start page Charles V TOUR :   Archduke Sigismund in Tyrol

Charles' father:   Philip I the Handsome, 1478-1506
Charles' half-uncle:   George of Austria, 1504-1557

Philip I the Handsome,   King of Castile 1504-6.
with a contribution from Herman Blanton
Philip was the first born (1478) of Maximilian of Austria and Mary of Burgundy. Upon the death of his mother in 1482, when Philip was but four years old, he inherited the title of Duke of Burgundy, albeit under the trusteeship of his father until Philip reached the age of 16. In 1496 Maximilian arranged for the marriage between Philip and Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. There was no intention on the part of Ferdinand and Isabella to convey the thrones of either Castile or Aragon to the house of Austria, for Joanna was third in line of succession. However, through a series of familial misfortunes for the Catholic Monarchs, this is precisely what happened. When Isabella died in 1504, the Castilian crown went to Joanna, as the governors would not pass the crown of Castile to Ferdinand, since he was not Castilian. As the husband of Queen Joanna, Philip is considered King of Castile by his heirs, the first Habsburg king of Spain. Philip died in 1506, leaving Joanna to a secluded life. Much is written about "Joanna the Mad", for those interested in reading it. Philip's greatest claim to fame is as the father of Charles V.   [H. Blanton]


Double real (4fold Patard) 1489, Antwerp.    Ø 32 mm, 6,32 g.  de Witte 576; v.G./H. 82-1.
Obv.:   ◦PhI⦂ARChIDVCIS⦂AVSTRIE⦂BVRGunDIE⦂BRABA⦂ - mint mark: hand (Antwerp)
The crowned Archduke stands from the front in a six-pass,
in front of him the Austro-Burgundian coat of arms.
Rev.:   MAXIM - LIA⦂REX◦ - ROMAn - PAT⦂1ጸ89  [ጸ=4]  -  Crowned imperial shield on floral cross.


Cast silver medal, undated original.  Ø 50 mm, 58,05 g. Habich I,1,103 (Ø 55mm); Winter 111, pl.71.
Obv.:   PHILIPVS D G REX CASTELIE EC3 ARCHI DVX AVS ECT ¤
Nearly full front bust to left, wearing hat and the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Rev.:   VIRTVTE· - ET·CONSTANCIA
Fortuna holding sail and riding globe upon the sea.
The medal art form developed in Germany in the early 16th century. The cities of Nuremburg and Augsburg produced fine medalists who carried the Italian Renaissance medallic art form into Germany. This piece is classified as originating from Augsburg. The leading medalist in Augsburg was Hans Schwarz, who produced three exquisite medals before the Emperor Maximilian called the Diet of Augsburg in 1518. The Schwarz medals must have caught the interest of the delegates, which led to a great expansion of medal production by Schwarz and other medalists.
The artist of the subject medal here is uncertain but is identified in the literature as "Master of the Forster Couple" because the same medalist created a medal of the married couple Sixtus and Felicitus Forster. Georg Habich argues that Joachim Forster is the "Master of the Married Couple" and that the "married couple" were his parents. Joachim was born around 1500 and died in 1579. He was one of thirteen children, the most famous of whom is John Forster, who was active in the Protestant Reformation.
This Philip I medal was therefore logically produced no earlier than 1518 and likely within a few years afterwards, as there was a terrific expansion of medal production during and immediately after the Diet.   [H. Blanton]
This contibution was first published in NI Bulletin, August 2007, a Publication of Numismatics International.

Further posthume medals


Cast silver medal n. d. (1575) by Valentin Maler, Nürnberg.     Ø 40 mm, 12,85 g.
Habich II/1,2641; Winter 2, pl.5.
Obv.:   PHILIPVS D·G·CASTE - LEGI:ETC REX AR   -   Effigy with a jagged crown to the left.
Rev.:   D:AVS:D:BVR:FILI· - MAXIMI:I ROM:IMP·
Crowned shield with 12 coat of arms in 4 rows:   Castile, León, Aragon / Sicily, Navarra,
Naples (Anjou/Jerusalem) / Granada, Austria, New-Burgundy / Old-Burgundy, Brabant?, Tirol.
From a serie of "princes-medals" made by Valentin Maler on behalf of the Elector of Saxony after paintings in the Torgau castle and personally presented to the customer.


Lead cast medal n. d. (ca. 1575).     Ø 41 mm.   Unedited.
Obv. as before, coupled with a back, model by Antonio Abondio:
Rev.:  VENERANDA MINERVA
Minerva, leaning on a shield, is enthroned in front of an owl, artist's signature AA at bottom right.


Uniface cast bronze medal, ca.1526 modelled at the vicinity of Hans Schwarz or Hans Daucher.
Ø 90 mm.     Specimen in the Coin Cabinet from Staatliche Museen, Berlin, exhibited in room 244.
Habich I/1, 110; Winter 113, pl.72.
✱PHILIPpus·REX·CASTiliae·LEG[Leonis]·ET GRANadea·Pater·ET FErDINANDus·REX·VNGariae·ET·BOEmiae
Effigy of Philip the Handsome (King of Kastlien and León) (front) and his son Ferdinands (King of Hungary and Bohemia) to the left, both beardless with hat, cap and chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Philipp additionally with hood with hanging storm band.

Look at the painting about 1500 34x23 cm from an anonymous Dutch artist,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Bibliography:
• Habich, Georg:  Die Deutschen Schaumünzen des XVI. Jahrhunderts vol.1,1 p.21 nr.103. Munich 1929.
• Winter, Heinz;  Die Medaillen und Schaumünzen der Kaiser und Könige aus dem Haus Habsburg
    im Münzkabinett des KHM Wien, vol.I, Vienna 2013.
• Smith, Jeffry Chipps:  "A Creative Moment: Thoughts on the Genesis of the German Portrait Medal." In Perspectives on the Renaissance Medal, edited by Stephen K. Scher, pp.177-99. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. and The American Numismatic Society, 2000.

George of Austria, 1504-1557, Bishop of Brixen 1526-1538
- illegitimate son of Emperor Maximilian I. -
George of Austria (*1504 Gent †1557 Lüttich) was a son of Maximilian I. and Margaretha of Edelsheim. He grew up at the court of his half-sister Margaret of Austria in the Netherlands together with Charles V. Margaret received from the Pope the dispensation for Georges illegitimate birth and made sure that George received early church benefits. In 1526 George became Bishop of Brixen, where he rarely stayed. Then he moved to the diocese of Valencia (1538) and at the request of Charles V went to Liège (1544). Georg was a skilful statesman and greatly appreciated by Charles V. As a bishop of Liège, he was concerned with the welfare of his subjects.


Lead cast medal 1531 by Christoph Weiditz.     Ø 61 mm.
Habich I,1 388 (63mm); NZ 42(1909)263, pl.IV/1.
Obv.:   GEORGIVS AB AVSTRIA DEI GRATIA EPS BRIXINEN·  -  Portrait from the front with birett.
Rev.:   Legate hat and quartered coat of arms: Brixen / 2 & 3: Austra-Habsburg / Tyrolean eagle.
At the bottom: banner with CONFIDE·ET·AMA and date M·D·XXXI.

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