Leo Belgicus , which translates from Latin as “the lion of Belgique ”, is a map of the Historical Netherlands in the form of a heraldic lion , depicted on the emblems of individual Dutch provinces, as well as the ruling Orange House . Belgic in the XVI — XVII centuries. All Lower Countries were called (the territory of modern Belgium and the Netherlands ).
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| Dutch lion 1648 | ||
| Leo hollandicus | ||
The first such map was made at the height of the struggle of the Dutch provinces for independence , in 1583, by the Austrian cartographer Michel Eitzinger. On this map, the lion's head is placed in the upper right corner and corresponds to the northwestern provinces of the Netherlands.
The Austrian prototype is followed by the most famous map of the Netherlands in the form of a heraldic lion, made on the occasion of the conclusion in 1609 of the Twelve Years World by the Dutch cartographer Klas Janson Pikator . At about the same time, the map of Yodokus Hondius is dated, on which the lion looks in the opposite direction.
At the time of the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia , which left the Southern Netherlands in the hands of the Spanish crown, cartographers began to put on the maps in the form of a lion only the Republic of the United Provinces . These cards are known as the “lion of Holland ” ( Leo Hollandicus ).