Dukedom of Prussia leaves Poland and joins Brandenberg
Title
Dukedom of Prussia leaves Poland and joins Brandenberg
Alternative Title
Ducatus Prussiae tam Polono Regiae quam Ducalis Brandenburgo Novissima Descriptio in tres Palatinatus et Ducatis in totidem Circulos et Minores Dominia
Description
This map is a rectangular map of the Baltic area from about 38˚ to 45˚ longitude and from about 53˚ to 56˚ latitude. The latitude and longitude are marked along the borders of the map in alternating stripes of black and tan. A blue key in the lower right corner of the map, fashioned like black text on a pale blue, Roman-esque marble block, shows the scale of the map in German units of measurement (15 to a degree, with 9 shown) and Gallican units (20 to a degree, 12 shown). In the top left corner is an ornate cartouche, showing two women in colorful robes sitting on a cloud, surrounded by cherubs. One cherub holds up the Prussian crest, and two others hold up a green and pink banner with the following text:
“DUCATUS PRUSSIÆ tam POLONO REGIÆ quam DUCALIS BRANDENBURGO Novissima Descriptio in tres Palatinatus et Ducalis in totidem Circulos et Minores Dominia Auctore LUSTUS DANCKERTS AMSTELODAMS cum Privilegio Ordinum Hollandiæ et Westfrisiæ”
The map itself is printed on white paper using an engraved sheet of copper and black ink. The sea in the north is not embellished in any way, except with the words “MARE BALTICUM vulgo DE OOST ZEE” and with a drawing of a cross-bearing orb. It is only differentiated from the land by a thin band of shading around the coasts. The land itself is heavily detailed, with small trees engraved on the northern, central, and southern areas of the map and mountains engraved in the west. There are many lakes, shaded in black, in the central and south of the map, and fewer in the northwest. The landmass is crossed with rivers– major rivers are drawn as bands of white outlined in black, and minor rivers as black lines.
Political boundaries are marked on the map using colored ink, which seems to be applied with a brush. The largest political entities are labeled “BRANDENBURGICA” and “PRUSSIA REGIO” and together span from the northern coast to almost the southernmost edge of the map, and all the way from east to west. The two regions are separated by a meandering magenta line from north to south down the center of the map, but both are outlined in yellow ink, suggesting that they are one entity. There is also a region labeled “POLONIA MAIOR” and “POLONIA PARS” along the southern edge of the map, outlined in green ink, an area labeled “SAMOGITIÆ DUCATUS ARS” in the northeast, outlined in magenta ink, and an area in the west labeled “POMERANIA”. The borders between Pomerania and Prussia Regio, and between Prussia and Ducatus Ars, appear blurred, with yellow and magenta ink that has faded more than the other borders and has been smudged together into a reddish color. There is also a faint magenta border running through Prussia Regio that has faded significantly, and appears to not be an intentional part of the map.
The 17th century was considered the Netherlands’ “Golden Age” of cartography. The Dutch were known throughout Europe as pre-eminent mapmakers, and especially makers of decorative atlases. British mapmakers sometimes attempted to pass their own maps off as Dutch by either emulating the styles of engraving and leaving their names off their own maps, or by reusing Dutch copper plates to print maps in their own shops.
Prior to 1680, Dutch maps were not solely geographic tools. The commercial, political, and cultural information in them was just as important. Dutch mapmakers would include decorative cartouches, borders, and images of cities and regents of the area that sought to establish the area being mapped as a powerful and legitimate political entity. The maps themselves were also often aesthetically pleasing, and served as decoration as well as intellectual works.
This particular map was published by Justus Danckerts (b. 1635, d. 1701), a Dutch engraver and map publisher active between 1660 and 1700. Danckerts inherited a map publishing house in Antwerp from his father, and turned it into one of the leading houses in the city. Danckerts published a series of major maps and folio atlases in the 1680s and 1690s with the assistance of two of his sons, Theodorus and Cornelis II, who were trained in etching and engraving. It is likely that this particular map was engraved by Cornelis II. While it is difficult to date this family’s geographic works because they rarely attached a year to their maps, this map of Prussia likely originated from one of the atlases the family created during these two decades.
This date range corresponds to either the later years of Frederick William, the Great Elector, who ruled Brandenburg from 1640 to 1688, or the reign of his immediate successor. Frederick William’s reign began after the devastation of the 30 Years’ War, when two-thirds of Brandenburg was occupied and plundered by Sweden. Much of his energy was dedicated towards establishing Brandenburg as a state which could project a large amount of power despite its small size, largely through military reforms. This building of power culminated in Frederick William’s securing of full sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia in 1657 at the expense of Poland through a series of military conflicts and shrewd diplomatic maneuvers. This map could be read as a proclamation of strong Brandenburg rule over Prussia at a time when such control was new and still tenuous.
