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Joan Blaeu, Duchies of Bremen-Verden Map, 17th Century
Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden, were two territories and immediate fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained imperial immediacy in 1180. In 1648, both prince-bishoprics were transformed into hereditary monarchies by constitution, and from then on both the Duchy of Bremen and the Duchy of Verden were always ruled in personal union, initially by the royal houses of Sweden, the House of Vasa and the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, and later by the House of Hanover. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Bremen-Verden's status as fiefs of imperial immediacy became void. Joan Blaeu (September 23, 1596 - December 21, 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635 they published the Atlas Novus (full title: Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas novus) in two volumes. The Atlas Maior is the final version of Joan Blaeu's atlas, published in Amsterdam between 1662 and 1672, in Latin, French, Dutch, German and Spanish, containing 594 maps and around 3,000 pages of text. The Blaeu maps emphasized fine art and colors, being the most expensive of the time. The Atlas Maior is widely considered a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Dutch/Netherlandish cartography.
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Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 17th, age, atlas, blaeu, bremen, bremen-verden, cartographic, cartographical, cartography, century, duchy, dutch, dutch/netherlandish, famous, geographic, geographical, geography, golden, historic, historical, history, joan, making, map, map-making, mapmaking, novus, seventeeth, verden