start page Charles V TOUR :   Philip II, King of Spain

      Women in Charles's family      

Charles' aunt :  Margaret of Austria
Charles' four sisters :  Eleanor,  Isabel and daughters,  Mary of Hungary,  Catherine
Charles' wife :  Isabella of Portugal
Charles' three daughters :   Mary and daughter Anna,  Joan,  Margaret of Parma

These women played an important role in Charles' power politics. He used them for his dynastic plans, sometimes even forcing them to comply with his wishes. Their loyalty could always be relied upon when they served Charles as governor general in one of his states. Their effigies were handed down on medals, a creation of the Renaissance.

Charles' aunt :   Margaret of Austria   (*1480   †1530)
Wife of infant John (†1497) and Philibert II. le Beau (†1504)
Governor General of the Netherlands 1507-15 & 1522-30.
Margaret, daughter of emperor Maximilian I, was betrothed to the French dauphin in 1483 when she was just three years old, so that she was educated in France. In 1491, her fiancee, by then Charles VIII of France, broke the engagement, and she went back the Nethertlands. In 1497, she married John, heir to the Spanish kingdoms, who died only a few months later, supposedly from marital fervour. She married Philibert II, duke of Savoy, in 1501. This marriage was a happy one, but Philibert also died as a young man, and in 1504 Margaret was back in the Netherlands, widowed again, and childless. Therefore, Maximilian appointed Margaret regent of the Netherlands and guardian of her nephew Charles in 1507, as her brother Philip I the Handsome, had died in 1506. Charles grew up with his aunt and was educated at her court in Mecheln. Her regency ended when Charles was declared of age in 1515. Margaret always remained attached to his interests, and Charles did not hesitate to reappoint her as regent of the Netherlands in 1522, when he took off for Spain. She proved an able regent, trying hard to balance the country's interests with the necessity to provide Charles with the funds he demanded for his military campaigns. In 1529 she was Charles's representative in Cambrai, where she negotiated the "Ladies' Peace" with Louise of Savoy, who in turn spoke for her son Francis I, king of France.
Margaret of Austria was an outstanding figure, a patron of the arts and literature, and her court in Mecheln became a center of humanism and learning.
She was buried in Bourg-en-Bresse (French Jura) beside her beloved Philibert.

copyright: The British Museum, London
Medal, 1502, Bourg-en-Bresse.     Cast from Jean Marende.     Ø 98mm   Mazerolle 3/11-12 (1904)
Obv.:   PHiLiBERTVS·DVX·SABAVDiaE·VIII·MaRGVArita·MAXImiliani·CAEsaris·AVGusti· FIlia·Ducissa·SAbaudiae:
"Philibert, eighth duke of Savoy, Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, Caesar Augustus, duchess of Savoy"
Busts of Philibert the Fair and Margaret of Austria. Savoy knots and marguerites in the field.
Rev.:   GLORiA IN ALTiSsiMiS·DEO ET IN TERRA PAX·HOMINIBVS : BVRGVS:
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men : Bourg"
Coat of arms of Savoy (cross) and Habsburg: Austria, Burgundy (old and modern), Brabant and Flandern (lions). At the top the "love knot", a symbol of true friendship and unfailing devotion. At the sides knots,marguerites and the letters FE-RT .   FERT, the motto of the house of Savoy, has been explained as "foedere et religione tenerum" = "Through unity and religion are we sustained"


Medaillon 1528,  model by Conrad Meit.   Ø 92 mm.
Specimen from Coin Cabinet, KHM, Vienna.
painted clay (imprint of carved model) and wood.
☤MARGARITA·CESAVM·AVSTRIE·VNICA·FILIA·ET·AMITA·I5Z8
"Margarete, unique daughter and (educating) aunt from Austrian emperors"

Look at the portrait of Margaret of Austria as a widow by Bernard van Orley,
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.

Charles' eldest sister :   Eleanor   (*1498   †1558)
Wife of Emanuel I, King of Portugal,     later Wife of Francis I, King of France
Eleanor was born in Brussels and educated by her aunt Margaret in the Netherlands, where she grew up together with Charles and her sisters. In 1519, Charles forced her to marry the 50-year-old, humpbacked King Manuel "The Splendid" of Portugal, who had already been married to two of her aunts. Only two years later, she was a widow. Charles now married her to Francis I of France, his prisoner at the time. Francis later cancelled all treaties with Charles, but his marriage to Eleonore was confirmed in the so-called "Ladies' Peace Treaty of Cambrai" in 1529. A year later, Eleonor finally joined the French court, where she had less influence than Francis' mistress. Eleonor strove for reconciliation between her husband and her brother. In 1542 she even suggested to Charles to marry one of Francis' daughters, but Charles rejected this. After Francis' death in 1547, Eleanor lived in Brussels. She accompanied her brother to Spain after his abdication in 1556, and she died there in 1558.


