Frans Hogenberg: Engraving 16th Century News

Throughout Europe during the 1500s, experiments were made in printed news, such as illustrated news broadsides that appealed to a mostly illiterate population. Frans Hogenberg was the first to successfully build a career in illustrated journalism.

According to the Hollstein Studies in Prints and Printmaking, Frans Hogenberg moved from England to Cologne in 1570 and founded a publishing house. With a large staff, Hogenberg’s scope of work moved beyond maps, cityscapes and portraits.

Starting in 1570, Hogenberg began work on broadsheets illustrating historic political and military events that took place in Europe during the 16th century.

Knowing that Hogenberg’s illustrated journalism career began in 1570, only his engravings of events dated after 1570 can truly be considered news broadsides because they were published in a timely manner, often only weeks after the event occurred. His pre-1570 work is more accurately labeled historical broadsides.

Shown above are four examples of Hogenberg broadsides (click the photo to enlarge).

Upper left: The knights tournament at which Gabriel, Comte de Montgomery, mortally wounds King Henri II by his lance. Dated June 30, 1559.

Upper right: The beheading of Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn, in the main square at Brussels, which signified the start of hostilities in the Eighty Years’ War. Dated June 4, 1568.

Lower left: The military coup in Brussels that began the process of that ended the Pacification of Ghent. Dated September 5, 1576.

Lower right: The Sack of Antwerp, known as the Spanish Fury, during the Eighty Years’ War. The Spanish Fury was “one of the most notable deeds of blood upon record — [7000] human beings butchered and houses burned — how the city was plundered,” as reported 300 years later in the November 25, 1876 issue of the New York Times. Dated November 4, 1576 with contemporary hand coloring.

Since Hogenberg’s career in illustrated journalism began in 1570, the top two examples are more accurately considered historical broadsides while the bottom two were engraved weeks after the actual events and therefore safe to call illustrated news broadsides.