- What dramatic story is hidden behind the creation of the medal.
- Why the medal most likely comes from royal property.
- What the individual symbols on the "Bloody Mary" mean.
Defensatrix Fidei, Defender of the Faith, as Mary of England calls herself, on a gold medal created by Jacopo da Trezzo around 1554. On March 24, the coin was auctioned by Künker at a price of 630,000 euros. Defender of the Faith, this title is not uncommon. Since Henry VIII, all rulers of England bear it. Pope Leo X bestowed it on Henry for his strict condemnation of Protestantism. So it was not faith that prompted Henry VIII to set up a separate church for England.
Like almost all rulers of the Renaissance, Henry VIII had entered into a marriage of convenience. His wife’s name was Catherine and she was the daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. This made Katharina the aunt of Charles V. This proved to be a problem after Henry had enough of her. Indeed, his latest flame Anne Boleyn refused to share his bed without an ecclesiastical ceremony. Henry VIII then moved heaven and hell to have Pope Clement VII dissolve his marriage.
At the time, it was actually quite usual for the Pope to grant rulers such favors. But after the emperor’s 1527 Sack of Rome, Clement VII simply did not dare to jeopardize the fragile peace with Charles V just so that Henry could get rid of Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn.
So no divorce with papal consent. Well, Henry just had to find a different solution. He broke away from Rome, founded the Church of England and appointed a new Archbishop of Canterbury as church primate. On 23 May 1533, the latter dutifully declared the monarch’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be dissolved.
The dissolution of a marriage is not a divorce. In the case of a dissolution, the marriage is declared invalid, making every child that was born in this marriage an illegitimate bastard. As a result, 17-year-old Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, lost everything. Whereas kings had previously asked for her hand in marriage, she now found herself deprived of her title and of her possessions, degraded to the lady-in-waiting to her newly born half-sister Elizabeth. Any contact with her own mother was strictly forbidden. She was not even allowed to attend her funeral in January 1536.
But Anne Boleyn also fell from grace. She was unable to provide a male heir to the throne. Have another marriage declared invalid? That was not possible. Therefore, some nobles plotted an intrigue that enabled Henry VIII to have Anne Boleyn executed.
After all, the king already had his eyes on a new mistress who also refused to give herself to him without marriage vows: the devout Catholic Jane Seymour. She finally gave birth to the king’s longed-for heir to the throne and succeeded in having Mary readmitted to grace with the king. However, not without Jane Seymour reluctantly signing that her mother's marriage was invalid and that she was therefore a bastard. In return, Mary was given a place in the line of succession: if Jane Seymour’s son Edward died without an heir, first Mary, then Elizabeth, then a member of the Brandon family (descendants of Henry’s younger sister) would inherit the throne.
In 1547, Edward ascended the throne at the age of nine. Of course, he did not make any decisions. For that, there was a Protestant-dominated Privy Council for. And this council faced serious problems when Edward fell ill with tuberculosis in 1553. We have to keep in mind that England was by no means a Protestant country in the middle of the 16th century. The Reformation had spread mainly among the clergy and some noble families. And, of course, this was not only a matter of faith but also of lucrative positions.
Since the change of denomination, these positions had been given to Protestants. But a re-Catholicization under Mary would make them lose these positions to Catholics. To this day, it is disputed whether the sixteen-year-old king himself came up with the idea of changing the line of succession on his deathbed, or whether Lord Protector John Dudley was responsible for it. After all, he quickly married off Edward’s designated heiress Jane Grey to his own son, while sending out soldiers to arrest Mary.
Mary had been warned and had retreated to Norfolk a few days earlier. Edward died on 6 July 1553. On 9 July, Mary informed the Privy Council that she had taken over the rule of England. On 10 July, the council had Jane Grey proclaimed Queen of England and mobilized its army. At the same time, they revved up the propaganda machine. Pamphlets appealed to London’s xenophobia, accusing Mary of handing over England to the “Papists and Spaniards”. But the Privy Council had misjudged the public opinion. Mary marched in triumph to London at the head of her army. By July 19, she had already won the war. Her opponent Jane Grey went down in history as the Nine Days’ Queen.
