The Claudianus Code : an exhibition Nicolaus Claudianus (Mikuláš Klaudyán) : the first map of Bohemia 1518
Abstract
The contribution informs about an exhibition organized by Geographical Section of the Faculty of Science of Charles University. The first map of Bohemia was published in 1518.
Illustrated broadsheet has been preserved in a single copy at diocese of Litoměřice. The map consists of three parts.
The first one combines the description of a legal system headed by King Louis II of Hungary. The second one criticizes religious frictions using allegory of painted carriage.
The last part is a map with 280 seats with south-up orientation. The terminology of the map is Czech, understandable till now.
The approximate scale 1: 685,000 was determined by K.Kuchař. Original manuscript copies have been also preserved, for example in the Rychnov nad Kněžnou castle.
The map was spread thanks to S. Münster who published a scale-down copy in Cosmographia (1545).
It was published in Czech edited by Zikmund of Púchov (1554). It was published in Venice in 1566.
F. J.
J. Kreibich also published the map as an attachment to Bílejovský's Church Chronicle after 1816.
In the 20th century it was published as a high-quality rotogravure copy in the Geographical Institute of the Faculty of Science of Charles University in the edition Monumenta Cartographica Bohemiae. B. Šimák at the Masaryk University in Brno copied it manually after the World War II.
The celebrations of Claudianus began already in February 2018 by issuing a commemorative coin that was baptised by representatives of the Czech National Bank. Posters and winner designs from the coin competition are also included in the exhibition.
The exhibition was accompanied by excursions, guided tours and events.