Heinrich Bunting's Maps

Heinrich Bunting's Maps

With his famous Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae, the Hanoverian theologian and chronicler Heinrich Bünting composed a true bestseller at the end of the 16th century. The maps and descriptions, in which biblical stories are geographically located, were widely disseminated and translated into numerous languages. With his maps, Bünting managed to link the cartography of his time with emblematic illustrations and, for example, depicted Europa in the form of the Virgin with the insignias of the Queen or Asia as a Pegasus. Wonderfully colored in parts, the compendium of 17 sheets offers the opportunity to immerse oneself in the biblical stories and their corresponding geographical location, and in doing so to directly experience the piety of the 16th century and at the same time the drive for new insights during this time.

The Old World and the New

The “Old World” of the 16th centuries consisted of three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa. America, the “New World,” was already discovered and was even cartographically depicted. With Heinrich Bünting, however, the worldview of the Bible was center stage. A page of his Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae clearly shows this view: which groups the three established continents around Jerusalem in the middle like three sheets of a cloverleaf – an allusion to the heraldic device of Bunting’s home city of Hannover. Below and to the left is a truncated depiction of “America and the New World”. Bunting’s work, this “complete collection of the knowledge at that time concerning biblical geography” manages the balancing act between new knowledge and the biblically characterized worldview, and is thereby a wonderful expression of the 16th century Zeitgeist: the piety that simultaneously ruled the great discoveries and upheavals of this time.

Europe as a Queen and the Square City

Heinrich Bünting’s map series is titled as a travel book for the entirety of the Holy Scriptures. It contains maps of the three continents, of the Mediterranean and its surrounding regions, of individual countries such as Egypt or Judea and Samaria, or of Jerusalem the Holy “Squared” City. Bünting portrayed Europe in the form of the Virgin as Queen with the insignia of power: the Imperial Crown, Scepter, and Orb; Asia, the “second continent,” had the form of the Pegasus, the winged horse from Greek mythology. Alongside these emblematic depictions, the cartographer also shows maps with realistic images of the continents and individual regions, such as the description of the Holy Land and a neighboring text with the description of where Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, had lived. Each map is accompanied by a clarifying text – sometimes on the back – that connects the biblical story with the geography.

An Entertaining Treat for the Eyes

With his compendium, Heinrich Bünting (1545–1606), who was simultaneously a theologian, geographer, and chronicler presented a work of art and information, which met the Zeitgeist of the late 16th century. The theologian, who was active in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, created a printed work that still offers the opportunity to immerse oneself in this exciting theme and simultaneously enjoy the great artistry with which it was made. The maps contain, alongside detailed designations for coasts, mountains, cities, bodies of water and seas, wonderfully entertaining illustrations. Thus there are countless marine animals, fantastical creatures, and splendid sailing ships.