1672 - Collignon Maps of fortifications

The 1672 Fortification Plans of François Collignon – A Crossroads of Art, War, and Cartography

In the tumultuous year of 1672 – known in Dutch history as the Rampjaar (“Year of Disaster”) – a remarkable atlas of maps was published far from the battlefields of the Dutch Republic. Engraved in Rome by the French artist François Collignon, these 26 finely etched plans depicted the fortifications of key Dutch cities and strongholds. Titled Piante delle Piazze Principali delle Provincie Unite de’ Paesi Bassi (Italian for “Plans of the principal strongholds of the United Provinces of the Netherlands”), the collection was dedicated to King Louis XIV of France and trumpeted his military victories. In this blog-style exploration, we will delve into the historical context of these 1672 maps, their creation in Rome, the artistic and military influences behind them (including apparent copying of a 1647 Dutch work by Matthias Dögen), and their significance to collectors and scholars of early modern cartography. Along the way, we’ll highlight visual examples (such as plates labeled BOSLEDVC, BVRICK, ZVTPHEN) and point to known collections (from an archive in Malta to the Museum Kurhaus Kleve) that preserve this unique atlas.

Historical Context: The Rampjaar 1672 and Louis XIV’s Campaign

The year 1672 was a crisis point for the Dutch Republic. In a coalition war, the young French king Louis XIV, together with his allies (the Bishops of Münster and Cologne and the English at sea), launched a surprise invasion of the United Provinces. The French army swept through the Netherlands’ eastern frontiers with shocking speed. By summer 1672, numerous Dutch fortresses and cities had fallen: Utrecht surrendered to the French without a fight, major strongholds in Gelderland and Overijssel like Zutphen and Deventer were occupied, and allied forces from Münster captured others such as Coevorden. Along the Lower Rhine, French troops seized fortresses that guarded the approach to the Republic – places like Orsoy, Rheinberg, Wesel, Rees, Emmerich, and the strategic outpost Schenkenschanz. This sudden collapse of the Republic’s eastern defenses led to mass panic (hence Rampjaar), until the Dutch deliberate flooding of the polders (the Holland Water Line) halted further French advance later that year.

Louis XIV was eager to publicize and glorify these conquests. In France and abroad, propaganda in print and printmaking played a key role in broadcasting the king’s military prowess. It is in this context that Collignon’s 1672 atlas of Dutch fortification plans must be understood. The atlas’s extended title boasts that “la maggior parte” (“the greater part”) of the Dutch strongholds shown were conquered by the arms of the Most Christian King of France (Louis XIV). In reality not all the places in the atlas had fallen – some plans (like ’s-Hertogenbosch and Middelburg) were included for completeness or strategic importance – but most had indeed been occupied by French or allied forces in 1672. The collection thus functioned as a kind of military scorecard for Louis XIV’s campaign in the Low Countries during the Franco-Dutch War, celebrating his victories in the Netherlands’ heartland.

François Collignon – A French Engraver and Publisher in Rome

François Collignon (c.1610–1687) was a French engraver, print dealer, and publisher with an interesting cross-cultural career. Born in Nancy (in the Duchy of Lorraine), he trained under the famous Lorraine etcher Jacques Callot and later established himself in Rome. Collignon became known for reproducing and distributing prints by others – a common practice in the 17th-century print trade. For example, he had copied a Dutch city atlas by Joan Blaeu (very likely Blaeu’s renowned town book of the Netherlands) to create his own “Städtebuch” (book of city plans/views). He also contributed to major military cartography projects of his era, such as the “Grand Beaulieu” – Sébastien de Beaulieu’s Les Plans et Profils des principales villes et lieux considérables... (Paris, c.1668), an atlas of fortress plans of the Spanish Netherlands and surrounding regions. These projects gave Collignon extensive experience in engraving fortification plans and working from existing maps.

By 1672, Collignon was a well-established figure in Rome’s printmaking circles (he is recorded as active “nel Parione” quarter of Rome, a hub for printers). It might seem surprising that an atlas of Dutch fortifications would be produced in Italy, but Rome was a cosmopolitan center, and Collignon’s connections bridged French, Italian, and Netherlandish networks. In fact, the 1672 atlas appears to have been a commission tied to diplomacy: Collignon dedicated the work to the Duke of Estrées, who was none other than Louis d’Estrées, the French ambassador to the Papal court of Pope Clement X.

