Johannes Corputius

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Possible self-portrait of Corputius on his map of Duisburg in 1566

Johannes Corputius , origin. Johan van den Corput , also Cornput or Johannes de Corput ( April 1542 in Breda , † September 17, 1611 in Groningen ) was a Dutch engineer, military leader and cartographer. He is the author of the Corputius plan , also colored, which shows the city of Duisburg from a bird's eye view.

Life

The Corputius plan from 1566 shows Duisburg based on exact geographic measurements.
The house of Gerhard Mercator in Duisburg, where Corputius lived from 1562 to 1566
Delfzijl was fortified from 1591 according to Corputius' plans, map by Joan Blaeu , 1649
The siege of Steenwijk in 1592
In 1611 Johannes Corputius was buried in the Martini Church in Groningen

Johannes Corputius was the son of the notary and city secretary of Breda Johan van den Cornput the Elder. Ä. and by Antonia Montens. The middle-class family was already influential in the Netherlands at that time. Johan van den Cornput the Elder Ä. later became mayor of Breda. The following generations of the family also played important roles in Dutch history. In an indirect line, for example, Johan and Cornelis de Witt were related to Corputius through their mother Anna van den Corput.

Corputius studied in Leuven in 1558 , probably also in Cologne , as he himself states. He came to Duisburg in 1562, where he studied mathematics (device construction, surveying, copper engraving) with Gerhard Mercator and lived in his house. Corputius also attended courses at the Duisburg Academic Gymnasium , including Greek lessons with Johannes Molanus . After the high school closed in the same year, Corputius stayed with Mercator for several years.

The particularly detailed plan of Duisburg (Corputius Plan) prepared by Corputius during this time was created on the basis of precise measurements in the Duisburg city area. Corputius said he had carried out the necessary measurements in a letter in 1562 and 1563 and made a drawing. He took the measurements from three different points using a quadratum geometricum he had made himself . Corputius Van den grooten tooren te Duysburg took the most important bearings from, that is, from the tower of the Salvatorkirche . As further measuring points he used one of the towers of the Marienkirche and a tower of the city fortifications between the Kuhtor and the stacking gate .

Corputius had apparently completed the elaborate engravings for the copperplate engraving by 1565. But the plan did not appear until March 25, 1566, which is seen in a possible connection with the upcoming award of the privilege to found a university in Duisburg at the Reichstag in Augsburg by Emperor Maximilian II in that month. In fact, in the Roman year MDLXVI indicated on the map, the lower I was added to the last position. Corputius may also have portrayed himself in the top right of the map.

The Corputius plan gives a clear impression of the architectural design of the early modern city . The records show that the measurements were even more accurate than the later plan. Four original plates of the plan were still offered for sale in Dordrecht in 1740. Long lost, a colored original of the Corputius Plan was rediscovered in the Wroclaw City Library in 1894 . Fortunately, three years later a copy was made for Duisburg, because the original Wroclaw plan was lost in World War II. The only remaining original print in black and white is in the Duisburg Museum of Culture and City History .

In 1566 Corputius left the city of Duisburg. It is believed that he first moved to his hometown of Breda. On August 13, 1567, he had the city leaders issue a certificate attesting that he came from a respectable family. Corputius apparently wanted to continue his studies in Greece and Italy . However, it is not certain that he actually visited these countries. Jan Postema recognizes at least a clear Italian influence in Corputius' later works.

From December 1568 Johannes Corputius was studying in Strasbourg in the house of Johannes Sturm . Letters from his family to Strasbourg and from Hugo Blotius from the city attest to Corputius' presence during the storm. The written description of Blotius praises his talent as a draftsman and engraver . Among other things, he portrayed the rector of the Strasbourg Academy, Johannes Sturm. Blotius also praised Corputius' language skills in Latin, Greek, French and German.

In 1574 Corputius came back to Duisburg . His name appears on a tax list dated March 25th. The following length of stay in the city is not precisely documented. From the end of August to the end of September of the same year, Corputius can be grasped for the first time as the Dutch military.

