start page
Contemporaries in Bohemia
|
Louis II , King of Bohemia and Hungary 1516-1526
Stephan Schlick , *1487 †1526 |
|
Louis II Jagiello , King of Bohemia and Hungary 1516-1526
- nephew of Sigismund I, King of Poland and Brother-in-law of Charles V and Ferdinand I -
Born 1506 in Buda, son von Wladislaw Jagiello, King of Bohemia and Hungary, and nephew of Sigismund I of Poland. Louis was crowned in Hungary in 1508 and in Bohemia in 1509. In 1515 Wladislaw and emperor Maximilian I arranged his marriage with Maximilian's granddaughter Mary. At the same time, Louis's only sister Anne was to marry Maximilian's grandson, who would one day succeed to the Austrian inheritance. The consummation of both marriages was postponed: Louis's and Mary's marriage until 1522, Ferdinand's and Anne's until 1521.
Louis was only ten when he succeeded his father as king of Bohemia and Hungary in 1516. His guardians were his uncle Sigismund I and emperor Maximilian. However, they left the administration to his tutors. After 1521, the queen's influence was greater than that of the irresolute king. Intrigues and personal interests determined the wavering policy of the royal court. In 1526 Louis had to fight off the Turks under Sultan Süleyman, who had already conquered Belgrade in 1521. Louis was not up to the task, in particular since he did not get the expected support from the Hungarians. The battle of Mohács ended with the destruction of his army, and Louis drowned while attempting to escape. Louis's brother-in-law Ferdinand was elected King of Bohemia in 1526. To gain the Hungarian crown, however, Ferdinand had to fight against Zápolya from Transilvania.
The bust of the obverse and King Maximilians's bust on his
1/4-Guldiner
were both modelled on a pattern that Cavalli of Mantua had struck for Maximilian in 1506.
Cast medal 1526 (1532) from Hieronimus Dietrich, unsigned. Ø 40 mm, 24,6 g. Katz 49 Av.: ¤¤LVDOVIC9·VNGA·EtC·REX·CONTRA·TVRCA·PVGNANDO·OCCVPVIT "Louis, King of Hungary etc., died in the battle against the Turks" The king's bust with hat, turning left between ·1·5· - ·Z6 / ETATIS - ·SVE·30· ETATIS SVE 30 = "in his 30th year"; actually, he died aged twenty. Rev.: ¤MARIA·REGINA·EtC·QVOS·DEVS·CONIVNXIT·HOMO·NON·SEPERET "Queen Mary etc. Man shall not divide those who God has united." Bust of his wife Mary turning left, sister of Charles V and Ferdinand I 
Silver medal 1526, attributed to Christoph Fuessl. Ø 45 mm, 28,6 g. Donebauer 984 Original strike from 1546 to commemorate the 20th year of his death in the battle of Mohács. Obv.: LVDOvici:VNGARiae:BOHEmiae:QVE / REGIS·ET·MARIÆ·RE / GINÆ·DVLCISSimaea·COnIV / GIS·AC·PROCEriS / IN·FLANdria "Louis, who ruled Bohemia and Hungary, and Queen Mary, his beloved wife and ... in Flanders" Busts of Louis II with the Golden Fleece on the chain of orders and his wife Mary, facing each other. Rev.: LVDOvicus:HVNGariae:BOEMiae:ZC[etc]·REX / ANnVm:AGENS·XX·IN·TVRCAS / APVD·MOHAZ·CVM·PAR / VA·SVORVM·MANV·PV /GNAnS·HONESTE / OBYT·M·D·XXVI "Louis, King of Bohemia and Hungary, aged twenty, fought the Turks together with a small group of followers in the battle of Mohács. He died on the field of honour in 1526." Picture of the Battle of Mohács. |
|
Stephan Schlick , *1487 †1526
- subject to Louis II, King of Bohemia -
Born 1487 near Karlsbad. Rich silver mines were discovered on Stephan Schlick's lands on the southern slopes of the Ore Mountains. He and his brothers called in mining engineers from Saxony to exploit them. He founded the town St. Joachimsthal (Czech Jáchymov) to settle miners from the Harz mountains, from Saxony, Kuttenberg, the Tyrol, Salzburg, and Bavaria. In 1518 he enacted the "Order of the free and honourable mines of St. Joachimsthal". When he died in 1526, the town had close to 15,000 inhabitants, 29 mines and a mint. "Joachimsthalers" were minted under his sovereignity since 1520. In 1526, he followed King Louis II of Bohemia into the war against the Turks. Like the king, he was killed in the battle of Mohács.
King Ferdinand, Louis's successor, allowed the Schlick family to continue minting. However, they could only act in the name of the king as trustees of the mint. So since 1529 the Schlick family name disappeared from the coins from St. Joachimsthal. More than 2 million "Joachimstalers" were issued within a period of just 8 years, from 1520 to 1528. Thus the abreviation "Taler" became a byword for large coins. The term was still used in the 19th century and also gave the American "Dollar" its name.
Silver medal, n. d., dies from Wolf Milicz. Katz 284 ; Coll. Lanna 1246 Obv.: ¤ HERR ¤ STEFFA – N ¤ SCHLYCK ¤ G - bust of Stephan Schlick |