The dedication (dated 8 October 1672) and imprint make this clear – the title page explicitly states it was printed in Rome (“Nella Stamparia di Francesco Tizzoni”, Collignon’s collaborating printer) with proper licenses. By presenting detailed plans of the Dutch strongholds to the Pope’s ambassador, Louis XIV could impress upon the Vatican the extent of his triumphs over the (mostly Protestant) Dutch. In essence, Collignon’s atlas was as much a political propaganda piece as it was a cartographic work.

Collignon’s background thus uniquely positioned him for this project. He had the technical skill to produce high-quality engravings, the business acumen to publish them, and access to source material from the Netherlands. Moreover, as a French expatriate in Rome with strong ties to French patrons, he was the perfect intermediary to create a work that flattered French royal ambitions while drawing on Dutch cartographic knowledge.

The 1672 Atlas Printed in Rome: “Piante delle Piazze Principali…”

Title page of Collignon’s 1672 atlas of Dutch fortifications, dedicated to King Louis XIV and the Duke d’Estrées (French ambassador to Rome). Printed in Rome by Francesco Tizzoni, 1672. The Italian text highlights that most of these fortified towns were conquered by Louis XIV’s arms.

Collignon’s atlas bore the full title: Piante delle Piazze Principali delle Provincie Unite de’ Paesi Bassi, la maggior parte conquistate dall’Armi del Cristianissimo Ré di Francia. Luigi XIV… (often shortened to the first few words). This translates roughly to “Plans of the main fortresses of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, most of them conquered by the arms of His Most Christian Majesty, King Louis XIV.” The volume consisted of a title page and 26 engraved plans, usually one per page. Each plan is a detailed overhead view of a city or fort’s layout – the characteristic star-shaped bastions, ravelins, moats, and surrounding terrain are rendered with precision in the style of military engineering plans. The engraving quality is high and crisp, measuring roughly 16–20 cm on a side (the plates vary in size, e.g. Zutphen ~173×256 mm, Bosleduc ~195×264 mm, etc. as noted in archival descriptions.

On each map, Collignon included an imprint line in Italian such as “Si stampa da Fran.co Collignon nel Parione. Roma con licenza de’ Superiori 1672” – meaning “Printed by Francesco Collignon in Parione, Rome, with license of the authorities, 1672.” This appears on maps like ZVTPHEN (Zutphen), BOMMEL (Zaltbommel), VTRECHT, etc., underscoring that they were produced in Rome with official approval (no doubt because such war-related maps might require permission). The completed atlas was dedicated to “all’illustriss. et eccellentiss. Sig. Duca d’Estrées… Ambasciatore Straordinario… appresso la Santità di N.S. Clemente X”, i.e. the Duke d’Estrées in his role as extraordinary ambassador to Pope Clement X. The dedication and the timing (late 1672) strongly suggest these maps were intended as a gift or report to the Pope and Roman elites, showcasing France’s victories.

What places were included in the 26 plans? Surviving records indicate the atlas covered a broad swath of Dutch and border fortresses. A contemporary list (from an example of the atlas in an archive) shows entries for places like: Utrecht, Breda, ’s-Hertogenbosch (listed under its French/Latin name BOSLEDVC, i.e. Bois-le-Duc), Zutphen (ZVTPHEN), Deventer, Zaltbommel (BOMMEL), Fort Crevecoeur near ’s-Hertogenbosch, Coevorden, Middelburgh (Middelburg in Zeeland), Büderich near Wesel (BVRICK), Grolla (Groenlo/Grol in Gelderland), and several Rhine fortresses like Orsoy, Rimberck (Rheinberg, listed as RIMBERCK), Wesel, Rees, Emmerich, and Schenkenschanz, among others. It appears to be a comprehensive selection of strategic sites in the Low Countries that were relevant in 1672. Not all of these were technically in the “United Provinces” (Büderich, Orsoy, etc., lie across the Rhine), but they were part of the theater of war and in some cases recently taken from Dutch or allied garrisons. Notably absent is Amsterdam or Holland heartland cities (which were never invaded), as the focus was on fortresses at the frontiers.

Each plan is labeled often with its historic name in large capitals. For example, the plan of ’s-Hertogenbosch is titled “BOSLEDVC” (a rendition of Bolduc, from the French Bois-le-Duc), Breda appears under its own name, and Büderich is given as “BVRICK”. The inclusion of Dutch interior towns like Utrecht, Coevorden, Zutphen, Deventer, etc., alongside Rhine fortresses, underscores that the atlas was tailored to emphasize Louis XIV’s gains – “the greater part” of these places had fallen to France or her allies in 1672. For instance, the plan of Emmerich (a city just over today’s German border) shows the fortifications as improved by the Dutch between 1614–1672, including an outwork called Fort Oranien across the Rhine, which had been slighted in 1665. Emmerich was taken by the French Prince de Condé in June 1672, and the map even reflects how its Dutch garrison withdrew and a Brandenburg garrison tried to hold it neutral just before the French occupation – details that would have been militarily current at the time.

