Not having read any of the text in this thread and thus skipping over any drama stuff
I'll have to say that this would be the first maps that I could see finding actual use by a larger amount of the player base. I always liked the first image, which is from a woodcut again I believe. Does the thing in the top left look familiar to you?
The second map is a tad too dark, but the province borders look interesting. Can you maybe brighten up the image a little, at least for the landmass?