Ottoman-Habsburg Wars (1521-1791)
Images from eight wars fought between 1570 and 1718
View of the siege of Tokay, 1565 (Tokaj, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hungary) 48°07ʹ00ʺN 21°25ʹ00ʺE
1565 or laterEtching with engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edges to top and right | 40.0 x 29.1 cm (image and sheet) | RCIN 721042
A medium oblique view showing the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (31 July 1527-12 October 1576) commanded by the Captain-General of the Imperial army in Hungary, Lazarus von Schwendi (1522-28 May 1583), besieging the Turkish-held fortification of Tokay which was taken on 11 February 1565. The Ottoman Empire (1500-1606).
The Habsburg army, equipped with thirty-three pieces of artillery, undertook the siege apparently in the depths of winter, since the two rivers are frozen over, allowing troops and artillery to cross (although at one point the ice has broken, and men and cannon have fallen through). After two attacks and four days' siege, the fortress, in which was found money and munitions of war, was taken.
The date of 11 February 1565 for the taking of Tokay is given in http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be-wnaph.html - an unofficial history of Philippeville of which Schwendi was Governor.
Domenico Zenoi (active 1560-80) (etcher) [bottom centre of title panel:] Domeníco Zenoi f.
Giovanni Francesco Camocio (active 1560-72) (print seller) [bottom centre of title panel:] Apresso Gio. Francesco Camotio.
Subject(s)
Army-TurkeyArmy-ImperialWatermark: Letter M under star in shield
Condition: one fold line; [formerly guarded into volume: a vertical brown stain on the verso may have been caused by the adhesive of a former guard]; mount creased with one fold line, not coincident with the print fold; small piece missing from the edge of the mount, top left; some offsetting from a different print; an impression from the mount of an item which was kept above this map/print in a former sequence is present on the recto
40.0 x 29.1 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
52.2 x 40.6 cm (mount)
Printed title:
TOCQVAY, ouer DOGGEY, fortezza inespugabile ne Confini d'Ongheria, & Transiluania, Circha 30, / leghe dila da Buda, fra doi fiumi presa da Massimiliano Imp. l'anno 1565, per Lazaro fanswendi, suo / Capitano & General nella detta impresa fatta sopr' il piaccio con 33. pecci d'Artegliere, metter á basso li rampari / & in due assalti presa & quadagnata nel termine de 4 giorni, trouorno nella detta fortezza denari & munitio / da guerra. [bottom centre, in a cartouche, below the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II]
Annotations:
George III heading: Tokay 1565.
Other annotations: (Recto) [top right, on mount, black pencil:] 1565; [bottom centre, on mount, black pencil, erased:] 1565. (Verso) [top right, on mount, black pencil:] I [or II]/36; [right, on mount, red pencil:] 1/32; [bottom right, on mount, black pencil, partly erased:] Tockay.
George III catalogue entry:
Tokay Tocquay presa da Massimiliano Imp. l’anno 1565, per Lazaro Fanswendi suo Capitano et General; da Dom. Zenoi, apresso G.F. Camotio.
Subject(s)
Tokaj, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hungary (48°07ʹ00ʺN 21°25ʹ00ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2690
R.V. Tooley, ‘Maps in Italian atlases of the sixteenth century, being a comparative list of the Italian maps issued by Lafreri, Forlani, Duchetti, Bertelli and others, found in atlases’, Imago Mundi III, 1939, pp. 12-47, no. 550
Page revisions
23 May 2024
Current version
