Europa Regina

Europa Regina is an interpretation of the European map as a medieval queen with the Iberian Peninsula as her head, Bohemia as her heart, the Pyrenees as her neck, Gallia as her upper chest and the Holy Roman Empire as the torso. The regions of Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Livonia, Bulgaria, Muscovy, Macedonia and Greece make up the length of her gown while Italy and Denmark serve as arms. The orb in her right hand is Sicily. 

The first cartographer to depict Europa Regina was Johannes Putsch in 1537 according to europaregina.edu.  In addition to this, according to curtiswrightmaps.com  the introduction of this map resulted in religious conflict throughout the continent as "the image transmits an ideal of unity amid the turmoil of Reformation violence". In a later version of the piece Europa Regina was reimagined to look like the Holy Roman Empress, Isabella of Portugal in the late 1530s.  

Although Europa Regina was designed by a man, the widespread depiction of a woman in a position of power is important to women's design history nonetheless. Women during the middle ages were rarely seen as powerful or important.  The designers choice to depict Europe not as a king, but as a queen is a decision that changes the way the Europa Regina is interpreted and perceived.