Corputius was involved in the Dutch War of Independence as an artillery captain from around 1578 . He was initially entrusted with the expansion of the fortification of Aalst . He played an important role at the side of the Count von Rennenberg, Georg von Lalaing , in the siege of Deventer that year. Rennberg recorded Corputius' rank and function in writing. He referred to him as his captain and fortificationeur , i.e. fortress builders. Not least thanks to Corputius' engineering achievements, the city was captured. According to Corputius' designs, new entrenchments were built around the city, which made it impossible to supply the city from outside. He suggested digging trenches, diverting the water of the city's moat, and finally undermining its fortification.

In the following years he became governor in Coevorden . It was his job to expand the fortifications there. The plan drawn up by him was approved by the States General . But initially only the foundations could be laid for the five bastions planned by Corputius. Only two bastions were completed. Only later, on the basis of the preparatory work carried out by Corputius, was the fortress in Coevorden completed under Spanish management.

Around 1580 Johannes Corputius distinguished himself several times as a soldier. In the battle for the city of Steenwijk he was to be found at the head of the besieged. His courage to fight was praised: he was considered a "man who weighed thousands". In the defense of Steenwijk, Corputius faced Count von Rennenberg, who had since gone over to the Spanish camp. Steenwijk could be kept under Corputius leadership, the Spanish troops abandoned the siege in 1581.

Corputius recorded the acts of war around Steenwijk in copper engraving . As the author Reinico Fresinga with the local suffix van Frennicker , he wrote a report on the events of the war in the provinces of Friesland, Overijssel, Ommelanden , Drenthe, Groningen and Lingen in 1584 . Jan Postema was able to assign the name Corputius to this pseudonym. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, this was already suggested by the historian Emanuel van Meteren , who was married to Hester van den Cornput, a daughter of Johannes Corputius' brother Nicolaas, in his second marriage. Van Meteren came to the conclusion that more than a third of the work is devoted to the siege of Steenwijk alone, and it praises the greatness of commander Johan van den Cornput.

In 1585 Corputius paid a visit to his relatives in Heidelberg. Quite a few family members had temporarily left the Netherlands as Calvinists. The following year Corputius became captain of a company of foot servants to Count Adolf von Neuenahr , who had been governor of Overijssel since the previous year. In 1587 Corputius was appointed superintendent, site commander , by Hasselt . He held this position until after 1590.

Corputius entered the service of Wilhelm Ludwig von Nassau , then governor of Friesland , and later of Groningen and Drenthe . Postema sees an influence Corputius' on the Dutch army reform through his advisory role for Wilhelm Ludwig. As Hans Delbrück already notes, Corputius would have prepared the following reconquests under Moritz von Orange . Corputius' humanistic education, concludes Jan Postema, was a good basis.

When Moritz von Orange's troops besieged and captured Steenwijk in 1592, which had fallen to the Spanish in 1582, Corputius again played a decisive role in the technical implementation. According to a design by Corputius, the fortifications of Delfzijl were expanded in the 1590s after it had also been conquered. The fortress at the mouth of the Ems received a total of seven bastions . The structure of the defenses lasted until the middle of the 19th century.

In 1599 Corputius was one of two commanders of a 600-man troop of the States General in Emden. In the conflict between the citizens of Emden and the Count of East Friesland ( Emden Revolution ), Corputius sided with the citizens. In 1603, after the Hague settlement , the count rejected him as commandant in Emden.

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On February 4, 1600 Corputius was appointed superintendent of Coevorden by Wilhelm Ludwig . He lived in Groningen as early as 1602/03. According to his own letter, his health had already deteriorated during these years. In 1605 he was once again promoted to commandant of the Groningen State Fort. He retained his military rank when the castle was opened to the citizens of Groningen in 1607 and also after the conclusion of the armistice in 1609. Johannes Corputius died in 1611 at the age of 69 as captain of Groningen . He was buried in the local Martini church. His gravestone is preserved as grave 39 in the choir of the church.

