In the seventy years after Columbus's discoveries, the Spanish and the Portuguese competed to remain masters of deep ocean navigation and thereby of the new Atlantic world. Based on myriad reports from navigators at sea, maps such as this 1562 print grew increasingly accurate and became a crucial tool of exploration, colonial policy, and imperial diplomacy. This ornate map, the largest of its kind for over a century, was not intended for practical navigation, but was rather a ceremonial and diplomatic presentation of Spain's vision of the Atlantic World at that moment in time. It was designed by the official Spanish cartographer, Diego Gutiérrez, and engraved by the Dutch artist, Hieronymus Cock. The map synthesized nearly seventy years of exploration and observation and is particularly accurate in its portrayal of the rivers, coastal features, and place names crucial to the colonial effort. Far from flatly factual, the map also includes detailed, often fanciful, depictions of the new human societies (including cannibals and the temples of Mexico City), fantastic beasts, and even a rough topography of the Americas.

The map's central goal, however, was to project Spain's imperial claims. The treaties of Cateau Cambrésis signed between Spain and France and France and England in 1559 brought peace to Europe (accounting perhaps for the closeness of the French and Spanish coats of arms on the upper left), but remained largely silent on relations in the broader Atlantic World. This region remained a violently contested zone with a Spanish sphere of influence below the Tropic of Cancer and French sphere in the upper reaches of North America, soon to be joined by Dutch and English incursions. The map therefore boldly limns the Tropic of Cancer below which Spain promised to destroy all interlopers, and curiously omits the once crucial vertical line established by the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 demarcating Spanish and Portuguese hemispheres. Portugal's fleet is shown in strength off the Coast of Africa and its coat of arms dominates the southern Atlantic, but a naval battle between the two casts some doubt on their authority. Spain's Christian mission to control the Western hemisphere is dramatized with the angel-blessed crossing of King Phillip II of Spain on a chariot, alone among the European nations. In all these respects, the map is a powerful document of this critical period of growing understanding and rising imperial competition over the Atlantic world.

Investigate the source using the zoom and navigational tools in the Flash player and then answer the questions below.

1			Examine the continents and coastlines and compare them to the interactive map in the unit. What areas were better known than others?
2			Examine the coat of arms of Spain and France in the upper left and Portugal in the lower right. What imperial claims do they represent?
3			Who is holding the Spanish and French coat of arms in the upper right, while also following King Phillip II's chariot across the Atlantic?
4			What creatures are depicted on land, at sea, and as decorative elements around the map legend? Why were Europeans interested in such novel beasts?
5			How and where are Native Americans presented on this map? How might this have bolstered European claims of sovereignty over otherwise empty lands?