AELST, Alostum, Urbs Flandriae Imperatoriae Firmissima. [Aalst, Belgium]

Antique copper engraved bird's-eye view, plan of Aalst by Braun and Hogenberg.
From: 'Liber Quartus Urbium Praecipuarum Totius Mundi', published in Cologne.
TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Aalst, a very strong city in Imperial Flanders.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Flanders is today divided into three main parts, namely German, French and Imperial Flanders, the latter being so-called because it was formerly subject to the German Empire and under its protection. But this part is also called the County of Aalst, from a town of the same name that is large, handsome, heavily fortified, and located at a favorable place on the Dender [...].
This town carries out many commercial activities, but especially it has its trade with hops, a well-known flower that is needed for brewing beer, with which the people of Aalst earn no small income."

This bird's-eye view from the south shows the town's fortifications, which were modernized in 1578. The Gothic church of St Martin can be seen in the middle of the city, and above it to the left is the Grote Markt with the Schepenhuis and Belfort. The castle of Aalst is first recorded in AD 866, and in 1164 the town was granted a municipal charter. From the time Count Baldwin IV of Flanders incorporated the County of Aalst east of the Schelde into his domain, the Counts of Flanders owed allegiance to both the French king and the German emperor.
After becoming part of the Burgundian dominion under Philip the Bold, Imperial Flanders came into the possession of the Habsburgs through the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian I of Austria and passed to the Spanish line after the abdication of Charles V.

The "Civitates" was compiled and written by George Braun, Canon of Cologne Cathedral. Braun gathered together vast amounts of information and draft plans to produce over 500 city views/maps published in six parts between 1572 and 1617. Most of these engravings were made by Simon Novellanus and Frans Hogenberg, many after drawings by Joris Hoefnagel.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 9, State 1; Fauser, 23; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.282.