Friesland – Willem Blaeu, 1640

FRIESLAND IN THE 17TH CENTURY

“Frisia Occidentalis”, copper engraving published by Willem Blaeu around 1640. Latin text on verso. With original hand colouring. Size: 37 × 49 cm.

After 1620, new surveys carried out by the land surveyors Adriaan Metius and Gerard Freitag gave publishers the opportunity to issue new maps of Friesland. In 1629, Jodocus Hondius produced an engraving originally intended for the Mercator–Hondius atlas, but it was published separately. The copperplate was purchased in 1630 by Willem Blaeu, who replaced Hondius’s name with his own. The map continued to be included in Blaeu’s atlases until 1664, although after several years it was revised and slightly altered.

When we speak of Frisia Occidentalis, or West Friesland, we now think of North Holland, the region between Alkmaar and Enkhuizen. But in earlier times this designation was used in the northern Netherlands for the Frisian territory west of the Dollart. The County of East Friesland was established in 1464 and is later referred to on maps as Frisia Orientalis.

In 1580, most of Friesland joined the Union of Utrecht. The province was then described as a “general lordship,” or the Lordship of Friesland. The States of Friesland consisted of delegates from the eleven cities and the thirty grietenijen (rural districts). From 1580 onward the stadtholders were always members of the House of Nassau. The former regions of Oostergo, Westergo, the Sevenwouden and the eleven cities together formed the quarters of Friesland.

Price: Euro 495,-