The Congress of the Allies
Georg Hautsch (active 1683-1712)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1691
Materials
Silver
Measurements
428 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Nuremberg
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 773279
Summary
Silver, medal commemorating the Congress of Allies, by Georg Hautsch (active 1683-1712), struck Nuremberg, Germany, 1691. A silver medal by Georg Hautsch commemorating a Congress of allied princes convened at The Hague by William III in 1691, to strengthen plans for resisting the expansionist aggression of France. On the obverse is an allegorical figure of Prudence, seated upon a throne, at the feet of which is a pile of arms, some marked with fleurs-de-lis for France, but also including an Ottoman turban. Prudence uses her mirror to direct the rays of the sun down onto the pile of arms, setting them alight. The Latin legend reads ‘All our care is directed to this purpose’; the artist’s initials at lower right. On the reverse are three hands which join over two crossed standards, whilst below is the prow of an ancient galley. The Latin legend reads ‘The concord of Princes’ and, in the exergue, ‘The allied Princes hold council at The Hague’. There is an additional inscription on the edge, ‘In the multitude of counsellors there is safety’.
Full description
The principal foreign policy concern of William of Orange as Stadtholder of the Netherlands had been how to manage and contain the aggressive eastward expansion of Louis XIV’s France. In deposing King James II/VII and installing himself and his wife on the throne of Britain, William III, as he had become, aimed to pull Britain away from France and into alliance with the Netherlands and other Continental powers which also found themselves affected by French policy, notably the Holy Roman Empire. On 5 May 1690, just a few weeks after his and Mary’s Coronation, William declared war on France. He succeeded in building a ‘grand alliance’ of European powers which included, as well as England, the Netherlands, Scotland, Austria, Spain, Savoy, and many of the German states. The Congress at The Hague, held early in 1691, brought together the leaders of the alliance under the presidency of William as Stadholder. The meeting agreed a joint declaration and commitment by the allies to confront France and its ally the Ottoman empire, wth agreements to raise forces for the fight against France. However, his wars did not go well for William in the next years, with a number of defeats at the hands of the French and loss of key towns. Both sides were exhausted by the mid 1690s, leading to negotiations for peace and the signing of the Peace of Ryswick in 1697 (see NT 773284-290, 773311). Jeremy Warren 2019
Provenance
Given to the National Trust in 1993 by George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey (1910-1998).
Marks and inscriptions
Obverse, legend: CVRA HVC TRADVCITVR OMNIS. Obverse, lower right: G.H. Reverse, legend: CONCORDIA PRINCIPVM. Reverse, exergue: FOEDERATI PRINCIPES CONSILIA CONFERVNT HAGAE COM. 1691. Edge: IBI SALVS, VBI MVLTA CONSILIA.
Makers and roles
Georg Hautsch (active 1683-1712), medallist
References
Hawkins, Franks and Grueber 1885: Edward Hawkins, Augustus W. Franks and Herbert A. Grueber (eds.), Medallic Illustrations of the History of Great Britain and Ireland to the death of George II, 2 vols., London 1885, vol. II, p. 17, no. 183.