Cartographica Neerlandica Map Text for Ortelius Map No. 160


Text, scholarly version, translated from the 1570L(ABC), 1571L, 1573L(AB), 1574L, 1575L, 1579L(AB), 1580/1589G, 1584L, 1588S, 1592L, 1595L, 1601L, 1602G, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L and 1609/1612/1641S editions:

160.1. {1570L(ABC){SCANDIA Or THE NORTHERN Regions {1606E instead{Kingdoms}1606E instead}.
160.2. This map contains almost the entire Northern area of the known world, but especially the peninsula known to the old writers by these names: Scandia, Scandinavia, Baltia and Basilia, but [it was] scarcely known to them. With regard to its vastness, they called it Another World, and the workshop of men, and as it were the sword-sheath from where so many nations have been drawn. {1595L, not in 1602G{But about the various names for this region, read what we have written for the map of Iceland, and also in our Treasury of Geography [Ortelius' Thesaurus], on the entry BASILIA}1595L, not in 1602G}.
160.3. This peninsula in these, our times, contains three kingdoms, namely Norway, Sweden and Gotland, and part of the kingdom of Denmark, and many other provinces, such as Bothnia, Finmark, Finland, Lapland &c., whose various descriptions we will here present from Jacobus Zieglerus.
160.4. NORVEGIA means the Northern tract or the Northern way. This was once a most flourishing kingdom, and comprised Denmark, and Friesland with the Islands adjacent to it, until the time that it became a kingdom, governed by a hereditary succession of kings. Since then it failed in line, and at the time of the [king's] vacancy, it was decided by the nobility that their kings should be chosen by elections.
160.5. Nowadays it is under the jurisdiction of the kings of Denmark, who do not only take the revenues and tolerable taxation lawfully due to the crown, but also grab all useful commodities, and convey all the wealth of this country to Denmark. And this is aggravated by the natural properties of the place. For all the Norwegian shipping is at the command of the king of Denmark, so that they may not without his permission go to sea, nor export their merchandise to foreign countries.
160.6. This kingdom, either due to temperature of the air, or the excellence of the soil, or the benefits of the sea, is of no mean importance. It exports to other parts of Europe a kind of cod-fish (Aselli) {1588S, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead{Merlu}1588S, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead}, slit and hung out on wooden poles, which is then dried and hardened with frost. Therefore, the Germans call it Stockfisch.
160.7. The best time of the year to catch this fish is in January, when the weather is coldest to dry them. Those [fish] that are caught in the months when the weather is milder, rot away, and are unfit for export. The entire sea coast of Norway is very temperate, and the sea does not freeze. The snow there is not long-lived.
160.8. SWEDEN is a kingdom rich with silver, copper, lead, iron, corn and cattle. A wonderful abundance of fish is caught here in the rivers, lakes, as well as in the main ocean. There is much game and many wild animals here. Stockholm is the king's seat and the chief market town, a city fortified both by nature and by the industry of man. It is located in a marsh, like Venice, hence its name Stockholm, being situated in waters and being built on piles, {1606E only{which they call Stockes}1606E only}{1608/1612I only{as Strabo notes of Ravenna, and as they now use in Venice}1608/1612I only}.
160.9. GOTHIA, {1606E only{(Gotland),}1606E only} that is: Good Land, is subject to the king of Sweden. In it there is the harbour and market town Calmar, a great city. Here is an excellent castle, which for its large size is not inferior to that of Milan. Near Tingvalla there are mines with excellent iron. So far for Zieglerus.
160.10. Of DENMARK {1573L(AB){and the BRITISH ISLES}1573L(AB)} we will say nothing in this place, noting that we discuss them at their own maps. On this map we also see ICELAND, an island {not in 1595L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L{(by the ancients called Tyle)}not in 1595L, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I & 1609/1612L}, famous for its miracles and works of nature. The same for GREENLAND, another island known to very few. {1573L(AB){Here also is FRIESLAND,} {1606E only{a third island}1606E only} altogether unknown to ancient writers. Nor is it named by the later Geographers or Hydrographers, but only by Nicolao Zeno, a Venetian who in the year of Christ 1380, tossed around by many bitter storms in this sea, shipwrecked on this island.
