Geuzen medals
Geuzen medals, Beggars or Sea Beggars medals were minted early in the Dutch Revolt and during the first half of the 16th-century Eighty Years' War. During that period, many medals, tokens and jetons with a political message were minted. The earliest Geuzen medals date from the mid-16th century to 1577.
In Dutch, geus is a familiar term for the people who revolted in the 16th century against the Spanish king Philip II. The revolt began with the nobility, spreading to the gentry and the common prole. Years later, when war broke out, the title geus was given to the irregular force of rebels fighting and living in the estuaries of large rivers; the name bosgeus was given to those living in the woods.
Geus is derived from the French word for beggar, hence the translation of watergeus as "sea beggar". The term "sea beggar" is also used for a land-bound geus.
Background
The Holy Roman Empire was still at war with France when Philip II of Spain succeeded his father, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1555. After peace was made, Philip II appointed his half-sister Margaret of Parma as viceroy of the Low Countries and left for Spain. The real power was invested in the three permanent members of the Council of State: Cardinal Granvelle, Viglius and Berlaymont. Nobility such as William of Orange and Lamoral, Count of Egmont, were members of the council, but were unhappy with their loss of power to Granvelle and because Spanish troops remained in the Low Countries after the peace with France. Following a French example, they instituted a Ligue: a coalition of the high nobility. The Ligue activity resulted in the departure of Spanish troops in 1564 and, shortly thereafter, Granvelle's retirement.Members of the lower nobility, who had been impoverished in previous decades united in the 1565 Compromis; their political program sought relief from the Counter-Reformation. In early April 1566, 400 members of the Compromis united in Brussels. On April 5, led by Hendrick van Brederode and Ludwig of Nassau, they presented a petition to Margaret. Berlaymont is reputed to have whispered to her, "Ce ne sont que de gueux".
Three days later, during a banquet at the palace of the earl of Culemborg, the pejorative geus was chosen as a badge of honour for their group. They decided to adopt a costume incorporating mendicant symbols, such as beggars' bowls and flagons. This was less an eccentricity of the low nobility than the popular tradition in reversing roles, as at carnival time. A dress code, with beggars' bowls and flagons and a silver token on a ribbon around the neck indicated their independence and dominance; mockery of the church may also have been a factor.
The lower 16th-century Flemish nobility could be described as successful criminals. When Charles V first visited Spain in 1517 and did not land at the pre-selected spot because of stormy weather, disappointed Flemish nobles marauded and murdered innocent people and officials withheld the news from Charles. In 1572 William de la Marck, Lord of Lumey took Den Briel for William the Silent; nineteen Catholic clerics were brought to him in Den Briel. After they were tortured, they were hanged; William of Orange had requested leniency toward Catholic clergy.
During the 16th century, beggars frequently required permission from a local municipality or lordship. Permission was sometimes granted only if they wore a small tin token, the possible origin of the Geuzen medals.
Probable first political medal
Letters between Granvelle and his secretary, Morillon. On June 15 Morillon sent a lead specimen to Granvelle, saying that more medals were cast in lead then in the other metals; a medal for poor people "affin peult-estre gue les Geutz demeurent en leur qualité".[Image:1a Verguld zilveren Geuzenpenning 1566, Jongelinck.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.2|alt=Both sides of a medal|Geuzen medal by Jacques Jonghelinck, cast silver, original gilt, 1566; possibly the first Geuzen medal]
The medal is described in part I of Gerard van Loon's book, Beschrijving der Nederlandse Historipenningen ..., and has the collectors reference vL.I 85/84.5. It is classified as rare to very rare. The medal is small, only . It shows the bust of Philip II, with "1566" on its cut and the text "EN TOVT FIDELLES AV ROY" ; on the reverse side is a beggar's sack, hands and the text, "IVSQVES A PORTER LA BESACE". The medal was worn on the breast with a ribbon around the neck. Morillon notes that Jonghelinck's neighbouring tourneur turned small wooden bowls which women hung from their ears; original specimens are now unknown. Pictures sometimes show the nobility wearing model beggar's bowls and flasks, fastened to the same ribbon. On the reverse side of the medal, some wear is visible due to contact with breast armour.
Of this type of medal, about half the known specimens' eyelets are broken off. This is due to a late 17th- and 18th-century fashion in which a medal with an eyelet was considered less attractive in a collector's cabinet. Early in the 17th century, when it became clear that the Dutch would win the Eighty Years' War, there was a growing demand for Geuzen medals. Jonghelinck's medal was copied in silver, slightly larger and sometimes with attached beggar's bowls and flasks.
