Iustinus Danckerts: Map of Central and Southern Europe

REGNI HUNGARIAE, GRAECIAE ET MOREAE
ac Regionum, quae ei quondam fuere Christiani …
Maximae Partis Danubii Fluminis.
Novissima Delineatio per Iustinum Danckerts.

Translation of title:
The Kingdom of Hungary, Greece, and Morea, as well as countries that were once Christian – Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, Bessarabia, Bosnia, Slavonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Dalmatia, Morlachia, the Republic of Ragusa – and most of the Danube River.

The latest depiction by Justin Danckerts.

Author: Iustinus Danckerts (*1635 Amsterdam – †1701 Amsterdam)
Place of publication: Amsterdam
Date: around 1688–1700
Technique: copperplate engraving, hand coloring
Language: Latin
Expert catalog description (expanded to include border context)

1. This large-format Baroque map depicts the Kingdom of Hungary, the Balkans, Greece, and Morea (Peloponnese), including most of the Danube River (Danubii Fluminis). Political entities are highlighted by hand-coloured borders.

2. At the time the map was created, the area depicted was the territory through which the border between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire ran. It was not a stable line, but a variable military zone formed by a system of fortresses and defensive sections.

3. In the territory of present-day Slovakia, this border ran mainly:

• along the lower reaches of the Danube,

• in the Komárno area,

• through Novohrad and Pohronie,

• towards the Upper Hungarian towns.

4. The Danube formed a strategic axis, which was not only a geographical but also a military-political border. The most important fortresses in this section were Komárno, Nové Zámky, Fiľakovo, and Levice, which were directly affected by the Ottoman conquests in the 16th and 17th centuries or were located in the immediate border zone.

5. The cartouche in the lower left corner contains an allegorical figure of a warrior, an eagle on a globe, and a scene of fallen figures in oriental clothing. The iconography visually reflects the Ottoman-Habsburg clashes of the second half of the 17th century and supports the ideological message of the title, which refers to countries that were "once Christian."

6. The map thus serves not only as a geographical representation, but also as a political and ideological message. The Danube is presented as the axis of civilization and the area of former Hungary as a border zone between two spheres of power and religion.