Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Maps, prints and letterpress text covering the major battles and sieges of the war
View of the Battle of Bílá Hora and Prague, 1620 (Bílá Hora, near Prague, Czech Republic) 50°05ʹ00ʺN 14°20ʹ00ʺE; (Prague, Hlavní Mesto Praha, Czech Republic) 50°05'16"N 14°25'14"E
1620 or laterEngraving and etching; printed from two copperplates on two sheets of paper, joined; mounted on paper (Mount Type A), mount cropped (about 2 mm of the old mount extends from the left and bottom edges) | 42.5 x 71.0 cm (image and sheet) | RCIN 721141.e
A high oblique view of the opposing Imperial and Bohemian forces shown drawn up in order of battle at the Battle of Bílá Hora (White Mountain), which was fought on 8 November 1620 between Protestant rebels of Bohemia, commanded by Prince Christian of Anhalt (11 May 1568-17 April 1630) and the Catholic forces of the Holy Roman Empire (commanded by Johan Tserclaes, Count of Tilly (February 1559-30 April 1632), resulting in an Imperial victory. Thirty Years War (1618-1648).
The view shows the first clash of the battle, with four Imperial foot regiments and some cavalry (A), encouraged by a troop of horse which is forcing the enemy (Bohemians) to retreat (B) while a charge of five troops of Imperial horse force the Bohemians to retreat (C) towards Prague which is shown top right.
This is the third in a series of four plates depicting the battle (see RCINs 721141.a, c, g). The explanatory letterpress text to this view is at RCIN 721141.f.
A smaller version of this print, by Jan Sadeler (BM 1897,0113.66) was published by Raphael Sadeler II in 1621 as one of four prints with a separate title-page. These smaller prints carried the title and key in letterpress, printed on the same sheet as the view (Hollstein 140-144).
Raphael Sadeler the Younger (1584-1632) (engraver) [bottom right:] Cum priuilegio Sac. Cæs. Maiest.s Raph. Sadeler Iun. fecit.
Subject(s)
Army-BohemiaArmy-BavarianWatermark: Coat of arms: a bunch of grapes on stand in shield, the letter ‘M’ resting on each shoulder of the shield, the letter 'A' below shield
Condition: five fold lines; creased; considerable wear and tear along folds; some brown discolouration. Verso: surface dirt; remains of Mount Type A; no gilt edges
42.5 x 71.0 cm (image and sheet)
cropped (platemark)
Printed title:
TABVLA III. INITIVM PVGNAE ET FLVCTVANTIS ACIEI ASPECTVM PROPONIT. [across top of view]
Annotations:
George III heading: Prague Nov.r 1620.
Other annotations: none.
George III catalogue entry:
Prague Delineationes Aciei et Pugnæ ad Pragam Factæ 7 Novembris 1620, tabulis quatuor expressæ: per Raph. Sadeler: cum Descriptionibus.
Subject(s)
Bílá Hora, near Prague, Czech Republic (50°05ʹ00ʺN 14°20ʹ00ʺE)
Prague, Hlavní Mesto Praha, Czech Republic (50°05'16"N 14°25'14"E)
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. 2827
Page revisions
3 November 2024
Current version