Early political medal by unknown medallist
Morillon wrote to Granvelle on July 7, 1566, that he got angry at Jonghelinck "because he had broken his first Geuzen medal", but he thought that Jonghelinck could reproduce his mould. The maker of the cast silver, gilt Geuzen medal with collectors reference vL.I 85/84.4 and the qualification "very rare" is unknown.The text is nearly identical to the Jonghelinck medal, with the addition of "1566" and hollow points between the words. The medal is slightly larger than the first one. The reverse has no beggar's bag, but two nobles shaking hands. The left figure has a beggar's bowl and flask on his hip. Between the nobles' feet is a monogram, probably "VLG". The medal may have been shaped by Jonghelinck or a medal-maker; its style and production method are similar, but the medal date may not be 1566. The other noble does not yet wear a Geuzen medal on a ribbon, found on a 1572 medal. The Beeldenstorm began on August 16, 1566, in Steenvoorde, and this medal probably dates from the summer of 1566.
A gold Geuzen medal reportedly belonged to Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horne, who was executed by the Duke of Alba in 1568. Nearly identical to Jonghelinck's medal, it has points inserted between the words of the text.
[Image:Hoorne penning.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.2|alt=Both sides of a medal|Hoorne's gold medal, illustrated in G. van der Meer's article on page 92 of the May-June 1980 issue of de Beeldenaar]
"Little lobster" medal
The half-moon Geuzen medal is also called the "half-moon of Boisot" because the Sea Beggars, commanded by Boisot, wore the medal on their hats during the 1574 relief of Leiden. The "little lobster" emblem, between "...PIT" and "DEL...", is the privy mark of the medal-maker.The medal's text reads, "Liever Turks dan Paaps" and "En DESPIT DE LA MES". Wearing half moons was already in practice in and around Antwerp by attendants of “”, open-air sermons, by. Modet popularized the slogan “Liever Turks dan paaps” . The phrases are meant to express a solidarity with the Turks who were also fighting the Habsburgs at that time, as well as opposition to the Catholic pope.
These medals were also worn by the Sea Beggars at the capture of Den Briel in 1572. Some time later Modet became parson with the Watergeuzen and reintroduced wearing half moons, where in other places they had gone out of fashion.
In the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden this medal is shown in a display on city history. There is a little silver ring attached to the eyelet, indicating that it was probably worn on a silver chain at some time. The Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam also possesses a "half moon". It is dated to 1574, cast in silver and roughly tooled.
1572 token
The Duke of Alba, in his effort to strengthen the power of King Phillip II in the Low Countries, wanted to eliminate the bede was vigorously opposed, and the duke postponed it for two years. William of Orange was seen as a hero, and an unknown medal maker cast a silver token.[Image:4a Zilveren penning, 1572, op de verlossing van de 10e penning.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.2|alt=Two sides of a silver token|Tiende penning token, cast silver, 1572, maker unknown]
The token depicts William of Orange in harness, with sword and battle hammer. The text reads, "P.V.O" or "Prince of Orange" and "Dat Edel Bloet". On the reverse, nine penningen are shown on a coat of arms with the text "Heft Ons Voer Den 10 Penninck Behot". This cast-silver token has the collectors reference vL.I 157/155.1 and the qualification "very rare"; more frequently, it is found with a larger diameter and struck rather than cast. Rare by the 17th century, the token was reissued due to growing demand from collectors and struck because casting was obsolete.
1572 political medal
In 1572, taxation on the tiende penning was prohibited and the Sea Beggars seized Den Briel for the Prince of Orange. Vlissingen, Veere and Enkhuizen sided with the prince; a medal was struck on a cast-silver plate, collectors reference vL.I 148/145 with the qualification "extremely rare".[Image:7a 1572.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.2|Geuzen medal struck on a small cast-silver plate, 1572, maker unknown]
On the medal, high, a sword with a penning on top is between two ears; on the left are spectacles and a flute, and on the right are nine penningen. The text reads, "En Tovt Fidelles Av Roy 1572". The reverse shows two nobles, one with a beggar's bowl and flask and the other with a large Geuzen medal; the text reads, "Ivsqves a Porter La Besase"”. The medal was reissued in the 17th century, struck on rolled silver plate. The symbolic "ears" refer to the Duke of Alba, and the spectacles are associated with the seizure of Den Briel. The fierce fighting lasted for nine years before Philip II was no longer acknowledged as sovereign in 1581.
1577 edict
After the pacification of Ghent, accepted by John of Austria, Jacques Jonghelinck produced a silver commemorative medal for casting in large numbers; the reference code is vL.I 243/230.[Image:5a 1577, Eeuwig edict, zilver gegoten.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.2|alt=Both sides of an ornate silver medal|1577 medal, silver, cast by Jonghelinck]
Almost all the medals have an ornate border of vuurslagen and an eyelet, or a spot where the eyelet is broken off. Jonghelinck tried to maximise his profit by minimising silver in the casting process, and many medals have small holes due to thin casting.