Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Maps, prints and letterpress text covering the major battles and sieges of the war
Battle of Les Avins, 1635
ORDRE / DE LA BATAILLE / D’AVEIN
published 1635Etching and engraving; printed on paper; guarded into a volume. (Remains of type B mount) | 43.8 x 58.6 cm (image and sheet) | RCIN 722085.a
A high oblique view of the Battle of Les Avins (Avein) fought on 20 May 1635 between France, commanded by Urbain de Maillé-Brezé (1597-13 February 1650) and Gaspard III de Coligny, Maréchal de Châtillon (26 July 1584-4 January 1646), and the Spanish army, under Tommaso Francesco di Savoia, Principe di Carignano (21 December 1596-22 January 1656), resulting in a French victory. Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Oriented with north-north-east to top.
A tentative attribution of the etching and engraving to Abraham Bosse is made by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
David Parrott, in Richelieu’s army, p.58, gives the date of the battle as 22 May but this is inconsistent with the date of 20 May given in the accomanying letterpress text (RCIN 722085.b) which also explains, in a note addressed by Tavernier to the king [Louis XIII], that ‘Le Sieur Boutard, m’ayant apporté le plan de ceste grand bataille, auec commandement de vostre Majesté de la graueur; pour faire voir à la posterité une action tout a faict genereuse: Ie I’ay manqué aussi tost d’executer le commandement le mieux qu’il m’a esté possible, priant Dieu qu’il arriue quantité de semblables occasions, par lesquelles ie tesmoigner à vostre Majesté la continuation de mes tres-humbles seruices …’.
Sieur Boutard, who brought Saint-Cler’s original draught of the map to Tavernier, was presumably on his way to present Louis XIII with the flags taken from the Spanish at the battle (Renaudot, 1766, p.238). Boutard was secretary to Mareschal de Chastillon (letter from Chastillon to Richelieu, I June 1635; Aubery, p.482).
An example of this print, in outline and with no lettering, was published in Les Triomphes de Louis le Juste, XIII (1649), following p.79. Another example is at RCIN 722039.i.
? le Sieur de Saint-Cler (active 1635-37) (draughtsman)
Attributed to Abraham Bosse (1604-76) (engraver)
? Melchior Tavernier (1594-1665) (publisher)
Watermark: Trefoil
Condition: one fold line. Verso: remains of mount, type not known; pressure marks from the mounts of items which were kept above and below this print in a different collection are present on the recto and verso
43.8 x 58.6 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
43.7 x 29.5 cm (mount)
Printed title:
ORDRE / DE LA BATAILLE / D’AVEIN [top right, in cartouche]
Annotations:
George III heading: Order of the Battle of Avein 20 May 1635.
Other annotations: none.
George III catalogue entry:
Avein Plan de l’ordre tenue par l’Armée du Roy, commandée par les Mareschaux de Chastillon et de Brezé, en la Bataille donnée contre le Prince Thomas, commandant l’Armée d’Espagne, le 20 May 1635, dans la Plaine d’Avein: par le S.r de Cler, Ing.r chez Tavernier: avec une Description, 1635.
Subject(s)
Les Avins [Avein], Wallonia, Belgium (50°24ʹ56ʺN 05°18ʹ01ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
A. Aubery, L’Histoire du Cardinal Duc de Richelieu Recueillis par le Sieur Aubery Advocat au Parlement & aux Conseils su Roy, vol.1, Paris 1660, p. 482
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 2962
T. Renaudot, Table ou abrégé des cent trente-cinq volumes de la Gazette de France, Depuis son commencement en 1631 jusqu’à la fine de l’année 1765, vol.1, Paris 1766, p. 238
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
