Charles I’s deep distrust of and frequent clashes with Parliament characterized his reign (1600–1649). The disagreements culminated in the English Civil War, which lasted from 1642 until Charles I’s surrender and execution in 1649. After a decade of unsteady Commonwealth rule, Parliament eventually restored Charles I’s rightful heir, Charles II, to the throne in 1660. Charles II ordered this posthumous medal of Charles I to be struck in honor of his father. Ironically, the reverse of the memorial medal references Charles I’s ardent belief in the “divine right of kings,” the very principle that precipitated the revolt and his subsequent death.
Object Description
325 CHARLES I (1600-49), King of England 1629, Memorial Medal ca. 1670
Obv. Bust to right. Around, CAROL . D . G . M . B . F . ET . H . REX . & . GLOR . MEM . ; below, R
Rev. Arm from clouds, holding celestial crown; below, landscape with sheep. Around, VIRTVT EX . ME . FORTVNAM . EX . ALIJS .
Copper, struck, 50 mm.
Made by Roettiers after the Restoration, and highly praised by Evelyn as "incomparably the most resembling his serene countenance." The effigy is related to a similar medal signed by Norbert Roettiers {Med. III., pl. 30, no. 10).
Bibl.: Forrer 5, p. 165 (dated 1649); Med. III., pl. 30, no. 11; Houston, no. 83; J. Evelyn, A Discourse of Medals, London 1697, pp. 112-13, fig. 34 (medal signed by Norbert Roettiers).