(Scott Hudson '24 and Casey Wiener '25)
“DUCATUS PRUSSIÆ tam POLONO REGIÆ quam DUCALIS BRANDENBURGO Novissima Descriptio in tres Palatinatus et Ducalis in totidem Circulos et Minores Dominia Auctore LUSTUS DANCKERTS AMSTELODAMS cum Privilegio Ordinum Hollandiæ et Westfrisiæ”
The map itself is printed on white paper using an engraved sheet of copper and black ink. The sea in the north is not embellished in any way, except with the words “MARE BALTICUM vulgo DE OOST ZEE” and with a drawing of a cross-bearing orb. It is only differentiated from the land by a thin band of shading around the coasts. The land itself is heavily detailed, with small trees engraved on the northern, central, and southern areas of the map and mountains engraved in the west. There are many lakes, shaded in black, in the central and south of the map, and fewer in the northwest. The landmass is crossed with rivers– major rivers are drawn as bands of white outlined in black, and minor rivers as black lines.
Political boundaries are marked on the map using colored ink, which seems to be applied with a brush. The largest political entities are labeled “BRANDENBURGICA” and “PRUSSIA REGIO” and together span from the northern coast to almost the southernmost edge of the map, and all the way from east to west. The two regions are separated by a meandering magenta line from north to south down the center of the map, but both are outlined in yellow ink, suggesting that they are one entity. There is also a region labeled “POLONIA MAIOR” and “POLONIA PARS” along the southern edge of the map, outlined in green ink, an area labeled “SAMOGITIÆ DUCATUS ARS” in the northeast, outlined in magenta ink, and an area in the west labeled “POMERANIA”. The borders between Pomerania and Prussia Regio, and between Prussia and Ducatus Ars, appear blurred, with yellow and magenta ink that has faded more than the other borders and has been smudged together into a reddish color. There is also a faint magenta border running through Prussia Regio that has faded significantly, and appears to not be an intentional part of the map.
The 17th century was considered the Netherlands’ “Golden Age” of cartography. The Dutch were known throughout Europe as pre-eminent mapmakers, and especially makers of decorative atlases. British mapmakers sometimes attempted to pass their own maps off as Dutch by either emulating the styles of engraving and leaving their names off their own maps, or by reusing Dutch copper plates to print maps in their own shops.
Prior to 1680, Dutch maps were not solely geographic tools. The commercial, political, and cultural information in them was just as important. Dutch mapmakers would include decorative cartouches, borders, and images of cities and regents of the area that sought to establish the area being mapped as a powerful and legitimate political entity. The maps themselves were also often aesthetically pleasing, and served as decoration as well as intellectual works.
This particular map was published by Justus Danckerts (b. 1635, d. 1701), a Dutch engraver and map publisher active between 1660 and 1700. Danckerts inherited a map publishing house in Antwerp from his father, and turned it into one of the leading houses in the city. Danckerts published a series of major maps and folio atlases in the 1680s and 1690s with the assistance of two of his sons, Theodorus and Cornelis II, who were trained in etching and engraving. It is likely that this particular map was engraved by Cornelis II. While it is difficult to date this family’s geographic works because they rarely attached a year to their maps, this map of Prussia likely originated from one of the atlases the family created during these two decades.
This date range corresponds to either the later years of Frederick William, the Great Elector, who ruled Brandenburg from 1640 to 1688, or the reign of his immediate successor. Frederick William’s reign began after the devastation of the 30 Years’ War, when two-thirds of Brandenburg was occupied and plundered by Sweden. Much of his energy was dedicated towards establishing Brandenburg as a state which could project a large amount of power despite its small size, largely through military reforms. This building of power culminated in Frederick William’s securing of full sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia in 1657 at the expense of Poland through a series of military conflicts and shrewd diplomatic maneuvers. This map could be read as a proclamation of strong Brandenburg rule over Prussia at a time when such control was new and still tenuous.
(Scott Hudson '24 and Casey Wiener '25)
Creator
Justus Danckerts
Source
Danckerts, Justus. “Ducatus Prussiae tam Polono Regiae quam Ducalis Brandenburgo Novissima Descriptio in tres Palatinatus et Ducatis in totidem Circulos et Minores Dominia.” Amsterdam: 1680-1700.
Format
Sheet map removed from an atlas or book
Date
1680-1700
Medium
Engraving
Contributor
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Language
Latin, Dutch
Type
Regional map
Spatial Coverage
Prussia
Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia
Northeast Poland
Northeast Poland
References
Barber, Peter Michael. "Enlightened Mapping? Maps in the Europe of the Enlightenment." The Cartographic Journal 57, no. 4 (2020): 379-399.
Clark, Christopher. Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006.
Danku, Gyuri, and Zoltán Sümeghy. “The Danckerts Atlas: The Production and Chronology of Its Maps.” Imago Mundi 59, no. 1 (2007): 43–77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40234067.
Feuchtwanger, E.J. Prussia: Myth and Reality: The Role of Prussia in German History. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1970.
Friedrich, Karin. Brandenburg-Prussia, 1466-1806. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
Rights
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Collection
Citation
Justus Danckerts, “Dukedom of Prussia leaves Poland and joins Brandenberg,” Mapping the World, accessed May 1, 2025, https://hist231.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/49.