30 A HISTORY OF AMERICA IN 100 MAPS
This large, flamboyant, and detailed map of
the western hemisphere is first and foremost a
declaration of Spanish power. Cosmographer Diego
Gutiérrez collaborated with the noted Flemish
engraver Hieronymus Cock to produce the map for
the Casa de Contratación, the agency responsible for
creating charts and maps to administer the Spanish
empire. The map—measuring approximately three
feet square—remained the largest of its kind well
into the next century. (It is unclear whether the author
was Diego Gutiérrez senior or his son. Both went by
the same name, and both worked for the Casa.)
The size and elaborate artistry of the map indicate
that it was designed not as an aid to navigation but
more as a symbolic statement of Spanish authority
in the New World. At upper left are Spanish and
French coats of arms, most likely commemorating
the recent treaty that ended decades of war between
the two powers. East of Argentina is the Portuguese
coat of arms, acknowledging that country’s sphere of
influence over eastern South America as set out in the
Treaty of Tordesillas. Around the entire hemisphere,
fantasy and reality inhabit the same space: large
vessels navigate rough waters, battle for control of
the South Atlantic, and sail among sea creatures.
A shipwreck marks the North American coast, while
the hungry cannibals in the South American interior
echo the same type of detail found on Sebastian
Münster’s map of 1540 (page 24).
Among the most noticeable details are the many
place names along the entire coastline of South and
Central America, and to a lesser extent along the
North American coast. Naming these places was
itself an act of Spanish control. By the time Gutiérrez
drew the map, the Spanish were moving beyond
the coast to the interior of what is now the southern
United States. In 1540 Francisco Vázquez de
Coronado headed north from northern Mexico to
find the fabled cities of gold on the Great Plains,
while de Soto explored the tributaries of the gulf
and the Southeast. The Gutiérrez map captures
the Spanish quest to name and claim the land in
“La Nueva Galicia” and elsewhere. The assertion
of power is underscored by the vignette in the upper
middle, with King Philip as a confident Neptune
sailing westward and presiding over both land
and sea.
And yet, in that tentative northward reach, the
Gutiérrez map inadvertently demonstrated how
little was known of North America. This was the first
map to name California, and properly shows it as a
peninsula rather than an island (as became common
in the next century). But the Atlantic coastline
remains relatively confused, and the placement of
large decorative elements at upper left is a tacit
acknowledgment that the continental interior was
poorly understood. The Gutiérrez map signaled the
supremacy of the Spanish in the age of discovery,
but with two crucial caveats. First, the map reminds
us that North America remained a vast mystery to
Europeans in the middle of the sixteenth century, at
times even something of an afterthought. The heart
of the map is Central and South America, with North
America relegated to the corner and dominated by
decorative flourishes rather than geographical detail.
Second, Spanish control in the western
hemisphere would soon be challenged by other
European powers. In the year this map was published,
the French established Charlesfort in what is now
South Carolina, and tentatively explored the coast
of Florida. Though Spanish pressure drove out the
French within a year, it was a sign of things to come.
Within two decades, the English began to articulate
their own territorial claims in North America, as
shown on the next map.THE SPANISH ASSERTION OF AMERICA
Diego Gutiérrez and Hieronymus Cock,
“Americae sive quartae orbis partis
nova et exactissima descriptio,” 1562