Name variants

The members of the family of Johannes Corputius carried the Dutch name van den Corput . Corputius himself, however, signed letters with Johan van Kornput . In the Netherlands today the variant Johan van den Kornput is widespread for his person , but also the form Johan van den Corput , which is based on his family origins . The appointment as site commander in Coevorden in 1600 was in the name of Johan van den Cornput . The Latinized form Johannes Corputius , which is common in German literature, appears as early as 1570 and was used in a letter from Hugo Blotius in Strasbourg. Corputius himself Latinized his name on the Duisburg map as J. De Corput .

Appreciations

Monument to Johannes Corputius by Hans Kuyper at the Oosterpoort in Steenwijk

In Germany, Corputius is known primarily in North Rhine-Westphalia, especially in the city of Duisburg and regionally in the Ruhr area and on the Lower Rhine , as the author of the Duisburg plan named after him. This is reflected in a wide range of publications on this work in German. In the old town of Duisburg, Johannes-Corputius-Platz was named after the cartographer.

In the Netherlands, on the other hand, the military work of Johan van den Corput comes to the fore. He is known, for example, as the "defender of Steenwijk". A barracks in the city was named after him in 1939 and was used by the Dutch army until 1998 . As a follow-up use, a residential area was planned on the site of the former military site. This also carries his name as Van den Kornputkwartier . Housing construction began on the 24-hectare site in 2009.

In Steenwijk, Corputius has also been erected a memorial that was designed in 2003 by the artist Hans Kuyper. In Zoetermeer , the street Van den Corputschans was named after Corputius in a residential area in the 1990s and there is also a Johan van den Kornputplein in Delfzijl , which translates as Johan van den Kornput-Platz .

In 2016, the oldest true-to-scale city map north of the Alps, the city map of Duisburg mentioned above, will be 450 years old.

Works

cards

  • J. De Corput Brædanus: Verissima exactissimaque topographia Duisburgi urbis antiquissimae veteris Francorum regiae atque etiam ipsissimae eiusdem ad vivum effigies, ita ut nihil desit , 1566; Original in the Duisburg Cultural and City History Museum.
  • Modern editions of the Corputius plan:
    • Duisburg in 1566 (Veriss. Ex actiss. Q. Topographia Duisburgi urbis antiquiss. Veter. Francor. Regiae atq. Etiam ipsiss. Eiusdem ad vivu effigiesi ita ut nihil desit), city map, Verlag für Wirtschaft und Kultur Renckhoff, Duisburg 1964.
    • Stadtpl. D. Johannes Corputius from 1566, format 87 × 87.5 cm: Veriss. exactiss. q. topographia Duisburgi urbis antiquiss., map supplement, in: Krause, Günter [Hrsg.]: Stadtarchäologie in Duisburg: 1980 - 1990. Duisburger Forschungen 38, Braun, Duisburg 1992, ISBN 3-87096-049-3 .

Books

  • Reinico Fresinga (pseudonym of Johannes Corputius): Memories of things to be commemorated, which happened in the Dutch provinces of Frieslant, Overijssel, Omlanden, Drenthe, Greuningen, ende Lingen, with heuren bijliggendigen. Van Campen, Deventer 1584.

literature

  • Jan PJ Postema: Johannes Corputius (1542-1611); Warrior, cartographer, fortress builder. In: Hans-Georg Kraume [Red.]: Duisburg research. 35, Braun, Duisburg 1987, ISBN 3-87096-046-9 , pp. 26-50.

