Maastricht – Joan Blaeu, 1649

“Maestricht – Traiectum ad Mosam”. Copper engraving published in Amsterdam by Joan Blaeu in 1649 as part of his town book “Novum Ac Magnum Theatrum Urbium Belgicae Liberae Ac Foederatae.” Coloured by a later hand. Size: 41 × 52.5 cm.

Maastricht originated at a fordable crossing (“tricht”) in the River Maas. This location was inhabited long before Roman times. In the fourth century it became an episcopal city under Saint Servatius, the first bishop of the Netherlands. According to legend, Saint Servatius built the Church of Our Lady. The present church dates from the eleventh century. On the plan, the church is shown without a name in the south-eastern part of the city. This church formed the centre of Maastricht until the city walls were constructed in 1229. The new urban centre then became the Vrijthof. However, the seventeenth-century plan clearly shows that the city’s built-up area was still largely concentrated around the Church of Our Lady. On the Vrijthof stand two major churches: the Basilica of Saint Servatius and Saint John’s Church.

At the beginning of the thirteenth century Maastricht came under the rule of two overlords: the Duke of Brabant and the Prince-Bishop of Liège. For this reason, in the upper corners of the map—besides the municipal coat of arms (a white star on a red field)—the arms of Gerard van Groesbeek are also shown. He was Prince-Bishop of Liège from 1564 to 1580 and, from 1578, a cardinal (his arms crowned with the cardinal’s hat). Why does his coat of arms appear on the map? Blaeu’s plan of 1649 was a faithful adaptation of a plan published in the city atlas of Braun & Hogenberg in 1581. Braun & Hogenberg placed three coats of arms on their map: the city arms of Maastricht in the centre, and in the corners the arms of the two rulers, Gerard van Groesbeek and King Philip II (as Duke of Brabant). Blaeu omitted the royal arms and moved the city arms to the vacant corner. He did not take the trouble to look up the arms of the prince-bishop in office in 1649 (Ferdinand of Bavaria).

Price: Euro 1.450,-