Carta Marina, printed in 1539 in Venice, was published by the last catholic Bishop of Uppsala, Olaus Magnus (who was expatriated from his country, upheaved by the protestant revolution, so don't be surprised by the "Italian, first published label").
He settled in Gdańsk and spent the following 12 years capturing what we call today the Baltic Sea region. Absolute novelty as it was, Carta Marina became very popular - for the first time people could see the North of Europe in one piece. Unsurprisingly, it's now considered to be a cornerstone of Swedish cartography.
We'd like to know what Olaus would say if he saw our European Transport Maps interactive portal. "No sea monsters, are u serious?!"