Le siège de La Rochelle

Lot n° 5438
113cmx134cm

Large handcol. etched bird's eye map printed from 6 plates, on 6 attached sheets, 113x134 cm., 1815-reprint, framed. - As usual without the engraved border (legend and vignettes printed from ten plates); yellowed. Not examined outside frame. = Originally printed ±1630. Lieure 655. This famous bird's eye view shows the various events during the 14-month siege of La Rochelle in 1627-1628, which marked the apex of the tensions between King Louis XIII and the Catholics on the one side and the Huguenots of La Rochelle on the other, and which ended in a complete victory for the king. It is said that over 80 percent of the population of La Rochelle lost their lives during the siege, due to casualties, famine and disease.