Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Grano mietitura / Guerre tra Svizzeri e Francesi e la Contea di Pfirt - 1550

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the inner sections of the third book of the Latin edition of 1550 of Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia universalis, printed in Basel by the publisher Heinrich Petri. The front of the page hosts the solemn chorographic section titled LIBER III (page 531), expressly dedicated by Münster to the description of Germany and its territorial boundaries. The Latin text unfolds under the heading Bella inter Helvetios et Gallum gesta (Cap. CXIII), offering a dense and detailed historical and military chronicle focused on the famous wars of the first half of the sixteenth century between Swiss soldiers and the crown of France for the control of the Duchy of Milan. Münster describes with severe tones the alternating fortunes of the armies, the tense diplomatic negotiations that involved Pope Julius II, described in the margin as “papa bellator,” and King Francis I, pausing on the memorable and bloody Battle of Marignano in 1515, remembered for its immense geopolitical and ecclesiastical impact in Europe. The visual composition of the front is enriched by a fine animated initial woodcut and accompanied by contemporaneous marginal glosses (Papa bellator, Helvetii vincunt Gallos, Diuion oppugnatur) printed as marginal guides to lead the scholar through the tangled threads of Renaissance conflicts.
Turning the page, the back (page 532) continues the development of the territorial chronicle with the heading DE GERMANIA containing the chorographic chapter titled De Sunggoia et comitatu Pfirt, quae hodie in superiori sunt Alsatia (Cap. CXIIII). The Latin text develops as a dense and erudite geographical and historiographical treatise on the Sundgovia region and the historic County of Pfirt, located in Upper Alsace at the border with the Swiss confederation. Münster examines the fertility of the hills rich in vineyards, the agrarian wealth of the valleys, and the industriousness of the local populations, inserting a dramatic account of the great plagues and famines that historically struck the area, decimating communities. The narration then shifts to the dense feudal network and the genealogy of the Counts of Pfirt, celebrating the ancient monastic foundations of the region, including the Cistercian abbey of Lucelle (Lucelle monasterium) and the convent of Masmünster, recounting the fates of the noble founders and their ties to the Dukes of Austria. The page is solemnly enriched by marginal typographical notes (Comitatus Pfirt, Lucelle monasterium) and closes with biographical notes and the moral codes of the rulers, whose important philosophical and historical deliberations on the changes of the peoples of the Earth have marked European culture through the centuries.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
Will be shipped by courier