Christian Sgrooten

Christiaan Sgrothen (also Schrooten, Schrot, Schrott, s'Grootens, Sgrothenthum, Sgrootenus etc.) ( Sonsbeck between Geldern and Xanten , ca. 1525 - Kalkar , 1603) was a Dutch cartographer. He was born in Sonsbeck as the son of the notary and city writer Peter Sgrothen, who probably came from Brabant. He worked as a painter and cartographer in Kalkar on the Lower Rhine, where he acquired civil law in 1548 and bought a house on the market around 1553. Here he married the innkeeper's daughter Agnes van Bedber. Two children are known from this marriage.

Around 1555 he started mapping the Lower Rhine area. In 1557 he produced a map of Gelderland that came out later in print. On December 2 of that year, he was appointed court cartographer (Geographus Regiae Maiestatis Hispaniae) of King Philip II . The government in Brussels initially ordered him to map all provinces, regions and cities that belonged to the Spanish crown, with the borders and neighboring regions, for which Sgrothen traversed the entire region. In 1568 he started his main work, mapping the German Empire. This was recorded in two atlases from the years 1572/73 and 1592, which were never published. Sgrothen died in 1603 and was buried in the Dominican church of Kalkar.

The first of both atlases, completed in 1573, is now in the Royal Library of Belgium . A restoration was started in 2007 and completed in 2009. The atlas contains 38 maps of the European regions, ranging from Ireland to Austria . The second one from 1592 can be found in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. In addition to the maps that can be found in the earlier edition, this atlas also contains maps from other parts of the world.

Books & Publications

Book Title	Date
Orbis Terrestris Descriptio	1550