In summary, the “Piante delle Piazze Principali” atlas can be seen as a snapshot of the Dutch War in 1672, documenting the key fortified cities involved in the campaign. It provided Italian and Roman audiences with a visual sense of these faraway places now making news, and it flattered Louis XIV by implying his dominion over them. Given its purpose, the atlas was likely produced in a small print run (perhaps for diplomats and libraries), which explains its rarity today.

Artistic and Military Influences: Copying Matthias Dögen’s 1647 Work and Dutch Cartography

While Collignon was the engraver and publisher, the source of the maps’ designs almost certainly lies in earlier Dutch cartography. A telling clue is that the engraved text on the plans (labels, legends, scale bars) is in Dutch or Latin rather than Italian or French. The maps use terms like “Moeras” (Dutch for swamp/marsh) and Latin/Dutch names for rivers like “Rhenus Fl.” (Rhine River) and “De IJssel Fl.”. This strongly indicates Collignon was working from existing Dutch plans that he or his patrons had obtained, rather than drafting new surveys on his own (Collignon himself likely didn’t speak Dutch).

One major source was almost certainly the work of Matthias Dögen, a military engineer who in 1647 – exactly 25 years earlier – had published a seminal treatise Architectura Militaris Moderna in Amsterdam. Dögen’s book, sponsored by the Prince of Orange, was richly illustrated with plans of modern fortifications across Europe. It was essentially a showcase of state-of-the-art fortress design in the mid-17th century, and included Dutch examples. Several of Collignon’s plates appear to be direct copies or adaptations of plates from Dögen’s 1647 work. For example, the plan of ’s-Hertogenbosch (Bolduc) in Collignon’s atlas likely mirrors the plan of that city in Dögen’s treatise (since ’s-Hertogenbosch’s fortifications, modernized by the Dutch after its capture in 1629, would have been a textbook example of a strong fortress by 1647). Indeed, a Dutch historian found that Collignon’s BOSLEDVC plate corresponds closely to a 1647 plan of the city. The same is true for others: Collignon’s Zutphen and Utrecht plans were probably traced from earlier Dutch maps or prints (Joan Blaeu’s Tooneel der Steden, published in 1649-52, also had plans of Dutch cities that Collignon could have referenced).

In short, Collignon was acting as a graphic compiler. Rather than performing new surveys during a war, he sourced existing “stock” plans from Dutch atlases and manuals, and re-engraved them with perhaps minor updates. The influence of Matthias Dögen (1605–1672) is especially notable: Dögen’s Architectura Militaris Moderna (Amsterdam, 1647) was one of the most important fortification books of its time, illustrating the star forts of the Dutch Golden Age of military engineering. Collignon’s copies thus carried over the precise Dutch style of drawing bastions and moats. This style is characterized by a clean geometric look – nearly abstract diagrams of cities’ defenses – as opposed to the more pictorial bird’s-eye views seen in some earlier 17th-century city books. The “Dutch tradition” of military cartography valued accuracy and clarity, given the constant sieges of the Eighty Years’ War and the Dutch mastery of fortress building. Collignon’s plates follow that tradition closely (not surprising, since many are essentially Dutch designs in Italian guise).

Besides Dögen, Collignon was likely aware of other sources. His past copying of Joan Blaeu’s town plans suggests Blaeu’s Novum Theatrum Urbium Belgicae (town atlas) might have been on hand. Also, Collignon’s involvement with Beaulieu’s 1668 atlas of the Spanish Netherlands means he knew the genre of fortress atlases well. It’s even possible that some French military maps (from Louis XIV’s engineers) were shared with him for updates – for instance, to reflect current siege works or damage in 1672. However, by and large the artistic influence is Dutch. Scholars have noted that the Collignon plans are “executed in a precise, military style typical of the Dutch tradition”. The fact that they retained Dutch labeling underscores how literally Collignon copied his exemplars.

One clear example of borrowing is the map of Büderich (BVRICK). Büderich was a fortress on the Rhine’s east bank, not actually part of the Dutch Republic but involved in 1672 as a crossing point. Collignon’s plate of Büderich matches known Dutch plans of that fort (part of the “Kleefse Barrière” system of outposts protecting Dutch Cleves).

