Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
now held in the archives, which appear to have been collected simply because they showed
areas which might be of military or political interest. This is one of a handful of 17th-cen-
tury French maps from this source. It was made during the Thirty Years War which involved
France and much of central Europe, and three years before the birth of the prince who would
soon become the Sun King, Louis XIV.
This circular map of part of western France has at its centre the town of Niort on the River
Sèvre about half way between Poitiers and La Rochelle in the Poitou-Charentes region. There
seems to have been a practical reason for the shape of the map. Eleven concentric circles ra-
diate from Niort, each representing a length of one French league (about 2.5 miles), and this
would have enabled the ready calculation of distances. The map spills over beyond the out-
ermost circle at top right to the River Charente and the town of Chateauneuf.
The map was apparently administrative in purpose, since the colours show divisions of
the country into '
élections
', larger fiscal districts about the size of a county. It also refers to
'
châtellanies
', areas under the governorship of a local castle. A note at one edge records the
transfer of 54 parishes within three châtellanies from the
élection
of Niort to the
élection
of
Cognac. This note is dated 1636, so the map was presumably made then.
The map was signed as having been 'painted' by F Granier. It is a pen-and-ink drawing on
parchment with watercolour used to highlight certain regions and to embellish details. Vil-
lages and towns are represented by perspective drawings of churches, or of buildings around
the churches. The Charente, the Sèvre (with a ship in its estuary), and other rivers are shown
coloured blue. Large bog plants reflected in the water indicate the marshes of the Marais,
between the pink and green areas. Other features include forests, principal roads and bridges
drawn from life. These would all have been of interest to any commander of an invading
army.
On the west coast, at the lower right edge of the map just outside the outer circle, lies the
port of La Rochelle. Two towers guard the harbour and the town is shown in some detail.
English military commanders might have found this view useful had it been in their hands in
1628, when they tried to relieve the long siege of the town's Huguenot population by Car-
dinal Richelieu on behalf of Louis XIII, the Catholic ruler of France. The English fleet sent
to help them by Charles I failed to break through the French fortifications, not shown on this
map, and with no other Protestant power to help, the defenders surrendered.