Literature on the Duisburg plan from 1566

  • The Duisburg city map of Johannes Corputius from 1566 , multimedia CD-Rom, ed. by the Gerhard-Mercator-Gesellschaft eV, Red. Heike Hawicks / Werner Pöhling, Duisburg 2002
  • Duisburg in 1566: the city map of Johannes Corputius (= Duisburg research. 40), arr. by Joseph Milz / Günter von Roden, Duisburg 1993, ISBN 3-87096-051-5 .
  • Heike Hawicks: The Duisburg city map of Johannes Corputius from 1566, from the early modern "advertising brochure" to the modern multimedia CD-ROM. In: Duisburg research. 51, Mercator-Verlag, Duisburg 2004, ISBN 3-87463-377-2 , pp. 225-234.
  • Frosien-Leinz, Heike: The Corputius Plan: Communal self-confidence and advertising material. In: Frosien-Leinz, Heike [Red.]: From Flanders to the Lower Rhine: Economy and culture overcome borders ; Volume accompanying the exhibition, published by City of Duisburg - The Lord Mayor, Museum of Culture and City History Duisburg, 2000, pp. 87-100, ISBN 3-89279-560-6
  • Joseph Milz: The Duisburg city map of Johannes Corputius and its surveying bases. In: Cartographica Helvetica Heft 11 (1995) pp. 2-10, ISSN  1015-8480 , ( e-periodica.ch full text), reprinted In: Hans Georg Kraume (Ed.): Duisburger Forschungen. Volume 45. Mercator-Verlag, Duisburg 2000, ISBN 3-87463-295-4 , pp. 1-23.
  • Joseph Milz: The measurement of the Duisburg city map from 1566 by Johannes Corputius. In: Irmgard Hantsche, (Ed.): The "mathematicus": on the development and importance of a new professional group in the time of Gerhard Mercator [presentations at the 4th Mercator Symposium, October 30th - 31st 1995], Duisburger Mercator Studies 4th , Brockmeyer, Bochum 1996, ISBN 3-8196-0474-X , pp. [227] -250.
  • Joseph Milz: New Sources and Research on Johannes Corputius. In: Duisburg research. Volume 31, ed. from the Duisburg City Archives in connection with d. Mercator Ges. [For d. Written responsible: Joseph Milz], Braun, Duisburg 1982, pp. 117–125, ISBN 3-87096-042-6 .

