start page Charles V TOUR :   Croatia ➜

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.


Medal (5 ducats) 1508 conmemoring his coronation.   Ø 30 mm, 17,59 g.   Coll.Horsky 710 (in silber)
Obv.:   ¤WLADISLAVS¤Dei¤Gratia¤Rex¤VNGARIaE¤ET¤BOHEMIaE
Bust of his father Wladislaw turning left.
Rev.:   ¤LVDOVICVS¤FILIVS¤Regis¤VNGAriae¤Et¤BOHEMIae¤1508
The two-year-old Louis II is crowned and sits on a show cushion.
The bust of the obverse of this medal 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.


Medal 1525, Kremnica (K-B).    Ø 46 mm, 47,19 g.   Rethy 303.
Obv.:   *LVDOVICVS·DEI·GRA·HVNGARIE BOEMIaE·EtCetera·REX
laureated bust of the King to the left with collar and order of the Golden Fleece.
Rev:   *DVX*LVCENburgi:*SLESIAe*MARchio*MORAVIaE*ET*LVSACIaE: (mm.)
"Duke of Luxemburg and Silesia, Margrave of Moravia and Lusatia"
Crown above the shields of Hungary/Bohemia and Habsburg,
LM (= Ludovicus et Maria) between K - M (Mint of Kremnica).   Surrounding seven arms: crowned arms
of Croatia (chessboard), Hungary, Dalmatia (3 crowned panther heads), Bosnia (arm with sword), uncrowned arms: Moravia (eagle), Moldavia (?), Silesia (eagle).


1¼ Schautaler 1525, Kremnica.   Ø 53 mm, 36,62 g.  Dav.LS 557; Huszar-Procopius II, CNH:302.
Obv.:  ᏐLVDOVICVS DEI GRACIA HVNGARIE DALMACIA CROACIA ET SLESIA M D XXV·REX:
King on horseback left, on the horse tank Hungarian-Bohemian coat of arms.
around: *KREMNICZ*BERHART*BECHEM*

Rev.:   MARCHIO MORAVIA DVX LVCENBVRGENSIS ET SLESIA M D XXV
Under the crown the shields of the king and queen, below the monograms of Louis and Mary as before,
but without mintmark. Around the same seven coats of arms as before.


Uniface cast lead medal n. d. (ca.1526) by Hans Daucher, Augsburg.    Ø 72 mm, 60,2 g.
Specimen in Victoria and Albert Museum, London

·LVDOVIC:REX·HVNGARIAE. OBIIT A°.15Z6.   "..., died 1526" engraved direct onto the medal, rather than the mould, clearly after the death of Ludwig II.
Bust facing right, bearded, wearing a flat brimmed hat, and the Order of the Golden Fleece.


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.   Coll.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.

Compare with the portrait dated 1526 (oil on wood 31x25 cm) from Hans Krell, KHM Vienna,
as well with the copperplate engraving 1526, 14,5x12 cm, Albertina, Vienna.
Look at the portrait 1522 of queen Mary from Hans Krell (45x36 cm),
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung.


raised relief Portrait medal 1526     Ø 61 mm, 26,70 g.   ex Hirsch Auct.294 (9/2013) no.4682.
Remains of a dark adhesive. - Puzzles give up the material used and the exact dating.

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.


Schautaler 1526, Joachimsthal.     Ø 42 mm, 26,90 g.
Habich 1885; Donebauer 3778; Fiala 315; Schulten 4380; Katz 33.
On the death of Stephan.   Dies by Hieronymus Magdeburger.
His brothers probably ordered this commemorative from Hieronymus Magdeburger.

Obv.:  +DOMINVS⦂STEPHANVS⦂SLICK⦂COMES⦂DE⦂PASSAVN⦂ET C  "Lord Schlick, Count of Bassano"
ANNO◦DOMINI◦M◦D◦XXVI◦ETATIS◦SVE◦XXXX (crowned head)
Decorated bust with a broadly brimmed hat.

Rev.:   ◦PRO◦PATRIA◦PVGNANDO CONTRA◦TVRCAM◦OPPETIIT◦
"He died for his country fighting against the Turks"
Quartered coat of arms with three helmets and a heart shield.
The coat of arms: a triangle with three rings for Bassano, an upright lion with a church in his pranks for Weißkirchen. The heart shield, a column held by to lions standing upright and facing each other, stands for the Schlick family.
The title Earl of Bassano was only an honorary one as Venice never released the fief. The ancestor Kaspar Schlick, a commoner, had been bestowed with the title in 1437 in acknowledgement of services rendered to the emperor. He also received Weißkirchen. In 1434, he had been given extensive lands in the Bohemian part of the Ore Mountains, where silver was discovered about a hundred years later.


silvered bronze cast, 1526  (H. Daucher, Augsburg?)  Ø 60,5 mm, 91,55 g.  Habich 79 (63 mm)
Obv.:  ·LVDOWIG·V·GOottes·GNaden·KOENIG IN VNG·V·BO·A·15Z6
effegy of Louis II, King of Bohemia and Hungary with hat and the Golden Fleece.
Rev.:·HERR·STEFFAN·SCHLICK·GRAF·ZV·BASSAN·HER·ZV WEISKIRCHEN·ELBO·V·SCHLACREN
effegy of the count of Schlick.


Medal 1532 on Stephan Schlick.     Ø 41,6 mm, 13,25 g.   Katz 60; Col.Lanna (1911) 1243.
Obv.:   HVNC♣PIETAS♣REGISQVE♣FAVOR♣ATQVE♣INCLITA♣VIRTVS
Effigy with mesh hood and hat to the right.     In the field: STEF - SCHL
Rev.:   cavalry battle, on top the date: 153Z below: ♣DE GALLIS♣ / ♣ AD CANNAS♣
Cannae in Apulia is the site of Hannibal's famous victory over the Romans. Spaniards beated Frenchmen nearby in 1503, after which the Kingdom of Naples became Spanish. A medal on the Spanish victory misplaced this battle to Cannae: "DE GALLIS AD CANNAS". The medalist Magdeburger took over this battle motive including the legend in order to honor the one killed by Mohac.
The reverse of this medal was also coupled with other obverse sides - showing the bust of king Louis II, who also dies at Mohac, but also showing the bust of Emperor Charles V, although Charles V had nothing to do with the battle.


Medal 1533 on Stephan and Lorenz Schlick by Œ     Ø 39 mm, 26 g.   Katz 180.
Obv.:   ※ HERᏪ - STEIFFANᏪSCLICK·GRAF·ZV·BA - SSAN
Effigy of Stephan Schlick with hat between ·1·5 - ·33·, Œ (mark of the medalist) behind the bust.
Rev.:   ※ HER·LORENTZ·SCLICK·GRAF·ZV·BASSAN
Effegy of Lorenz Schlick in fur coat between 1·5· - ·33·, Œ (mark of the medalist) in front of the bust.


Silver medal, n. d., dies from Wolf Milicz.     Katz 284; Coll. Lanna 1246.
Obv.:   ¤HERR¤STEFFA - N¤SCHLYCK¤G  -  bust of Stephan Schlick.
Rev.:   Count Schlick in armor on armored horse. He wears a broad hat and holds a command staff.
Feathers on the back of the horse. The coat of arms of Schlick in front of the horse.

Lit.:
• A. Jäger:  Die Münzprägungen der Grafen Schlick - BNZ 17 & 18, 1954,  here as PDF
• V. Katz:  Die Erzgebirgische Prägemedaille des XVI. Jahrhunderts - Prague 1932, reprint 2004

start page Charles V   /   Karl V. TOUR :   Croatia ➜