This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Other 17th-century conflicts

Printed and manuscript maps, prints and views of 22 seventeenth-century wars

F. DE BAKKER (ACTIVE 1735-65)

Map of the siege of Namur, 1695 (Namur, Walloon Region, Belgium) 50°28'00"N 04°52'02"E

published 1746

Etching and engraving; printed on paper | Scale: 1:9,000 approx. | RCIN 724077

A map of Namur, besieged by the Allied army, commanded by William III of England (1650-1702) from 2 July to 1 September 1695, resulting in the capitulation of the French garrison, commanded by Louis François, duc de Boufflers (1644-1711). Nine Years War (1688-97). Oriented with north to top.

In September 1746, the year in which this map was published, the Allied army during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) passively allowed the French to take Namur without ‘striking a blow’, a very different event to the hotly contested siege of 1695, portrayed here. This map appears to be a reduction of the four-sheet map first published by Nicolaas Visscher, some of whose copperplates were aquired by Covens and Mortier after 1720.

The winged putto, top left, carries a shield with the coat of arms of Namur.

Additional text: [top right, in a trompe l'oeil scroll, a key, A-I, K-Z, to the bastions, gates, etc., of the town, and a second key, a-i, k-t, to various parts of the fortifications:] Explication des Lettres de la / FORTIFICATION de la VILLE / et de sa dependance [top right, in the same cartouche, a key, 1-40, to the buildings within and outside the town:] Explication des Chiffres / des BASTIMENTS dedans et / dehors la VILLE. [Top right, the numbering following on, a key, 41-77, to the Chateau and works outside:] Explication des Chiffres / du CHÂTEAU et / de ses dehors. [Bottom left, a continuation of the numbering in another key, 78-96, to the siege works:] EXPLICATION / des Chiffres pour les APPROCHES.

Condition: one fold line. Verso: bottom centre, water-stained patch from the removal of Cumberland's cipher label and ghosting from the label [detail illegible].
  • F. de Bakker (active 1735-65) (draughtsman and engraver) [bottom centre, below edge of border:] F. de Bakker del. et sculp. 1746.

    Covens & Mortier : Amsterdam (Johannes Covens (1697-1774) and Cornelis Mortier (1699-1783)) (publisher) [bottom right, inside neatline:] A AMSTERDAM / Chez COVENS et MORTIER.

    Subject(s)

    Army-Allied army (War of the Grand Alliance, 1688-97)
  • Watermark: None visible

    Condition: one fold line. Verso: bottom centre, water-stained patch from the removal of Cumberland's cipher label and ghosting from the label [detail illegible]

  • Scale: 1:9,000 approx. Scale bar: Echelle de 200. Verges Rhinlandiques [81 mm =].

    45.6 x 55.6 cm (neatline)

    48.1 x 56.2 cm (image)

    49.4 x 59.2 cm (platemark)

    56.0 x 66.3 cm (sheet)

  • Printed title:

    PLAN DU SIÉGE DE LA VILLE ET DU CHÂTEAU DE NAMUR. [top, above border]

    Additional text:

    [top right, in a trompe l'oeil scroll, a key, A-I, K-Z, to the bastions, gates, etc., of the town, and a second key, a-i, k-t, to various parts of the fortifications:] Explication des Lettres de la / FORTIFICATION de la VILLE / et de sa dependance [top right, in the same cartouche, a key, 1-40, to the buildings within and outside the town:] Explication des Chiffres / des BASTIMENTS dedans et / dehors la VILLE. [Top right, the numbering following on, a key, 41-77, to the Chateau and works outside:] Explication des Chiffres / du CHÂTEAU et / de ses dehors. [Bottom left, a continuation of the numbering in another key, 78-96, to the siege works:] EXPLICATION / des Chiffres pour les APPROCHES.

    Annotations:

    George III heading: Namur 1695.

    Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [top right, black pencil:] 18 [and, black pencil crossed out in black pencil:] 35; [right centre, red pencil:] 53.; [bottom, left of centre, black pencil, in Schultz's hand?, black pencil:] Namur 1695 50.

    George III catalogue entry:

    Namur Plan du Siege de la Ville et du Chateau de Namur en 1695, gravé par F. de Bakker, 1746: chez Covens et Mortier.

  • Subject(s)

    Namur, Walloon Region, Belgium (50°28'00"N 04°52'02"E)

Page revisions

  • 3 November 2024