In sum, Matthias Dögen’s 1647 work and other Dutch sources provided the cartographic DNA for Collignon’s 1672 atlas. Collignon’s contribution was to skillfully re-engrave and compile these plans in a new context – adding Italian titles and French royal heraldry – to serve the propaganda needs of 1672. This cross-pollination highlights how knowledge of fortifications transcended borders: designs made in Dutch ateliers to celebrate Dutch victories were repackaged in Rome to celebrate French victories a generation later. The maps themselves are thus a fascinating product of both artistic reuse and military intelligence-gathering (the French clearly had access to detailed Dutch fortification plans, whether via printed books or captured engineers).

Significance for Collectors and Scholars of 17th-Century Cartography

For modern collectors and historians, François Collignon’s 1672 fortification atlas is a rare and illuminating piece of the cartographic puzzle of the late 17th century. It sits at the intersection of art, warfare, and international politics, embodying several noteworthy aspects:

Rare Example of a Rampjaar Atlas: The Rampjaar of 1672 spawned surprisingly few contemporary atlases, making Collignon’s work especially valuable. It provides a contemporary (1672) snapshot of Dutch cities under threat. Unlike better-known Dutch atlases (which understandably did not celebrate French conquests), this Roman publication unabashedly focuses on the war from the French viewpoint. Collectors interested in the Franco-Dutch War or Louis XIV’s military campaigns prize such items as tangible propaganda of the era.
Early Modern Fortification Plans: The maps are excellent specimens of star-fort plans, which are highly sought after by those fascinated with military architecture. Each plan in Collignon’s atlas is essentially a 17th-century engineering drawing, showing the geometry of bastions, curtain walls, moats, and hornworks in fine detail. They convey the state of fortress design in the 1600s – for instance, the elaborate bastioned enceinte of ’s-Hertogenbosch, or the water defenses around Utrecht. Scholars studying the history of military engineering can compare these engraved plans with actual siege maps and fortification treatises. In many cases, Collignon’s plans confirm details from Dutch sources like Dögen (1647) or the works of Vauban’s contemporaries. For example, the plan of Coevorden in Collignon’s set reflects the fortress that would soon be famously improved by Dutch engineer Menno van Coehoorn (Coevorden’s star shape, which Collignon captured, endured into Coehoorn’s time).
Insight into Cartographic Piracy and Collaboration: Collignon’s atlas is a vivid case of cross-border cartographic reproduction. It reminds us that even in the 17th century, maps were being copied, repackaged, and repurposed for new audiences. Collectors and historians see in this atlas a story of cartographic transfer – how Dutch mapping expertise was effectively “exported” via Rome to serve French propaganda. The atlas invites a closer look at intellectual property and data flow in early modern mapping. Collignon did credit himself as printer, but not the original sources; today we piece together those connections through research. Such an object encourages scholars to trace each plate’s lineage (for instance, matching Collignon’s ZVTPHEN to an earlier Dutch engraving by Jacob van Deventer or Blaeu, if any). It’s a detective puzzle that enriches our understanding of mapmaking networks.
Louis XIV’s Image and Baroque Propaganda: For those interested in the art history of propaganda, the atlas is a fine example of how prints were used to shape narratives. The dedication to Louis XIV and d’Estrées, the emphasis on captured cities, and likely the inclusion of royal emblems or Latin laudatory text (possibly on the dedication page) all serve to aggrandize the French king. This atlas can be studied alongside other Louis XIV propaganda pieces – such as medals (indeed, the French even struck medals in 1672 commemorating the capture of places like Orsoy, Rheinberg, Büderich, Wesel) and printed newsletters – to see how the visual rhetoric of conquest was constructed. For a collector, owning such an atlas is like holding a piece of Louis XIV’s victory celebration in one’s hands.
Scarcity and Collectability: From a collector’s standpoint, Collignon’s Piante delle Piazze is extremely scarce. It was not a mass-produced atlas sold on the open market; rather it seems to have been privately issued for officials. No copies were recorded in standard references for a long time (even modern catalogs and WorldCat have almost no entries). This scarcity means that when the maps do surface (say, individual plates separated from the atlas), they generate excitement. In recent years, antiquarian map enthusiasts have rediscovered Collignon’s 1672 maps – for example, a collector on an online forum shared the find of nine plates from this set and sought more information. Such stories underscore that even seasoned map collectors can stumble upon “unknown” prints that turn out to be pieces of this very atlas.

For academic researchers, each newly identified copy helps complete the puzzle of the original atlas’s contents and distribution. It also highlights the role of non-Dutch print centers in Dutch cartography – something often overlooked. Rome in the 1670s was not a usual place of origin for Dutch town plans; Collignon’s work is thus an outlier that proves the wide reach of Dutch cartographic influence.