Web links

Commons : Johannes Corputius  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter von Roden : Duisburger Forschungen - series of publications for history and local history Duisburg 6, supplement . Publishing house for economy and culture Werner Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1964, p. 12 . published by the Duisburg City Archives in conjunction with the Mercator Society cf. Collection Breda No. 811, f. 119. Published by Gerrit Cornelius Aadrianus Juten in: Taxandria: tijdschrift voor Noordbrabantsche Geschiedenis en Volkskunde , 36th year 1929, p. 297 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Jan Pieter Johannes Postema: Johan van den Corput, 1542-1611: kaartmaker, vestingbouwer, krijgsman , Kampen: Stichting Ijsselakademie, 1993, ISBN 90-6697-063-4
  3. ↑ cf. Matthys Balen: Beschryvinge der stad Dordrecht , Dordrecht, 1677, p. 1018, names September 17, 1611 as the date of death.
  4. ↑ the epitaph in the Martini Church in Groningen, commissioned by Petrus Pappus von Tratzberg, indicated September 17, 1611, MD CXI DIE SEPT XVII [...] as the date of death, cf. photo in the online offer of the Breda City Archives , Identification number: 19810336 ( Memento of the original from September 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / stadsarchief.breda.nl
  5. ↑ Janus Grunterus, 1614 (cf. Heinrich Averdunk: Geschichte der Stadt Duisburg , 1894, p. 42f.), However, mentions September 27, 1611 “Sept. 27”. 1611 styli veteris obiit ". This date is only correct taking into account the calendar form of 1528.
  6. ^ Günter von Roden : Duisburger Forschungen - series of publications for history and local history Duisburg 6, supplement . Publishing house for economy and culture Werner Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1964, p. 11 . published by the Duisburg City Archives in conjunction with the Mercator Society
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jan PJ Postema: Johannes Corputius (1542-1611); Warrior, cartographer, fortress builder. In: Hans-Georg Kraume [Red.]: Duisburg research. 35, Braun, Duisburg 1987, ISBN 3-87096-046-9
  8. ↑ cf. "Nu vijfthien jaeren long in de van alderley goede consten ende leeringen geexerceert tot Loven, tot Colen ende in other different plaetsen." In Günter von Roden : Duisburger Forschungen - series for history and local history Duisburgs 6, supplement . Publishing house for economy and culture Werner Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1964, p. 12 . published by the Duisburg City Archives in conjunction with the Mercator Society
  9. ↑ Joseph Milz: The Duisburg city map of Johannes Corputius and his measurement bases. In: Cartographica Helvetica issue 11 (1995)
  10. ↑ a b Frosien-Leinz, Heike: The Corputius Plan: Communal self-confidence and advertising material.
  11. ^ Jan PJ Postema: Johannes Corputius (1542-1611); Warrior, cartographer, fortress builder. In: Hans-Georg Kraume [Red.]: Duisburg research. 35, Braun, Duisburg 1987, ISBN 3-87096-046-9 , p. 35
  12. ↑ cf. "Dat de rande zijns vaderlants end de eere van God almachtich hem moveerden om grooter studien end emptyheyt naerder te vervolgen" in Günter von Roden : Duisburger Forschungen - series for history and local history Duisburgs 6, supplement . Publishing house for economy and culture Werner Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1964, p. 12 . published by the Duisburg City Archives in conjunction with the Mercator Society
  13. ^ Günter von Roden : Duisburger Forschungen - series of publications for history and local history Duisburg 6, supplement . Publishing house for economy and culture Werner Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1964, p. 12 . published by the Duisburg City Archives in conjunction with the Mercator Society
  14. ^ Jan PJ Postema: Johannes Corputius (1542-1611); Warrior, cartographer, fortress builder. In: Hans-Georg Kraume [Red.]: Duisburg research. 35, Braun, Duisburg 1987, ISBN 3-87096-046-9 , p. 41
  15. ^ Jan PJ Postema: Johannes Corputius (1542-1611); Warrior, cartographer, fortress builder. In: Hans-Georg Kraume [Red.]: Duisburg research. 35, Braun, Duisburg 1987, ISBN 3-87096-046-9 , p. 30
  16. ^ Günter von Roden : Duisburger Forschungen - series of publications for history and local history Duisburg 6, supplement . Publishing house for economy and culture Werner Renckhoff, Duisburg-Ruhrort 1964, p. 12 . published by the Duisburg City Archives in conjunction with the Mercator Society
  17. ↑ Reinico Fresinga van Frennicker: Memories of the Gedenckwerdigen things dier in the Nederlandiſchen Provincien van Frieslant, Overijſſel, Omlanden, Drenthe, Grueningen, ende Lingen, met heuren bijliggendigen frontieren geſchiet ſyn , Fridzert van Campen, Dewenter 1584
  18. ↑ a b Zeger Willem Sneller: Brieven van Emanuel van Meteren en van Pieter boron . In: Historisch Genootschap (Hrsg.): Bijdragen en Mededeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap . tape 56 . Kemink & Zoon, Utrecht 1935, p. 261–281 (Dutch, dbnl.org [accessed October 25, 2016]).
  19. ↑ Nicolaas van den Corput was city secretary of Breda.
  20. ↑ Ale Algra, Hendrik Algra: Dispereert niet. Twintig eeuwen historie van de Nederlanden , Franeker: Wever, 1978, p. 404, ISBN 90-6135-272-X
  21. ↑ Hans Delbrück: History of the art of war in the context of political history , Berlin 1920, part 4, p. 184
  22. ↑ Rijksarchief Groningen: Graf van Steen Johan Jansz. van de Corput. Breda City Archives, identification number: 19810336 (Dutch)
personal data
SURNAME Corputius, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johannes van den Corput; Johan van den Cornput; Johannes de Corput
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cartographer and author of the colored Corputius map for the city of Duisburg
DATE OF BIRTH April 1542
PLACE OF BIRTH Breda
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1611
Place of death Groningen