Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) - Cosmographia Universalis...

This original sheet is a precious Renaissance page taken 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 titled LIBER IIII, expressly dedicated by Münster to the description of the dramatic political events in the Kingdom of Hungary, focusing on the dynastic rivalries between the noble Hunyadi family and Count Ulric of Cilli, culminating in the violent killing of the latter by Ladislaus Hunyadi and in the subsequent, brutal execution of the same Ladislaus by order of the king. The Latin text opens by celebrating the complex peace arrangements and the tense relations between the European sovereigns and the Hungarian barons, then proceeds to the detailed chronicle of the tragic fate of the Hunyadi brothers and ends with the plan for the marriage between King Ladislaus the Posthumous and Magdalene of France, abruptly interrupted by the premature and sudden death of the young monarch. The visual composition of the front is enriched by a fine, animated woodcut that vividly depicts a dramatic scene of public decapitation in a royal plaza, capturing the execution of Ladislaus Hunyadi before the courtiers. Of extraordinary collectible interest is the presence of ancient marginal notes printed contemporaneously (Insidiae tenduntur Huniadi, Comes Cilie obtruncatur) that testify to the critical apparatus of the work aimed at highlighting the salient moments of Hungarian history. Turning the page, the back continues the development of the historical chronicle with the heading DE VNGARIA containing the biographical chapter Matthias Rex Vngariae, extra lineam genealogie (Mattia Corvino, Cap. XXV). The Latin text unfolds as a dense and erudite philosophical and historiographical dissertation on the extraordinary ascent to the throne of the young Matia Corvinus, son of the famous condottiere Giovanni Hunyadi, released from Prague captivity to be proclaimed king in Buda. Münster places side by side the manners, the toils of war, and the military and diplomatic exploits that saw the new sovereign clash with and then come to terms with Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg for the recovery of the Holy Crown of Hungary, analyzing how his solid rule and his conquests in Vienna defended Christian frontiers before his sudden death from apoplexy. The page is solemnly enriched by the presence of an important Renaissance woodcut portraying the profile portrait of King Matia Corvinus enclosed in a circular medallion adorned with the inscriptions of the realms of Hungary, Bohemia and Dalmatia, accompanied by marginal typographic glosses (Georgius Podiebratius rex Bohemie, Matthias Coruinus fit rex Vngarie, Matthias Huniades moritur). The preface introduces the methodological motivations that guided the author in composing the Cosmographia, understood as a monumental work intended to offer rulers and scholars of the sixteenth century a universal guide to understanding the morals, geography, and the changes of the peoples of the Earth across the ages. Dimensions 30 x 20 cm Will be shipped by courier

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