1550 Munster Leaves Bohemia Prague University Charles

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1550 Description of Germany and Bohemia from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Kings of Germany and Bohemia: John of Luxembourg; Louis IV, Charles IV; Wenceslas, Günther
Prague, University of Prague
Flagellation, Brotherhood of the Cross
Two Leaves; Three Woodcut Pictures

Two authentic woodcut leaves from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1550. Book III ("Von dem Deutschen land"), pages cccliii-ccclvi (353-56).

Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar whose Cosmographia (1544; "Cosmography") was the earliest German description of the world and a major work - after the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 - in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared during 1544-1628. Although other cosmographies predate Münster's, he is given first place in historical discussions of this sort of publication, and was a major influence on his subject for over 200 years. Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of detail about the known - and unknown - world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time. Aside from the well-known maps and views present in the Cosmographia (including the first separate printed map of the Western Hemisphere), the text is thickly sprinkled with vigorous woodcuts: portraits of kings and princes, costumes and occupations, habits and customs, flora and fauna, monsters and horrors. Of about 20 German editions of the Cosmographia, the 1550 edition is the most valued. Click here for the title page of the 1550 German edition (not included).

Click here for more information about Münster and Cosmographia, including the content and list of editions and artists

These two most interesting authentic woodcut leaves from the 1550 German edition of Cosmographia are devoted to Germany and Bohemia. Pages 353-4 talk about John of Luxembourg (John of Bohemia). He was born the son of the future Holy Roman emperor Henry VII of the house of Luxembourg and was made count of Luxembourg in 1310. At about the same time, he also was named king of Bohemia, and on Feb. 7, 1311, he was solemnly crowned at Prague. When his father died in 1313, John was too young to succeed him as emperor and supported instead the election of Louis the Bavarian as Emperor Louis IV (1314). John subsequently sided with Louis in his struggle against Frederick of Austria (1322); but in later years he was estranged from the Emperor. John's continuing quarrels with the Emperor brought him into alliance with the papacy; and in 1346, in concert with Pope Clement VI, he secured the formal deposition of Louis IV and the election of his son Charles as king of the Romans (July 1346).

Louis IV the Bavarian was named German king (from 1314), and Holy Roman emperor (1328-47), first of the Wittelsbach line of German emperors. By isolating John of Bohemia and issuing a formal waiver of his own claims to the Tirol, Louis managed to force John to renounce all claims to Italy, to declare himself a vassal, and to acknowledge Louis emperor in 1339.

Pages 354 (bottom)-356 talk about Charles IV of Luxembourg (Wenceslas), German king and king of Bohemia from 1346 to 1378 and Holy Roman emperor from 1355 to 1378. Under Charles's rule Prague became the political, economic, and cultural centre - and eventually the capital - of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1348 he founded Charles University ("hohe schul") in Prague, the first in central Europe. In 1354 Charles led an army into Italy to secure recognition of the authority of the House of Luxembourg and of the patrimonial dominions of Bohemia. Early in 1355 he received the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan, and that Easter he received the imperial crown in Rome. Back in Prague, Charles issued the decree known as the Golden Bull, a kind of imperial constitution. Charles's last wish was to secure the succession to the throne for his eldest son, Wenceslas. After long and difficult negotiations, Wenceslas was elected the German king. Charles died in 1378.

Page 355 mentions flagellation, an extreme form of mortification of one's own flesh by whipping it with various instruments. The peak of Flagellantism was during the Black Death, which began around 1347. Spontaneously Flagellant groups arose across northern and central Europe in 1349. At Spires (Speyer), two hundred boys, of twelve years of age and under, constituted themselves into a Brotherhood of the Cross, in imitation of the children who, about a hundred years before, had united, at the instigation of some fanatic monks, for the purpose of recovering the Holy Sepulchre.

Page 356 (bottom) contains a section on Günther, count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg and rival king of Germany (1349), who claimed the throne as successor to the Holy Roman emperor Louis IV the Bavarian in opposition to Charles of Luxembourg.

The leaves contain three woodcut pictures:

• Portrait of Charles IV of Luxembourg
• A flagellant whipping his body
• Portrait of Günther, count of Schwarzburg

Pages measure 8.3 x 12.8 inches. Margins suitable for framing. Printed on quality laid paper. The leaves are in good condition. Imperfections: minor browning; one marginal wormhole. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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