In the 1670s French astronomers, under the leadership of Cassini, began making observations of the satellites in many locations in France. The resulting map of France, finished in 1679 showed that the west coast of France was too far west by an entire degree on existing maps and that similar adjustments had to be made to the Mediterranean coast.
It is said that upon seeing this map, King Louis XIV remarked that he was losing more territory to his astronomers than to his enemies.
http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/observations/longitude.html
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