Edutainment > Historical Maps Netherlands

Southwest England by Mercator

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century Holland was a powerful nation in overseas trade. In 1581 the Dutch became independent from the Spanish king. In an atmosphere free of religious suppression Antwerp and Amsterdam became centers for the arts and science. And Dutch cartographers and map makers were as dominant in Europe as were Dutch ships on the seven seas of the world.

Gerardus Mercator 1512-1594

Gerardus Mercator is something like the father of modern map making. His original name was Gerhard Kremer. At that time Latin was the lingua franca of the scholars and many adopted a Latin name just as it is fashionable today to use English as an International language.

Gerardus Mercator was born in Rupelmonde in Flanders and had studied geography, cartography and mathematics at the University of Louvain in Belgium. He published his first map in 1537 at the age of 25 - a map of Palestine. Mercator introduced today's way of displaying a map with 90 degree parallel lines for the latitudes and meridians.

Mercator's main work, a three volume world atlas, was published in several editions from 1585 on and beyond his death in 1594. Gerardus Mercator was the first to use the word atlas. In 1604 another famous cartographer, Jodocus Hondius had acquired Mercator's original plates and published several more editions. The subsequent generation of mapmakers more or less copied from Mercator's world atlas.

Different name writings:  Gerardius Mercator, Gerhard Kremer

Abraham Ortelius 1528-1598

Northern Africa by Abraham Ortelius

Abraham Ortelius was born in Antwerp. He later studied Greek and Latin and mathematics. He established himself in Antwerp as a book and map dealer and cartographer. He became famous with a very successful world atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. This was probably the first collection of maps in book form twenty years before Mercator published his atlas. The Theatrum Orbis Theatrum was so successful that it had to be reprinted four times in its first year of publication. The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum was published in 36 editions and in 7 languages - Latin, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, English and Italian. A tremendous success for a cartographer in the 16th century! Ortelius was also the first to note the reference sources for his maps by mentioning other cartographers. The map publishing business was basically a copy cat business in those days.

Different name writings:  Abraham Ortel

Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer 1534-1598

The discovery of America and subsequent explorations had boosted world trade. There was a great need for navigational aids in the form of good sea charts. This became the domain of Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer. He published a series of charts under the title Spiegel der Zervaerdt. His charts were lavishly decorated. The charts of Waghenaer became so popular that his name became a brand name in the English language. The British adopted the word waggoners as a name for sea charts in general.

Jodocus Hondius 1563-1612

Jodocus Hondius was born in Flanders. He learned the business of map and globe making and engraving from scratch as an apprentice. In 1584 he went to London for a few years to escape religious turmoils in Flanders. In 1593 Hondius settled in Amsterdam as an engraver and publisher.

In 1604 Jodocus Hondius bought the original plates of Mercator's World Atlas and enlarged the number of maps by about forty. From 1606 Hondius published this extended edition under the name of Mercator and his own name as a publisher. Before his death, Hondius had published also a small-size version, the Atlas Minor. The publishing company was continued by his widow and his sons, Jodocus II and Henricus Hondius, after the death of Jodocus Hondius in 1612.

Different name writings:  Henricus Hondius

Pieter van den Keere 1571-ca.1646

Pieter van den Keere was another immigrant in London who had fled from the religious unrest and persecutions on the European mainland. In London he met Jodocus Hondius who became his brother-in-law when his sister married Hondius.

Under the influence of Hondius, Pieter van den Keere learned engraving and cartography. He engraved 44 maps of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Different name writings:  Petrus Kaerius

Petrus Bertius 1565-1629

Petrus Bertius was a very versatile personality. He worked as a theologist, mathematician, historian and geographer. Beginning in 1600, on order of King Louis XIII he created a small-sized atlas based on maps of Mercator and town views of van den Keere and others. In 1618 he moved to Paris and became the official cartographer of Louis XIII.

Different name writings:  Petrus Bert

Willem Janszoon Blaeu 1571-1638

Willem Blaeu is one of the best-known Dutch cartographers. He was born in Alkmaar and died in Amsterdam. In 1599 Blaeu established a business in Amsterdam as an instrument and globe maker, cartographer and map publisher. In 1635 he published the world atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in two volumes. This atlas was later extended to twelve volumes by his sons Cornelis and Joan, who had continued the business of their father.

Different names used by Willem Janszoon Blaeu:  Guilielmus Janssonius, Willems Jans Zoon, Guilielmus, G. Blaeu

Jan Jansson 1588-1664

Jan Jansson was a cartographer and a co-worker of Jodocus Hondius. He later became his successor when he married the daughter of his master Hondius. Jan Jansson was the business rival of Blaeu and apparently had no restraints in copying from his rival. After Jansson's death, the publishing company was continued by his brother-in law, Waesberg.

Different name writings:  Janssonius, Johann, Joannes, Johannes Janssonius

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