Silver medal (about 1538)   attributed Matthes Gebel,     reworked cast.
Ø 42 mm.     Habich I/2 1166.   Specimen from Coin Cabinet, KHM, Vienna.
Obv.:   ·FRANCISCVS·I·Dei·Gratia·REX·FRANCIE
Bust of Francis I
Rev.:   FRANCISCI·I·FRANCORVM·REGIS·EtCetera·LEONORA·CONIVNX
"Eleanor, wife of Francis I, king of France, etc."     Bust of Eleanor
This medal of the Vienna Coincabinet was probably created on the occasion of Charles' meeting with Francis I and Eleanor at Aigues Mortes in 1538. It was modified, but it is one of the few medals which show this combination of front and rear picture. Francis' portrait is usually shown with a different or blank revers.
Compare a painting about 1531 from Joos van Cleve, 35,5x30,5 cm. KHM Vienna.

Charles' sister :   Isabel   (*1501   †1526)
Wife of Christian II, King of Denmark
and mother of the following daughters Dorothea and Christina of Denmark
Isabel was born in Brussels, and, as her siblings, she was educated by her Aunt Margaret. Emperor Maximilian I married her to King Christian II of Denmark in 1515. Christian II lost his kingdom after the Stockholm massacre in 1520 and was given the nickname "Nero of the North". When Isabel died at the age of 25, her daughters Dorothy and Christina were also put into Margaret's care. They, too, were game for Charles' political matchmaking.

Dorothea of Denmark   (*1520   †1580)
- first daughter from Isabella and niece of Charles V -
Dorothea married 1535 Count Palatine Frederick II, who became Elector Palatine in 1544. They tried in vain, even with a trip to the Spanish court, to obtain Emperor's support to regain the rule of the Northern countries, Dorothea's father had lost.


Showpiece in lead, 1537,  model by Matthes Gebel.     Ø 41,7 mm.
Stemper 30; Habich I/2 1146; Coll.Lanna 834.
Obv.:   DOROTHEA·VON·GOTTES·GNADEN·PFALCZ·GREFFIN  -  bust to the left.
Rev.:   legend in two lines: BEI·RHEIN·HERCZOGIN·IN·BAIERN·DER·DENMARCK·SCHEN· / KONIGREICH·PRINCESSIN·VND·ERBIN·M·D·XXXVII·
square placed on tip, in it the Dannebrog (cross of the Danish flag)
in between the coats of arms of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Wenden.
Heart shield: Flanders / Brabant with applied Austrian bandage.
Dorothea expresses her claim to the Nordic countries, her father had lost.


Christina of Denmark   (*1521   †1590)
- second daughter of Isabella and niece of Charles V -
During a visit to Milan in 1533, Emperor Charles V married the 12-year-old Christina with the sick, on the stick going Francesco II Sforza. She came to Milan in early 1534, where she received a warm welcome from Francesco and the people. But after 18 months Francesco died and Christina returns to Brussels in 1537.
Now emperor Charles V. planned to marry Christina to King Henry VIII, who was looking for his fourth wife. Henry's court painter Hans Holbein portrayed the 16-year-old Christina, but the marriage did not materialize. Meanwhile Charles V had made once more peace with King François I, so he lost interest in an alliance with Henry VIII. Christina would have followed the wish of her uncle Karl, without expressing an opinion. A conceivable opinion was rumored much later: "If she had two heads, one should be available to King Henry".
Finally Christina married François of Lorraine, for Charles V wanted to strength the alliance between the Empire and Lorraine. When François died in 1545 Christina took over the regency for the only 2½-year-old son Charles III. This brought her much trouble with France.


Cast bronze medal 1533,   model by Jacopo da Trezzo.
Ø 49 mm, 22,49 g.   Coin Cabinet Staatliche Museen, Berlin, object 18225954; Börner p.186 n.805 pl.91.
Obv.:   ·CHRISTIERNA· - ·DVCissa· MEDiolani·  -  Draped bust with a hood to the right.
Rev.:   ·FRANC·SFOR·SECONDI·VSOR. - 1533   "Second wife of Francesco Sforza"  -  Artichoke.

From her stay in Milan comes not only this medal, but also a portrait
(source: kleio.org & Wikipedia, without indication of origin).
Look at Hans Holbein's painting in 1538 (oil on wood, 179x83cm) ordered by King Henry VIII,
now National Gallery, London.