Legacy and Known Copies in Collections

Considering its historical importance, one might ask: Where can one see this atlas today? The truth is that Collignon’s 1672 Piante delle Piazze almost vanished from memory, but a few copies or partial copies have been preserved or rediscovered:

Museum Kurhaus Kleve (Germany): A copy of the atlas is held in the collection of Museum Kurhaus Kleve (formerly part of the Kleve city collections). This copy is particularly significant as it provided the digital image of the title page used in modern references. According to the museum’s catalog, the artifact (Inventory SAB 0079) includes the title page and presumably the set of plans, bound in a 27.4×38.3 cm volume. The Kleve copy carries Collignon’s dedication to d’Estrées and is dated 1672. The museum’s description confirms Collignon as engraver/publisher and even notes that Francesco Tizzoni was the printer in Rome. This copy may well be complete, though one note hinted it might contain just the title and some plates. Nonetheless, it anchors the atlas in a public collection.
Archivio di Stato di Malta (Valletta) or National Library of Malta: Intriguingly, evidence has emerged of a copy (or at least the contents) of the atlas in Malta. A 1992 publication (Proceedings of History Week 1992) described “a splendid collection” in Malta containing the Collignon atlas. The Malta copy includes a list of the plans (matching those in Collignon’s dedication) – it reportedly had all the maps mentioned in an 18th-century advertisement, except two (Coevorden and Middelburgh were noted as “wanting” in that atlas). The Maltese connection is fascinating: possibly a copy was sent to a military library of the Knights of Malta or acquired by a collector there. If accessible, the Malta archive copy would be a goldmine for confirming the full set of plans and their sequence.
Bibliothèque de l’École Militaire (Paris): There are hints that the French military’s own library in Paris holds a copy. The Bibliothèque de l’École Militaire (part of the Service historique de la Défense) might have the atlas, as suggested by search results in the French defense archives catalog. A French forum user noted a catalog entry, though accessing it has been difficult. Given that d’Estrées or the French War Ministry would have had an interest, it’s plausible a copy was archived in France. If the École Militaire’s catalog (CLADE.net) lists “Piante delle Provincie Unite… 1672”, that would confirm another institutional holding. Researchers may need to directly contact that library for details, as online search is tricky.
Other Libraries: It is worth mentioning that Joan Blaeu’s town atlases and Matthias Dögen’s 1647 treatise are themselves widely held in research libraries, and through them one can indirectly view the content Collignon reproduced. For example, the Royal Netherlands libraries or university libraries in Amsterdam and Leiden would have Dögen’s Architectura Militaris (1647, where one can find the prototype plans for cities like Den Bosch and Ostend. Comparing those to Collignon’s prints (in Kleve or Malta copies) would be a fruitful scholarly exercise. But as for Collignon’s specific 1672 imprint, the known survivors are exceedingly few – hence the excitement around the Malta and Kleve findings in recent years.

In conclusion, François Collignon’s 1672 maps of Dutch fortifications stand as a compelling artifact of early modern cartography. They encapsulate a historical moment – the dark days of the Dutch Rampjaar – through the lens of a French engraver working in Rome and copying Dutch sources. For collectors, they offer the thrill of rarity and the depth of a story that ties together multiple countries and contexts. For scholars, they raise questions about source-sharing, propaganda, and the dissemination of cartographic knowledge. As more people become aware of this atlas (through blog posts like this one!), we can hope that any remaining copies in attics or archives come to light, allowing us to fully appreciate and study this fusion of Baroque art and military science. The maps of BOSLEDVC, BVRICK, ZVTPHEN and their companions deserve their place in the rich tapestry of 17th-century cartography – a testament to how maps were wielded not just to navigate lands, but to navigate the politics and perceptions of war.

Sources:

Museum Kurhaus Kleve – François Collignon: Pläne der wichtigsten Festungen in den Vereinigten Niederlanden (Historischer Titel: Piante… Provincie Unite… 1672). (Includes catalog details and historical context in German)
Proceedings of History Week 1992 (Malta) – Description of a splendid collection (Collignon atlas title page and list of plans).
Periklis Deligiannis, Matthias Dögen’s Treatise of 1647 – overview of Dögen’s Architectura Militaris Moderna (context for Dutch fortification plans)periklisdeligiannis.wordpress.com.
Bossche Encyclopedie – entries on 1647 and 1650 plans of ’s-Hertogenbosch (not directly cited above, but used for cross-reference on BOSLEDVC/Dögen).