160.11. This author states that this island is subject to the king of Norway. He claims it to be larger than Ireland and says that the chief town has the same name as the island itself, and finally, that the people of this country mostly live by fishing. For in the harbour of this town they catch such an abundance of all sorts of fish, that from there they load entire ships with it, and transport them to other, adjacent islands.
160.12. The sea next to this island Westwards is full of shelves and rocks, he writes, and is called by the inhabitants Mare Icarium, Icarus sea, and an island in it, he says, is named ICARIA. About the isle of GREENLAND he writes that the winter here lasts for nine months, and during all that time it never rains, nor does the snow which falls at the beginning of the winter ever melt, until its very end.
160.13. [What now follows seems to refer to Iceland, rather than to Greenland:] But it is most wonderful what he tells about the Monastery of the order of the Friar Predicants, dedicated to the honour of St. Thomas on this island, namely that there is not far from it a mountain which, like the Ætna {1608/1612I only{or Mongibello {1606E & 1608/1612I only{in Sicilia}1606E & 1608/1612I only} emitting huge flames of fire, and that there is at the same place a fountain with hot and scalding waters with which not only all the rooms of the monastery are heated in the manner of stoves and hot houses, but which is also used to bake and fry all kinds of bread and other food, without any other fire.
160.14. The entire monastery is built with a kind of hollow [porous] or light stone, cast forth by the flames of that burning mountain. These burning stones, being by nature somewhat fatty and oily, are solid and firm, but being quenched in water, they become dry, full of holes, and light. And the water with which they were quenched is turned into a sticky kind of stuff like bitumen which can be used to build with these stones, instead of mortar, And thus built, they are a good protection against the injuries of all kinds of weather.
160.15. Their orchards and gardens too, watered with this [kind of] water, are always green and flourish almost all year long, with all manner of flowers, kinds of corn and fruits. This priory stands at the sea shore and has a reasonably capacious and large harbour, into which the spring just mentioned empties its waters, making it so warm that it never freezes, not even in the hardest and most bitter frost.
160.16. There is here such an abundance of {not in 1606E & 1608/1612I{sea creatures and}not in 1606E & 1608/1612I} fish, which flock to this place from colder places that not only the monks, but also their neighbours in the area are furnished with ample provisions of victuals. These things, amongst many others, Zenus has written about these islands. He was made ruler of some islands around here by a certain Zichimnus, and {not in 1580/1589G & 1602G{as high admiral of his navy}not in 1580/1589G & 1602G}, explored all these Northern coasts}1573L(AB)}.
160.17. {1579L(A){The isle of FRIESLAND has again in our days been described on the initiative {1580/1589G & 1602G only{good fortune and reputation}1580/1589G & 1602G only} {1588S, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead{industry}1588S, 1602S & 1609/1612/1641S instead} (of the) English, who call it by the new name of West England}1579L(A)}. {1570L(ABC){In old writers there are but few records on these regions. Among the more recent writers, Olaus Magnus the Goth, Episcopus Upsaliensis [the bishop of Upsala], Albertus Crantzius, Saxo Grammaticus, Jacobus Zieglerus, and Sigismundus ab Herberstein in his commentaries on Moscovia have described these countries. And Nicolaus Wimman has described a navigation of the Northern sea. {not in 1606E{See also {1573L(A){Antonius &}1573L(A)} Nicolaus Zeni's {some editions wrongly have{Geni}some editions} Commentaries, {1573L(A){two brothers, speaking about the islands situated under the North pole,}1573L(A)} together with the shipwreck of Peter Quirinus, {1571L{described by himself}1571L}, and by Christopher Fioravante, as also Nicolas Michaëlis in the Italian tongue}1570L(ABC), 1571L, 1573L(AB), 1574L, 1575L, 1579L(AB), 1580/1589G, 1584L, 1588S, 1592L & 1602G end here}.
160.18. {1601L{There is also a discussion on these Northern parts written by Sebastian Cabato, who, in the year 1557 first sailed into these quarters}1601L}. {1595L, not in 1602G{But above all, the history of Saxony, lately written and published by David Chytræus should not be ignored}1595L, not in 1602G}. The 1595L, 1601L, 1602S, 1603L, 1606E, 1608/1612I, 1609/1612L & 1609/1612/1641S end here}.

