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.

War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14)

Sieges, marches, encampments and famous battles from 1701 to 1712 in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands

ANNA BEEK (1657-1717)

Map of the siege of Tournai, 1709 (Tournai, Walloon Region, Belgium) 50°36'25"N 03°23'21"E

1709 or later

Etching and engraving; printed from two copperplates on two sheets of paper, joined; hand-coloured. Mounted on two pieces of coarse linen, stitched together; edged with cerise silk ribbon; one pink linen tie to top edge [no ties missing]; one brass ring for hanging missing from top left and top right corners. | Scale: 1:5,100 approx. | RCIN 726026

A map of the siege of Tournai, 28 June-3 September 1709, by the Allied army commanded by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) resulting in the surrender of the French-held town on 28 July and of the citadel on 3 September. War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). Oriented with north-east to top (compass rose).

The attacks were led by Carl Philipp, Reichsgraf von Wylich und Lottum (1650-1719), supreme commander of the Prussian troops, Lieutenant-General François Nicolaas, Baron von Fagel (1645-1718), and Johann Matthias von der Schulenberg (1661-1747).

Additional text: [below title, a key, 1-20, to named bastions, a well, mine galleries, and other named fortification structures:] Explication des Chifres.

Condition: four fold lines; some brown discolouration. Verso: brown staining; heavy surface dirt, especially along top edge; the pattern of dirt is consistent with the map having been rolled and tied.
  • Anna Beek (1657-1717) (publisher) [bottom left, inside neat line:] A la Haye chez / Anna Beek avec / Privilege.

    Pieter van Call (active 1706-15) (engraver) [bottom right of cartouche:] P. V. Cal. Fecit

    Subject(s)

    Army-Allied army (War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714)
  • Watermark: None visible

    Condition: four fold lines; some brown discolouration. Verso: brown staining; heavy surface dirt, especially along top edge; the pattern of dirt is consistent with the map having been rolled and tied

    Title [ink] Plan de la Ville et Citadelle de Tournay chez Anna Beek 2 feuilles / A Roll ..... [pencil:] 5 Table 2.d / [old heading at foot of sheet:] Tournay 1709.
    Watermark: crown above fleur-de-lys in shield, the entwined initials B&W below.
    Size: 47.0 x 32.7 cm (sheet).

  • Scale: 1:5,100 approx. Scale bar: Echelle de 300. Toises [115 mm =].

    58.0 x 73.5 cm (neatline)

    59.2 x 74.1 cm (image)

    59.5 cm x [right mark cropped] (platemark of left plate)

    59.8 cm x [left mark cropped] (platemark of right plate)

    61.1 x 77.0 cm (sheet)

  • Printed title:

    LE VERITABLE PLAN / DE LA VILLE ET CITADELLE DE / TOURNAY. [bottom left, in cartouche depicting a lion's hide]

    Additional text:

    [below title, a key, 1-20, to named bastions, a well, mine galleries, and other named fortification structures:] Explication des Chifres.

    Annotations:

    George III heading black pencil: Military. [bottom right:] Tournay.

    Other annotations: (Recto) [top left, black pencil:] 76; [bottom right, black pencil, in a twentieth-century hand:] VI.26-1709 [in a different, eighteenth-century hand?:] Tournay; [left of ‘La Citadelle’ on the map, ink, in a contemporary hand?:] Novelle Attacque de Gnll Schoulenberg. (Verso) [top right, red pencil:] II/64; [bottom right, ink on a contemporary label:] II/64; [bottom right, black pencil:] Tournay 1709; [bottom, right of centre, blue biro on a 1980s red-printed Royal Library label:] VI 26.

    K. Mil. dummy sheet:

    Title [ink] Plan de la Ville et Citadelle de Tournay chez Anna Beek 2 feuilles / A Roll ..... [pencil:] 5 Table 2.d / [George III heading at foot of sheet:] Tournay 1709.
    Watermark: crown above fleur-de-lys in shield, the entwined initials B&W below.
    Size: 47.0 x 32.7 cm (sheet).

    George III catalogue entry:

    Tournay Plan de la Ville et Citadelle de Tournay avec les Attaques de 1709: chez Anna Beek. 2 feuilles.

  • Subject(s)

    Tournai, Walloon Region, Belgium (50°36'25"N 03°23'21"E)