Reproduction of a plan and elevation of Ypres, c. 1640,by Johannes Blaeu and published by Antonius Sanderus, most likely in Flandria Illustrata, first published 1641. Serves as an example of a Renaissance town of the Low Countries, and its eminent place in the history of civil democracy and of culture, its influence, too on society. Shows old wealth and prosperity, as well as the effects of the Wars of the Reformation and the Eighty Years Wars of Independence from Spain, leading to dominance of fortification in town layout.