The French Intervention phase of the Thirty Years’ War will be mentioned only briefly enough to provide the excuse for including a few more medals illustrating some of the French medallic works of this period.

France, although overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, was nevertheless a rival of the Catholic states, the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, and allied itself with some of the Protestant countries, notably Sweden.  One of the principal religious figures of this period, who was largely responsible for determining this policy, was Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (Cardinal Richelieu) (Figure 9).   Richelieu  served King Louis XIII's wife, Anne of Austria (Figure 10), and was one the of the closest advisors of Louis XIII's mother, Marie de Médici (Figure 11).  As Chief Minister to King Louis XIII of France (Figure 12), Richelieu felt that the Habsburgs were too powerful, since they held a number of territories on France's eastern border, including portions of the Netherlands.  Accordingly, Richelieu promoted the signing of a treaty with Gustavus Adolphus, by which France agreed to support the Swedes in return for a Swedish promise to maintain an army in Germany against the Habsburgs.  The treaty also stipulated that Sweden would not conclude a peace with the Holy Roman Emperor without first receiving France's approval.


Figure 9.  CARDINAL RICHELIEU
(Weiss Collection)

by Jean WARIN:  France,  1631,  Lead,  53 mm   
Obverse:  Bust of Richelieu (r)  .ARMANDVS IOAN. CARD. DE RICHELIEV.
Reverse: A Genius directs the revolution of the planets around the world    . MENS SIDERA VOLVIT. (His Intellect Makes the Stars Revolve)
Exergue: .1631.   
Signed:  I. WARIN.           
Reference: Jones II,192/187;  Kress 108/576;  Molinari 67/251;  Mazerolle-Varin I, 87/13;  Forrer VI, p.369 (illustrated); The Medal, No. 11.;  BW535

Armand-Jean du Plessis (1585-1642), Cardinal de Richelieu, a French cardinal and statesman, was the chief minister to Louis XIII of France.  His greatest achievements were the establishment of the basis of royal absolutism in France and restoration of the prestige of the French kingdom after the lengthy domination of Europe by the Spanish Habsburg.  Richelieu became a protege of Marie de Médici and chaplain to Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII.  He became a cardinal in 1622 and was appointed chief of the royal council in 1624. Although he suppressed the military and political power of the Huguenots, he tolerated Protestant religious practices.  He alienated many powerful Catholics, however, by his policy of placing the interests of the state above all else.  For example, in the Thirty Years’ War, he formed alliances with Protestant powers against the Habsburgs.  As a result Cardinal Richelieu made powerful enemies, especially among the nobility and devout Catholics and survived several aristocratic plots against him.  On his death he was succeeded as first minister by his own protege, Cardinal Jules Mazarin.
Jean Warin produced this medal to flatter Richelieu and win him over to his side when Warin was accused of forgery.  The medal suggests that it is the Cardinal’s intellect which governs the motion of celestial bodies (Jones).   


Figure 10.  ANNE OF AUSTRIA
(Weiss Collection)

by Jean WARIN:  France,  1644,  Bronze,  60 mm   
Obverse:  Bust of Anne of Austria    .ANNA. D. G. FR. ET. NAV. REG.
Reverse: A gnomon on a pedestal bearing Anne's coat of arms, in a landscape. Banner above inscribed:  COELESTE RATIONE REGENS (Ruling With Celestial Judgement)
Exergue: .1644.
Reference: The Medal, 1987 #8; Jones II, 203/203; BW684

Anne of Austria (1601-1666) was the daughter of Philip III of Spain (of the house of Austria, i.e., of the Habsburg dynasty), wife of Louis XIII of France and mother of Louis, the future Louis XIV, king of France.  Her husband died in 1643, the likely date at which this medal was struck, at which time she ruled France as regent in close alliance with Cardinal Mazarin, Richelieu’s successor.  Anne’s regency ended  in 1651 when Louis XIV was proclaimed of age to rule.

