Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis - Sovrani di Polonia e Ungheria - 1550

This original leaf is a precious Renaissance page drawn from the inner sections of the fourth book in 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 entitled LIBER IIII (page 1031), expressly dedicated by Münster to the description of the kingdoms of eastern Europe. The Latin text unfolds under the chorographic chapters Vladislaus dux Poloniae coronatur in regem (Cap. XXI) and Ioannes Hvniadis egregia facta (Cap. XXII), offering a dense and detailed historical and military chronicle focused on the complex dynastic vicissitudes of the Kingdom of Hungary. Münster describes with profound solemnity the coronation at Buda of King Ladislaus, the tense negotiations and the factions that divided the Hungarian nobility, then goes on to celebrate the formidable strategic talents and glorious exploits of the condottiero Giovanni Hunyadi (Ioannes Huniades), bulwark of Christendom against the advance of the Turkish armies led by Sultan Murad II in the territories of Transylvania and the Balkans. The visual composition of the front is enriched by a fine half-length woodcut depicting Captain Hunyadi in Renaissance armor with sword and shield, and is accompanied by contemporaneous marginal glosses printed by the same period (Ladislaus puer coronatur, Scisio populi, Vaiuoda) intended to guide the scholar through the convulsed events of this turbulent European chapter. Turning the page, the back (page 1032) continues the development of the territorial chronicle with the header DE VNGARIA containing the chorographic chapter entitled Ladislaus adultus a cunctis Vngaris suscipitur rex (Cap. XXIII). The Latin text develops as a dense and erudite historiographical discourse on the subsequent government of the young Ladislaus the Posthumous and on the deep internal political rifts within the realm, marked by the rivalries between the regency of Giovanni Hunyadi and the powerful feudal factions led by Count Ulrich of Cilli. Münster examines in detail the terms of pacification, the territorial diets of Vienna and Buda, and the bestowal of prestigious honorary titles, dwelling on the alternating fortunes of the nobility and on the moral concerns aroused by court intrigues before the final pacification promoted by Emperor Frederick. The page is solemnly enriched by typographic marginal notes (Io. Huniades gubernator regni, Huniades comes Bistricensis fit, Comes Cilie fortuna iactatur) and closes with the author's historiographical notes, whose monumental work is aimed at offering 16th-century scholars a universal guide to understanding the morals, geography, and changes of the peoples of the Earth through the ages.

Dimensions 30 x 20 cm
It will be shipped by courier