Lazarus’ map of Hungary

Abstract

Lazarus' map, Tabula Hungariae, is considered the oldest survived map of Hungary. The original was made around 1515, while a printed version appeared in 1528 in Ingolstadt. The technology used was stereotypical - printed in wood carving after which it was hand-painted. The map included the areas of present day Hungary, Slovakia, parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, and Ukraine. It was a much more detailed depiction, than anything produced up to that point, illustrating fortifications, settlements, and some historical events. It is an authentic and very valuable document with respect, also, to the situation in the northern part of present day Serbia, just before the Battle of Mohács and the Ottoman expansion after the battle. After its "re-discovery" in 1906, it represents a subject of study for a large number of researchers. It also represents a segment of planetary cultural heritage and, as of 2007, has found its place on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The original is kept in the Map Collection Hungarica, at the National Széchényi Library in Budapest.