Maggior Parte Del Mondo, has a similar title to many of the composite atlases and thus his name became associated with the entire output of the larger group.
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