For three generations this family of engravers, publishers and print-sellers played a dominant role in European graphic art, producing work of great variety and high quality. They were descended from a line of steel-chisellers from Aalst. Jan de Saeyelleer (Sadeleer) had three sons, Jan Sadeler I, Aegidius Sadeler I and Raphael Sadeler I, the first generation of engravers, publishers and print-sellers. The religious and political uncertainties of the time forced them to emigrate, and they worked in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Venice and Prague. The next generation followed in their footsteps, of whom Aegidius Sadeler II, who worked for Rudolf II and his successors, was the most notable. Justus Sadeler, the son of Jan Sadeler I, and the three sons of Raphael Sadeler I — Jan Sadeler II, Raphael Sadeler II and Filips Sadeler — were lesser artists but continued the family tradition. The third generation was represented by Tobias Sadeler (active Vienna, 1670–75), son of Aegidius Sadeler II; he executed engravings for topographical books.