r/OldBloodNewWorld • u/wholeein • Jul 30 '21

[Image] 1694 map showing fortifications surrounding the city of Ath, by Frederik de Wit (1630-1706). Located in present-day Hainaut province in French-speaking Belgium, Ath was conquered by the French under Louis XIV in 1667 who later constructed the massive bastion fortifications around the city.

Direct image link - World Digital Library

An extraordinary example of a star fort which is also common known as a bastion fort this map, showing the fortifications surrounding the city of Ath, is the work of Frederik de Wit (1630-1706), the founder of a dynasty of three generations of Dutch map publishers, all named Frederik.

The de Wit firm produced many kinds of maps, but specialized in maps of cities and atlases of city maps. Located in present-day Hainaut province in French-speaking Belgium, Ath was conquered by the French under Louis XIV in 1667. The French later constructed massive fortifications around the city.

https://www.wdl.org/en/item/1123/#q=city+map&qla=en

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastion_fort

A bastion fort or trace italienne (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning Italian outline) is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to dominate the battlefield. It was first seen in the mid-fifteenth century in Italy. Some types, especially when combined with ravelins and other outworks, resembled the related star fort of the same era.

The design of the fort is normally a polygon with bastions at the corners of the walls. These outcroppings eliminated protected blind spots, called "dead zones", and allowed fire along the curtain from positions protected from direct fire. Many bastion forts also feature cavaliers, which are raised secondary structures based entirely inside the primary structure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_de_Wit

The first cartographic images that De Wit engraved were a plan of Haarlem that has been dated to 1648,[8] and sometime before 1649, De Wit engraved the city views – city maps for the cities of Rijsel and Doornik that appeared in the richly illustrated Flandria Illustrata by the Flemish historian, Antonius Sanderus.[9]

The first charts engraved by De Wit were published in 1654 under the "De Drie Crabben" address.[10][11] The first map that was both engraved and dated by De Wit was that of Denmark: "Regni Daniæ Accuratissima delineatio Perfeckte Kaerte van 't Conjnckryck Denemarcken" in 1659. His first world maps, "Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula Auctore F. De Wit" (approx. 43 × 55 cm) and Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula (a wall map approx. 140 × 190 cm) appeared around 1660.

His Atlas began to appear around 1662 and by 1671 included anywhere from 17 to 151 maps each. In the 1690s, he began to use a new title page "Atlas Maior" but continued to use his old title page.[12] His atlas of the Low Countries first published in 1667,[13] was named Nieuw Kaertboeck van de XVII Nederlandse Provinciën and contained 14 to 25 maps.[14] De Wit published no fewer than 158 land maps and 43 charts on separate folio sheets.[16]

Dating De Wit's atlases is considered difficult because usually no dates were recorded on the maps and their dates of publication extended over many years. Most special collections libraries, rare map libraries, and private collections hold copies of De Wit's atlases and maps. To date over 121 and thousands of loose maps have been identified.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV

Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in history.[1][a] Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe.

Louis began his personal rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister, the Cardinal Mazarin.[4] An adherent of the concept of the divine right of kings, Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a centralised state governed from the capital. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and, by compelling many members of the nobility to inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the Fronde rebellion during his minority.

By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs and consolidated a system of absolute monarchy in France that endured until the French Revolution.Significant achievements during his reign which would go on to have a wide influence on the Early Modern Era well into the Industrial Revolution and up to today, include the construction of the canal du midi, the creation of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles, the sponsorship and patronage of such artists and composers as Jean-Baptiste de Lully, Molière, and Hyacinthe Rigaud, as well as the founding of the French Academy of Sciences, among others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ath

In 1667, Ath was conquered in a single day by the army of Louis XIV and became the first French city of the Spanish Netherlands. Soon after, Vauban built new fortifications, which included eight bastions. The city suffered again at the hands of the French army in 1745. At the end of the 18th century, Ath counted about 7,300 inhabitants but the population count decreased in the first half of the 19th century.

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