• Title : Patriachatus Hierosolymitani....Aput M Tavernier....1640
• Size: 22 1/2in x 18in (570mm x 460mm)
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Date : 1640
• Ref #:  40692

Description:
This fine original hand coloured copper-plate engraved antique map of the Holy Land, Egypt, part of Saudi Arabia and the connection to the Nights Templar (Latin: Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani) in the middle ages was engraved by Michael Tavernier in 1640 - dated in the cartouche - and was published by Nicolas Sanson in the 1653 edition of Geographia sacra, sive notitia antiqua dioecesium omnium partriarchalium, metropoliticarum, et episcopalium veteris ecclesiae. notae et animadversions Lucae Holstenii.
This is a wonderful map with original outline hand colour on strong sturdy clean paper and a heavy impression.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, Green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22 1/2in x 18in (570mm x 460mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 14in (510mm x 370mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
The Templars became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the order, who formed as much as 90% of the orders members, managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building its own network of nearly 1,000 commanderies and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land, and arguably forming the worlds first multinational corporation.
The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded. Rumours about the Templars secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of this distrust to destroy them and erase his debt. In 1307, he had many of the orders members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip. The abrupt reduction in power of a significant group in European society gave rise to speculation, legend, and legacy through the ages.