M410 - Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Support for the
United Provinces (Netherlands), 1587, Silver Medal, 53 mm, of Dutch manufacture, m.m.
Rose, Elizabeth I enthroned, trampling at her feet a hydra, Robert Dudley,
1st Earl of Leicester, the Governor-General of the United Provinces, to her
right holds her robe, his foot holding down the tail of the hydra, five
cherubs kneel at her feet each holding the arms of the United Provinces, DEO
OPT MAX LAVS ET HONOR IN OE AEVVM QVOD, (To the best and greatest God be
praise and honor for ever, because), 1587 in the exergue, rev.,
the word Jehovah in Hebrew shining down from heaven above, below and falling
from heaven are figures of the Pope, his cardinals and bishops, priests and
monks with their objects from the Catholic Mass, QVEN DEVS CONFICIET SPIRITV
ORIS SVI (Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth - 2
Thess.ii.8), (MI 139/99), extremely fine, toned, a very attractive example of
this historically important and artistically accomplished medal, rare.
$4995 NOW $3995 SOLD
English political and military support for
the Dutch Republic's rebellion against the Spanish was critical for it to
succeed. Under the terms of the 1585 Treaty of Nunsuch, the United Provinces
were effectively made an English protectorate with the Earl of Leicester as
Governor General and Elizabeth I as a sovereign figure head. This medal
acknowledges this position as well as strongly evoking the anti-Catholic and
anti-Spanish sentiment that tied the Dutch and English together. English
support for the Netherlands was one of the main reasons for the Spanish
Armada and the attempted invasion of England a year after this medals
striking.
