Mapmaker

Abraham Ortelius was a map maker in the 1500s in Antwerp. His chief claim to fame was that he made the first map book, now called an atlas. Abraham had a huge circle of family, colleagues, friends and acquaintances. He was an avid humanist who met regularly to discuss humanist issues. His friends included geographers and map makers, printers, painters, engravers, poets and clergymen who lived all over Europe; many of them were also well known figures. He travelled Europe to obtain maps and to further his many other interests. Politics, both church and state, made the Netherlands an unsafe place to live during the sixteenth century, as Spain sought to control the Netherlands and the Catholic Church and headed the Inquisition. Abraham found it necessary on several occasions to flee what was happening in Antwerp at the time. While based on fact, this is essentially a fictional story.