Seventeenth century urban Catalan representations by Sébastien de Pontault, sieur de Beaulieu

Abstract

During the second half of the seventeenth century, Sébastien Pontault, better known as Sieur de Beaulieu, military engineer to the service of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, launched a publishing company specializing in the representation of places, sieges and battles staged by the French troops. His work was prolific and covered all fronts open at the time. The Catalans places are prominently represented with almost one hundred forty images, mainly views and plans of fortresses and villas involved in the Catalan Revolt or Reaper’s War and subsequent events. This paper presents a biography of the author and his legacy associated with Catalonia and Roussillon, contextualizing it historically. The paper emphasizes the collection of unpublished manuscripts known as Atlas of Perpignan.

Key words: urban cartography, xvii century, Catalonia, Beaulieu.