Mary was 17 years old when her father married Anne Boleyn. This made it politically inappropriate to find her a husband. Therefore, when she ascended the throne, she was still unmarried – at the age of 37! She had only a tiny frame left to give birth to the longed-for heir to the throne.
Therefore, she acted hastily and imprudently when she accepted the advances of the Spanish ambassador. He already anticipated the union of England and the Habsburg Empire and persuaded Crown Prince Philip II to make the sacrifice of marrying Mary. A horror scenario for England’s Protestant nobles.
By the end of October 1553, it was decided that Mary and Philip were to marry. In early November, Mary was confronted with Wyatt’s Rebellion, a conspiracy that sought to put Elizabeth on the throne. Mary put down the uprising and had 90 people involved executed. They were the first Protestants to die “for their faith”. Under Mary, 284 Protestants were burned to death. She was therefore nicknamed Bloody Mary. The fact that 190 Catholics were executed under her successor Elizabeth, on the other hand, is often readily forgotten.
On 25 July 1554, Philip II of Spain married the Queen of England at Winchester Cathedral. For this occasion, a medal was minted that will be auctioned off by Künker in Osnabrück on 24 March 2023.
Its reverse features a complex depiction designed by Jacopo da Trezzo. This Milanese medalist traveled with Philip II to England on his behalf. We know this because of a small note stating that Philip commissioned him to "present jewels of inestimable value to his bride Mary Tudor". Da Trezzo also created a medal for Philip II on the occasion of the wedding. It shows the sun god Apollo crossing the sea in his chariot to get to the island from the mainland. The motto was: He will illuminate everything.
For Mary, da Trezzo chose the personification of peace, connected to Apollo by the radiate crown. She holds a palm and an olive branch in her right hand as a sign of victorious peace. With the torch in her other hand she sets fire to a pile of weapons. Joyful people rush to witness. In the background we see the temple of the Roman god Ianus. Its closed gates were considered a symbol of peace since ancient times.
On Mary’s left, storms and lightning plague the people. They seek refuge with her, who – as her motto states – will give sight to the blind and peace to the fearful. The cube at her feet shows how she intends to do this. As a cornerstone, it is a symbol of permanence; the handshake depicted on it stands for unity; the scales for justice. The water probably identifies the place of peace as an island.
Another remarkable feature of this medal is the portrait on its obverse. It is strikingly similar to a portrait of her painted by Anthonis Mor van Dashorst. He was considered the favorite painter of the Spanish royal family and traveled to England with Philip II. There he not only made this portrait, but also contributed to the artistic decoration of the wedding day.
It had long been assumed that Jacopo da Trezzo used this portrait as a model for his coin depiction. In fact, it seems more likely that both artists made their sketches of the Queen posing in her festive dress at the same time.
While this medal itself is not that rare – there are several lead, bronze and silver versions – only one other gold medal is known of, which is kept at the British Museum today. We know that medals were given out on such special occasions in many different metals and weights, with the value of the piece based on the rank of the recipient.
We also know that Antoine de Granvelle, the Emperor’s Secretary of State “only” received a silver version. Therefore, it is quite likely that the gold versions of this medal were reserved for royal hands. Perhaps this piece came straight from the possession of Mary, Philip or Charles V. – this piece might even come from the estate of Mary, Philip or Charles V.
The rest of the story is quickly told. With the marriage of the Spaniard, Mary lost the support of her own people. Her husband was no help to her. Frustrated that he had no say in the affairs of state and that the aging Mary seemed unable to bear an heir to the throne, he was conspicuous by his absence.
A hostile environment, insomnia, headaches, vision problems, depression and political worries did the rest: five years after ascending the throne, Mary Tudor died on 6 November 1558. Elizabeth I became her successor – as Philip II wrote to her – at his express wish . He hoped for good cooperation, he let her know in the same letter.