Antwerpen (Marquisate)

Super carte-à-figures

After 1623, the plates of the Kaerius atlas were sold to Claes Jansz. Visscher, who substituted his name for that of Van den Keere. In 1634, Visscher included many of these maps in his Germania Inferior.

Some 50 years later Nicolaes Visscher II (the grandson of C.J. Visscher) focuses on the great cultural heritage of the city. Its power was crippled, so its baroque grandeur, glorifying the city’s beauty and the richness, had to be displayed. The corner insets of this carte-à-figure show the cathedral, the city hall (see b/w view by Blaeu), the stock exchange and the Hanseatic House (see engraving also by Blaeu).

Both Kaerius and N. Visscher II show the coat of arms including the city shield with castle and two “hands” (“ant-”) and arms of the double headed Habsburg eagle. Brabant was part of the Holy Roman Empire; where Flanders was traditionally linked to the Kingdom of France.

On an historical note: From the 9th century the Carolingian monarchs staked certain semi-autonomous border areas in order to better defend their territory. The original purpose was to strengthen local military presence. Hence, the Marquisate (or Margraviate) of Antwerp on the River Scheldt, was born. The city of Antwerp was its central point, but the Margraviate also included the Marquisate of Bergen op Zoom, the barony of Breda, the city of Lier, the county of Hoogstraten, eight bailiwicks (meierijen), such as Turnhout, Herentals and Geel and finally nine fiefdoms (heerlijkheden), such as Wilrijk, Merksem, Berchem and Mol. However, with the Duchy of Brabant coming onto being in the 12th century, the Markgraviate Antwerp started losing its significance. Much later and within the context of the XVII Provinces, (which was a fixed number, but not always represented by the same 17 territories), the Margraviate of Antwerp sometimes held a seat in the States General (Staten-Generaal). However, in most cases it was represented through the Duchy of Brabant.