This medal depicts France’s naval officer training, a source of pride to Louis XIV. Wishing to demonstrate his own effectiveness as a military leader, the King encouraged this depiction of the the strength and youth of the recruited corps. The young men represented the next generation of France’s military leaders. Translation from the Medailles sur les principaux evenements du regne entier de Louis le Grand, pg. 199: The Guards of the Marine and Those of the Estendard, 1683 The King, having proposed to have a flourishing Navy for war and commerce, thought that to succeed, it was necessary to train good officers. Thus, he set up two companies composed of eight hundred men; one for the ships, under the name of Guards of the Navy; the other for the galleys, under the name of Gardes de l’Estendard. He ordered that all these Guards should be distributed in various ports, where they would be supported at the expense of His Majesty, where they would learn under different masters, all that pertains to navigation, and that after having been sufficiently instructed, they would be placed according to their genius on the galleys or on the vessels, where they would rank after the Lieutenants. This is the subject of this medal. We see an officer at the seaside. He has on his right a young man who is looking at a compass; and on his left, another young man who is measuring a chart with a compass. The legend, LECTI JUVENES IN NAVALEM MILITIAM CONSCRIPTI DCCC., signifies “eight hundred young elite men enlisted for the Marine.” The exergue is the date “1683.”