Old Map of Ukraine by Johann Baptist Homann

Johann Baptist Homann’s Old Map of Ukraine

Johann Baptist Homann published this important early map of Ukraine in Nuremberg during the opening decades of the eighteenth century. Its full Latin title, Ukrania quae et Terra Cosaccorum, cum vicinis Walachiae, Moldaviae, Minorisque Tartariae Provinciis, identifies Ukraine as “the Land of the Cossacks” and includes the neighbouring provinces of Wallachia, Moldavia and Little Tartary.

The title is historically significant. Ukraine is not treated merely as an unnamed borderland between larger powers. It is prominently labelled and associated directly with the Cossack territories that occupied a central place in the politics of Eastern Europe.

Ukraine and the Cossack Lands

The map was produced when the lands surrounding the Dnieper were divided between competing political and military interests. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Muscovy, the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khanate and the Cossack Hetmanate all influenced the region represented by Homann.

Across the centre of the engraving appears the name Ukraina, while Russia Rubra—Red Ruthenia—is marked farther west. The Dnieper forms the map’s principal geographical thread, flowing southwards through the Cossack lands towards the Black Sea.

Homann’s treatment of Ukraine drew upon the influential seventeenth-century surveys of Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan. Beauplan had travelled and worked extensively in the region and produced some of the first detailed printed maps devoted specifically to Ukraine. Homann used this geographical foundation while introducing political information relevant to the early eighteenth century.

From Moscow to the Black Sea

The map covers an extensive portion of Eastern Europe. Moscow appears towards the upper right, while Constantinople—present-day Istanbul—lies near the lower edge. Between them are the Ukrainian lands, Moldavia, Wallachia, Transylvania, Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the northern coast of the Black Sea.

Kiev appears beside the Dnieper, together with numerous smaller fortified towns and settlements. Other rivers, including the Dniester, Don and Southern Bug, cross a landscape filled with regional names, boundaries, forests and stretches of open steppe.

The Black Sea is labelled both Pontus Euxinus, its classical name, and Mare Nigrum. The Sea of Azov appears under the Italian form Mare delle Zabache. Crimea is shown as part of Little Tartary, reflecting its association with the Crimean Khanate.

These names preserve a geographical vocabulary very different from that used on a modern map. They record how an educated European audience encountered Ukraine and the Black Sea region in the early eighteenth century.

The Battle of Poltava

Homann’s map reflects events surrounding the Battle of Poltava in 1709. The battle, fought between the forces of Peter the Great and Charles XII of Sweden, marked a decisive stage in the Great Northern War.

Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa had broken with Peter and allied himself with the Swedish king. The defeat of the Swedish and allied Cossack forces profoundly altered the political balance of the region and strengthened Russian power in Eastern Europe.

The site of the battle is marked on the map. Its inclusion helps place the engraving close to the events it depicts and distinguishes Homann’s work from earlier maps based solely upon seventeenth-century geographical information.

Homann’s Illustrated Cartouche

The large cartouche in the upper-left corner is one of the map’s most striking features. Armed Cossack figures gather around the tablet carrying the Latin title, transforming a practical inscription into an elaborate historical scene.

The seated central figure is often interpreted as Hetman Ivan Mazepa, shown with his followers after their defeat and exile. The surrounding figures wear military dress and carry weapons, reinforcing the map’s identification of Ukraine with the Cossack world.

Whether every individual was intended as a particular historical person cannot be established with certainty. Nevertheless, the scene clearly gives the Cossacks a commanding visual presence and places their political and military identity at the heart of the composition.

Johann Baptist Homann

Johann Baptist Homann was a German engraver, cartographer and publisher based in Nuremberg. His workshop became one of the most successful mapmaking businesses in eighteenth-century Germany.

Homann’s maps are particularly recognisable for their strong engraved lines, extensive geographical coverage and imposing decorative cartouches. Original examples were frequently finished with hand-applied colour, allowing political divisions and regional boundaries to be followed across densely engraved landscapes.

This map of Ukraine is an excellent example of his approach. Geographical information, recent political events and decorative imagery are all brought together on a single plate.

Map Details

• Original title: Ukrania quae et Terra Cosaccorum, cum vicinis Walachiae, Moldaviae, Minorisque Tartariae Provinciis
• English translation: Ukraine, or the Land of the Cossacks, with the neighbouring provinces of Wallachia, Moldavia and Little Tartary
• Cartographer, engraver and publisher: Johann Baptist Homann
• Published: Nuremberg, c.1712
• Approximate scale: 1:3,200,000
• Original format: Copperplate engraving with hand-applied colour
• Geographical foundation: Derived in part from Guillaume de Beauplan’s mapping of Ukraine
• Principal places: Kiev, Moscow, Constantinople, Poltava and Azov
• Regions shown: Ukraine, the Cossack lands, Crimea, Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Muscovy and Little Tartary
• Seas: Black Sea and Sea of Azov
• Notable feature: The site of the Battle of Poltava, 1709
• Decoration: Illustrated title cartouche with Cossack figures
• Edition represented: Early state without the later privilege inscription

Homann’s engraving preserves an unusually rich picture of Ukraine and its neighbouring lands at a defining moment in their history. The prominent use of the name Ukraine, the identification of the Cossack territories and the map’s record of the Battle of Poltava give it particular historical resonance.