Geography 017 - Map of Leo Belgicus - 1611

A famous map made by the Dutch artist Claes Jansz Visscher (1587 – 1652). The map shows the Netherlands and part of modern Belgium in the form of a lion - the Leo Belgicus (latin for 'the Belgium Lion') - the term Belgium/ Belgicus/ Belgica was the common term in the Middle Ages until the 16th century to identify the entire Low countries (Modern Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg) and was the usual Latin translation of the Netherlands. The idea of depicting these countries in the form of a lion comes from Austrian Michael von Aitzing in his book De Leone Belgico (1583). In the preface von Aitzing explains that Caesar mentioned in his "Commentaries" that the 'Belgae' were the strongest tribes of all. Because of this and the Dutch war of independence against Spain, von Aitzing introduced the Netherlands in the shape of a lion - the lion being a symbol of strength and bravery. This map was made on the occasion of the 12 years truce (1609-1621) during the Dutch war of independence (1568-1648). The map shows the liberated Netherlands and the 'Spanish Netherlands' (modern Belgium) and a whole serie of symbols relevant to this event: in the right lower corner is 'Slapende Oorlogh', an all

Date

1611

Mapmaker / publisher

BioKnowlogy

Place

Belgium

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

1,600 × 1,320 pixels

Need maps for a whole project? Add Find Any Map to Claude and ask for this one by its id: 139540.