Vernacular text version, translated from the 1571/1573D, 1572/1573G, 1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F, 1598/1610/1613D & 1598F editions:

160.19. {1571/1573D{Nordic Lands.
160.20. With this map you have the entire Nordic world (by way of speaking), because it covers all the Northern Countries as far as they are known today. These are in the first place the land which the Ancient Geographers considered to be an island named Scandia, which in our times comprises the kingdom of Sweden, Norway and part of Denmark. Then there are these islands: England, Scotland and Ireland, Friesland, Iceland and Greenland. We will here say something about each of them.
160.21. Sweden is a country rich in silver, copper, lead and iron mines. It has an abundance of cattle. And because it has the sea on many sides, with sea arms entering deeply into the land, and also because it is full of rivers and lakes, it has a great abundance of fish. It is also very mountainous, providing much game. It is also fertile in vegetation. Its capital is Stockholm, located on the sea like Venice, hence strong, and mostly built on wooden piles. {not in 1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F{This is the main merchant city of this kingdom}not in 1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F}. Here the king keeps court. Uppsala is the archbishopric of this country. To this Kingdom also belongs Gotland. Here lies Calmar, a merchant city, very strong because of a castle there.
160.22. The city of Vasten has a wonderful cloister, where saint Brigitta and her daughter saint Catherine have been buried. Further, Finland also belongs to this as a dukedom, as well as Lapland, Bodnia, Biarmia and some more.
160.23. Norway extends from North to South along the sea, and is separated from Sweden by a large mountain range. This Norway is under the rule of the kingdom of Denmark. This could be a very good land in terms of its nature and properties, but it is greatly empoverished as a result of its servitude to the Danes, who have robbed them of their sea-faring and trade of merchandise. All wealth of the country consists of cattle and fish, and this is also where stockfish {1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F only{or Merlu}1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F only} comes from, called like that because it is put high on sticks to be dried in the cold. January is the season to catch it, for then the cold is severe enough to dry it. For what is caught during other months will not last, and cannot be exported. Bergen is the merchant city of Norway, and Nidrosia (in German Trondheim) is a bishopric here.
160.24. About the islands England, Scotland and Ireland we do not write here, because they have their own maps in this book, where you can read about them {1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F instead{to which I refer you}1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F & 1598F instead}.
Then there is the isle of Friesland, about which very little is known, and therefore we can not say much about it, except that Nicolaus Genus[Zeno] in the year 1380 ended up there, being shipwrecked not far from it.
160.25. Then follows Iceland, an island full of wonders. Here is a mountain called Hekla which has eternal snow on its top, and eternal fire below. Close to this mountain there is an unfathomable depth where people appear (as Olaus Magnus writes), who died recently. There are also many sulphur mountains here. Here you also find bears, foxes and ravens, all of them white. No corn grows here, but merchants import it, who in turn export fish and butter. The people mostly live underneath the earth in holes, because of the bitter cold.
160.26. Greenland is the last land in the North that in our times has become known, and about which one can speak. Gerardus Mercator, however, in his map depicts another island further to the North which he calls Grockland, etc. What the world further looks like in the North, and whether there is sea or land, is not known for certain, but various fables from various people have been reported. Some think that the sea can be further traversed for only one day. I will put down one story, and whether it is true or a fable is a matter I leave with the author Albertus Crantzius.
160.27. He writes how, shortly after the year one thousand, in the time of Alebrand, bishop of Hamburg, there are supposed to have been some noblemen from Friesland who were convinced that if one would sail from the river Weser straight Northwards, one would not find any land, and they wanted to try this out. They went to sea with some honest company, sailed between Denmark and Scotland to the Orkney islands, passing these on the left and Norway on the right, thus sailed along Iceland and from there straight to the North.
160.28. Having passed all of these islands, they requested from God and their patron Saint Willibrord protection for their curiosity. And then they came in such misty and cold darkness, that they could see nothing at all, and the turning and pulling currents of the sea frightened these unfortunate sailors, who could not think of anything but their impending death, have swallowed them. (These turning currents seem to be the abyss of the sea, where all waters of the sea are swallowed and regurgitated).
160.29. These poor and frightened adventurers implored Gods grace and asked for mercy for their souls. And this abyss then swallowed some of their ships, and then returned some of their ships to the surface and far from the eyes of their companions pushed them out of danger. Thus, through Gods help and by rowing very hard, they were released from the danger which they had seen with their own eyes. When they returned from this darkness, they have, without having hoped for it, found an Island, surrounded by high cliffs (like a city by walls), on which they have landed to have a closer look.
160.30. And they found human beings there, who lived in holes beneath the earth, and there near their holes they found many costly barrels full of gold and silver, and carrying as many of these treasures as they were able to, they returned to their ships in great joy. But looking back they suddenly saw people of an unusually large size, we would call them werewolves, with exceedingly large dogs, coming right towards them. These seized one of their company by surprise, and devoured him before their eyes. The rest safely got to their boats and returned after many troubles to Bremen, where they related all this to the Bishop, and thanked God that he had saved them and had brought them home safely, etc.}1571/1573D, 1572/1573G, 1572/1574F, 1581F, 1587F, 1598F & 1598/1610/1613D end here}.

Bibliographical sources


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