This medal was struck shortly after Anne’s ascendancy to the position of Regent of France following the death of her husband Louis XIII.


Figure 11.  MARIE DE MÉDICI
(Weiss Collection)

by Guillaume DUPRÉ:  France,  1624,  Bronze,  101 mm       
Obverse: Bust of Marie de Médici in court dress
Legend: MARIA AVGVSTA GALLIAE NAVARAE REGINA (retrograde)
Reverse:  Uniface   
Signed:  G DVPRE F 1624
Reference:  Kress 568;  Jones Vol 2, No. 59;  Mazarolle II, no. 696; BW102

Marie de Médici (1573-1642) was born in Florence, the daughter of Francis de Médici, grand duke of Tuscany, and Joanna, an Austrian Archduchess. She married Henry IV of France in 1600 and became queen consort. Her children included her eldest son, who became Louis XIII, Gaston duke of Orleans, Elizabeth queen of Spain, Christine duchess of Savoy and Henrietta Maria queen of England. She became queen regent of France upon the murder of Henry IV in 1610.  In 1616 Cardinal Richelieu entered her councils.

The inversion of the legend may have intended to suggest that her titles, legible only in a mirror, are merely a reflection of the glory of her son.



Figure 12.  LOUIS XIII : BIRTH OF LOUIS XIV
(Weiss Collection)

by Michel MOLART:  France,  1638,  Bronze,  73 mm
Obverse:  Bust of Louis XIII    LUDOVICUS XIII. FR. ET. NAV. REX.
Reverse: Facade of Val-de-Grace  OB GRATIAM DIV DISIDERATI REGII PARTVS (For the Favor from God of the Delivery Desired by the King ) (i.e., The birth of a child).
Exergue: V SEPT. M. DC. XXXVIII
Signed:  MOLART.  F.
Reference: Jones Vol 2, p.23 (obverse).; BW191

Louis XIII (The Just) (1601-1643), King of France (1610-1643), was the son of Henry IV and Marie de Médici.  He became king at the age of nine on his father’s assassination in 1610, with his mother assuming full powers of regent.  One of Marie de Médici’s major objectives at that juncture was to bring France into a political and religious alliance with Spain and Austria.  She decided, therefore, that Louis was to marry Anne of Austria, the daughter of the Spanish king, Philip III.  The relationship between the young king and his mother, however, was often hostile, as was his relationship with Cardinal Richelieu, his wife Anne’s principal advisor.  Richelieu, nevertheless, became the most important member of the king’s council, and was in large measure responsible for directing France’s policy.  This policy, which was often openly hostile to non-Catholic members of the community, brought Louis into unremitting conflict with the Protestants. Through Richelieu’s influence, Huguenot strongholds were captured, Italy was invaded and France entered the Thirty Year’s war (1618-1649) against Habsburg Spain.

Louis and Anne had a child, the future Louis XIV, on September 5, 1638, the event celebrated by this medal.  Although dated 1638, the medal was likely struck later, perhaps about 1690 (see Jones).

The church of Val-de-Grace, the facade of which is depicted on the reverse of the medal, is a French baroque church built in Paris between 1645 to1650 by Francois Mansart.

After the Swedish victories (cited above), Richelieu decided to enter the war against the Habsburgs and directed France to declare war on Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.  This decision ended in a military disaster, as  the Spanish counter-attacked,  invading French territory.  The death of  Cardinal Richelieu in 1642 and of Louis XIII a year later left Louis’ five-year-old son Louis XIV on the throne (Figure 13).  Cardinal Mazarin (Figure 14), who became the young Louis’ chief minister, continued to prosecute the war but eventually was forced to try to bring it to a conclusion. This long and costly war ultimately ended in 1648 with a series of treaties, collectively known as the Peace of Westphalia (Figure 15), which brought to a close  both the Thirty Years' War in Germany and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands.



