S. Polid vulgo Sanpolten. Inferioris Austriae Civitas.[Sankt Pölten]

This is a finely engraved view of the medieval city of Sankt Pölten, now the capital of Niederösterreich in the heartland of Austria. This view, by Georg Hoefnagel, it illustrates a rich agricultural region, with orderly fields laid out in front of the city.
Hoefnagel is shown in the foreground sitting on a log, preparing his sketch, with a small group of soldiers resting nearby. A grisly gallows flanks the road into the city at right. Latin text on verso.
The view comes from the sixth and last volume of 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum' ("Theatri Praecipuarum Totius Mundi Urbivm Liber Sextus"), published in a much smaller edition than previous volumes, and it is therefore rarer than most of Braun & Hogenberg city views. Published by A. Hierat in Cologne, 1617. With ornamental title-cartouches and key to the view .

CAPTION: S. Polid, known in German as St Pölten, city in Lower Austria.
CARTOUCHE TOP RICHT: Procured by Georg Hoefnagel, drawn by his son Jakob in 1617.
CARTOUCHE BOTTOM LEFT: The conspiratorial and rebellious Austrian peasants met on this hill in '97 and '98. The leaders and instigators of this act of high treason were therefore martyred to death in various manners at this very place and, as a warning to others, crucified.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "This city recently became known in an inglorious manner when the rabble and the peasants rose up against the authorities here in 1597. For after many of then had complained in secret about the heavy burden of taxes and compulsory labour, and noticed that many others felt the same way, they took up their weapons. [...] Then the Count of Thurn came with some horsemen and attacked the peasants at night, giving them such a fright that they scattered in all directions."
This view from a hill shows the well-fortified city dominated by the towers of the abbey belonging to the monastery of Augustinian Canons and of the town hall. On the foreground on the left are armed peasants and in the middle two nobles, one of whom is looking at the peasants while pointing to the bodies of the executed rebels hanging on gallows on the right.
The Roman town of Aelium Cetium that once existed on the site of this historic city was granted city privileges in the 2nd century AD. A Benedictine monastery dedicated to St Hippolytus was erected here in the 8th century and converted into the above-mentioned monastery of Augustinian Canons around 1050.
In 1159 St Pölten received a municipal charter. The city wall was built in the 13th century and provided protection from the Turks in 1529 and in 1683.

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.
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Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 4162; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.459.