M306 - Elizabeth I (1558-1603), The Defeat of the
Spanish Armada, 1558, Gilt Copper Cast Medal, 54 mm, with suspension
loop, of Dutch manufacture, mm
Rose, the Pope Sixtus V, Bishops, the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, Philip
II of Spain, Henry I, Duke of Guise and other princes seated in
consultation, all blindfolded, seated on a floor of spikes, DVRVM EST CONTRA
STIMVLOS CALCITRARE (It is hard to kick against the pricks - Acts ix.5, a
reference to the spikes at their feet), O COECAS HOMINVM MENTES O PECTORA
COECA (Oh! the blind minds, the blind hearts of men), rev., the
Spanish fleet driven against the rocks with sailors being thrown in the
water, TV DEVS MAGNVS ET MAGNA FACIS TV SOLVS DEVS (Thou, God, art great and
doest wondrous things: thou art God alone - Pslam lxxxvi.10), and within
border VENI VIDE VIVE (Come, see, live), 1588, (cf MI 144/111), almost extremely fine, a very attractive
contemporary after cast, mounted for suspension, of
this historically important and artistically accomplished medal, rare.
$1495
SOLD
The obverse satirizes the failed
plans of the Catholic Powers to destroy the heretic queen of England,
Elizabeth I. Elizabeth had been excommunicated by Sixtus V in 1570 and had
provided material and moral support to the Dutch in their struggle for
independence against Spain. In 1587 she ordered the beheading of her
Catholic cousin, Mary Stewart, exiled Queen of Scotland, it had been planned
that Mary would rule England after the invasion. The planned invasion
envisaged the Armada sailing from Spain to control the English Channel,
allowing ground troops under the Duke of Parma to cross from Flanders
in transports and to land in southern England. The Spanish army would have
been almost unstoppable had it landed, so the only defense lay in defeating
the Armada at sea. Following a running naval battle lasting several days the
English Navy succeeded in breaking up the mighty Armada and preventing it
from rendezvousing with the land forces under Parma. The final destruction
of the Armada was left to the weather, as seen here on the reverse,
forced to sail back to Spain around Scotland and Ireland along the
treacherous Atlantic coast. Of the roughly 130 ships that left Spain, only
about 67 returned, with the loss of thousands of men. The defeat of the
Armada and in turn the mighty Spanish Empire was a miraculous victory for
the English and was not surprisingly seen seen by them as the result of divine
intervention as the reverse legend proclaims.