Figure 13.  LOUIS XIV : JUSTICE
(Weiss Collection)

Unknown artist: France,  ca. 1665,  Bronze (cast),  80 mm   
Obverse:  Bust of Louis XIV (r)   LVDOVICVS. MAGNVS. FRAN. ET. NAV. REX. P.P.     (Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre, Father of his Country).   
Reverse: Justice, blindfolded, holding sword and balance, facing castle tower.
Reference: BW314   

Louis XIV (1638-1715), called Louis the Great and the Sun King, was the son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria.  He became king at the age of five upon the death of his father in 1643.  Louis XIV enjoyed the longest reign in European history and had the most splendid court on the continent, both in culture and in regal ostentation, exemplified by his luxurious royal palace at Versailles.

During his long reign the Thirty Years War came to an end, but several other wars were fought, some of which were with Protestant allies.  France became the dominant power in Europe so long as these alliances remained.  However, Louis’ decision to revoke the Edict of Nantes, which had provided for tolerance toward the Protestants, caused the loss of Protestant support and the diminution of France’s power.


Figure 14.  CARDINAL MAZARIN
(Weiss Collection)

WARIN, Claude (?):  France,  ca.1660,  Bronze (cast),  96 mm   
Obverse:  Bust of Mazarin (r)     IVLIVS . S. R. E. CARD. MAZARINVS  F.C.A.G.A.E
Reverse: Hercules takes the burden of the world from Atlas     HI DVO ILLE SOLVS
Reference:  Museum Mazzuchelliani II, CXV, 1:  T.N. LXVI; BW414   
Unsigned
Rare

Jules Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661), French statesman and Cardinal, was the first minister of France after Cardinal  Richelieu's death in 1642. During the early years of King Louis XIV, he completed Richelieu's work of establishing France's supremacy among the European powers and crippling the opposition to the power of the monarchy at home.  By the end of his term in office, Mazarin had made Louis the most powerful ruler in Europe. The reverse of this medal alludes to the fact that Mazarin (Hercules) took much of the burden of the affairs of state from Louis XIV (Atlas).


Figure 15.  ACCESSION OF FREDERICK III OF DENMARK: PEACE OF WESTPHALIA
(Weiss Collection)

by Sebastian DADLER:  Denmark,  1648,  Silver ,   48 x 58 mm
Obverse:  Bust of Frederick III within an ornate wreath   FRIDERICUS III. D.[ei] G.[ratia] DAN.[iae] NORW.[egiae] GOT.[horum] VAND.[alorum] REX. DUX. SL.[esvici] HOLS[a]T.[iae] DIT.[marsiae] COM.[es] IN OLD.[emburg] & DELM.[enhorst].
Reverse:  Within a halo, Peace seated with leg on globe.  In her right hand she is holding the shield of the sun, and in her left hand an olive branch and an open book with the inscription DAS HOHES TE GUTH. (The Greatest Good [The Bible]).  Around: SEHT WIE DER FRIED IEZ ZIERT DIE WELT, DA FRIDRICH KROHN UND SCEPTER HELT: (Look How Peace Now Adorns the World When Frederick Holds the Crown and Scepter)
Signed:  SD   
Rare  

Reference:  Wiecek 123;  Pax in Nummis 924; Galster 80;   Europese Penningen # 1076; BW030

Frederick III (1648-1670), King of Denmark and Norway was the son and successor of Christian IV.  This medal commemorates the accession of Frederick III to the throne in 1648.  It also commemorates the treaty establishing the Peace of Westphalia (1648), one of the most important and far reaching treaties in European history, which effectively ended the Thirty Years’ War.  The peace established the virtual autonomy of the German states, created equality between Protestants and Catholics, and diminished the authority of the Holy Roman Empire.  It also established the ascendancy of France and the Netherlands, increased the power of Sweden in northern Europe and led to the decline of Spain.

Having now provided a short Medallic History of some the religious conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries, let us now consider a medal issued apparently with the expressed intent to propagandize and aggrandize the horrific acts perpetrated by one religious group against another.