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Hogenberg, old view of Rijmenam, Gschichtsblätter

Geschichtsblätter: 1578 Battle of Rijmenam

by Frans Hogenberg

Detail

Date: 31 July or 1 August 1578

Dimensions (not including margins): 21 x 27,5 cm

Condition: Very good. Strong paper and wide margins. Centre fold as published.

Condition rating: A+

Verso: blank

Text at bottom: in German

Item number:: 50004
Region:: Europe
Benelux
Belgium cities
War maps
Categories:: Recent Additions

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Our commentary

Hogenberg shows the battle at Rijmenam on 31 July or 1 August 1578

After his stunning victory in the Battle of Gembloux (see N° 50006), the troops under Spanish Governor-General of the Habsburg Netherlands, Don Juan, moved up north.

Don Juan disposed of some 18.000-foot and 2.000 horse, while his opponents had 12.000-foot and 5.000 horse.

After his defeat, Don Juan retreated to Tienen, then Namur. Thus, he relinquished most of the territorial gains after Gembloux. While encamped near Namur he died from a sudden illness (probably typhus) on 1 October 1578.

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Hogenberg and his Geschichtsblätter (news prints)

The publication of news prints was already in vogue in the 16th century before Hogenberg published his well-known Geschichtsblätter. In printing houses in Rome (Lafreri) and Venice (Gastaldi), the cartographers also published these such news prints. The preferred topics were then-current political or military images. Publishing news prints actually went hand in hand with the publication of maps.

Hogenbergs Geschichtsblätter are a collection of several hundred history papers that Frans Hogenberg and his son Abraham published between 1569 and 1637. The central theme is the Eighty Years’ War (1568 – 1648), but some views also show the French Religious Wars (1559 – 1573) and the English dynastic disputes. The Geschichtsblätter illustrate in an almost photographic way an act of war with a German caption at the bottom, sometimes in verse form, dating the fact. They provide both a visual and a narrative picture of the evolution of the war. The different engraving styles show that several engravers contributed to this work in the studio of the Hogenberg family. The Geschichtsblätter were sold loose-leaf and were popular.

Several editions of the Geschichtsblätter are known with varying numbers of pages and varying comments.