Charles' dearest sister :   Mary of Hungary   (*1505   †1558)
Wife of Louis II, King of Hungary ,     Governor General of the Netherlands from 1531 to 1556.
Mary was born in Brussels in 1505. Soon after her birth, her parents left for Spain, and she never got to know them. She grew up in Mecheln, at her Aunt Margaret's court, and was educated in the Burgundy tradition. She was hardly six months old when Emperor Maximilian promised her to Prince Louis, son of the King of Bohemia and Hungary - Louis was not even born yet at the time. In 1515, aged ten, she married Louis in Vienna. It was a double wedding ceremony. Her brother Ferdinand was married to Anne of Bohemia by proxy, his grandfather Emperor Maximilian standing in for him on the occasion. Mary and her new sister-in-law prepared for their future tasks in Innsbruck.
In 1521, Mary gallantly travelled to Buda to assist her husband, who was being challenged both by the Hungarian magnates and by the Turks. Mary and Louis succeeded in enforcing their coronation as King and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. They had a few happy years of marriage, under rather chaotic circumstances, until Louis' army, completely unprepared, was attacked by the vastly superior Turkish forces in 1526. Louis died in the Battle of Mohacs, and Mary had to take refuge in Bratislava. She defended her brother Ferdinand's heritage claims against the Magnate Zápolya until Ferdinand succeeded in asserting his rights.
Maria refused to be married again. She loved to ride and hunt and was a good falconer. She was well eduated and interested in the "new religion", much to her brothers' dismay. She became Charles' Governor General of the Netherlands after the death of her aunt Margaret in 1531. Mary held Charles in great esteem and acted on his behalf reliably and prudently. When the Emperor abdicated in 1556, she followed suit and accompanied him to Spain, as did her sister Eleanor. In 1558, her nephew Philip II asked Mary for her assistance in the Netherlands, but Mary died on the way there.


Stuck silver medal 1526, on the death of Louis in the battle of Mohacs.
Ø 41 mm, 13,33 g.     Coll.Horsky 728 (this piece).
Obv.:   ¤¤LVDOVIC9·VNGA·EC·REX·CONTRA·TVRCA·PVGNANDO·OCCVBVIT
bust of Louis with hat between date ·1·5· - Z6 / ETATIS - SVE·30·
Rev.:   ¤MARIA·REGINA·ETC·QVOS·DEVS·CONIVNXIT·HOMO·NOn·SEperet
"Queen Mary etc. the God has joined, man should not separate."  -  bust of Mary right.

Look at the picture painted by Hans Krell in 1524 (State Gallery in the residence Bamberg).


Cast medal 1526 (1532) from Hieronimus Dietrich, not signed.   Ø 44 mm, 24,6 g.   Katz 49.
Obv.:   ¤¤LVDOVIC9·VNGA·EtC·REX·CONTRA·TVRCA·PVGNANDO·OCCVBVIT
"Louis, King of Hungary etc., fell in battle against the Turks"
bust of Louis with hat between date and age ·1·5· - ·Z6 / ETATIS - ·SVE·30·
ETATIS SVE 30 = "in his 30th year".   but he died at the age of 20.
Rev.:   ¤MARIA·REGINA·EtC·QVOS·DEVS·CONIVNXIT·HOMO·NON·SEPERET
"Queen Mary etc. the God has joined, man should not separate."   -   bust of Mary to the left.


Stuck medal "1526"  attributed to Christoph Fuessl.     Ø 45 mm, 28,6 g.   Coll.Doneb.984.
original stuck from 1546 for the 20-year memory of his death in the battle of Mohács.
Obv.:  LVDOvici:VNGARiae:BOHEmiae:QVE / REGIS·ET·MARIÆ·RE / GINÆ·DVLCISSimaea·COnIV / GIS·AC·PROCEriS / IN·FLANdria
"Louis, who ruled Hungary and Bohemia, and Queen Maria, his beloved wife and ... in Flanders"
Bust of Louis II (with chain and order of the Golden Fleece) and the bust of his wife Maria face to face.
Rev.:   LVDOvicus:HVNGariae:BOEMiae:ZC[etc]·REX / ANnVm:AGENS·XX·IN·TVRCAS / APVD·MOHAZ·CVM·PAR / VA·SVORVM·MANV·PV /GNAnS·HONESTE / OBYT·M·D·XXVI
"Louis, King of Hungary and Bohemia, fought at the age of 20 against the Turks at Mohács with a small group of followers and suffered an honorable death in 1526"
scene from the Battle of Mohács:
armoured Louis on horseback surrounded by three followers, is attacked by Turkish riders.


cast silver medal 1532, stone model attributed to Peter Flötner.
Ø 72 mm, 127,15 g.   Bernhart 73; Habich I/2 1823; Markl 1968.
Obv.:   bareheaded busts of the Emperor (bearded) and his brother Ferdinand I (beardless) in armor and coat to the right between ·K·Q· and ·REX·F:I:   above:
CAROLus·V / ·ET·FERdinandus·I·FRatrES· / ROmanorum·IMPerator·ET·REx·REges·HISPaniae·VT / RIus9Que·SICIliae·VNGariae·BOhEmiae·Z&[=et]·ARC / HIDuces·AVSTiae·Duces·BVRGundiae::I·5·32
Rev.:   effigy of their sister Maria of Hungary with hair net and beret to the left on engraved damask.
(The revers model may have remained unfinished.)
Peter Flötner (c.1485-1546) was one of Nuremberg's most versatile and influential artists of the German Renaissance. He was a sculptor and shape cutter in wood and stone.


Silver medal (before 1549),   dies from Ludwig Neufahrer, Linz.
Ø 34 mm, 17,2 g.     Habich I/2 1407; Donebauer 983; Markl 1989; Lanna 664.
Obv.:   +MARIA·REGINA·VNGariae:VIDVA·CAROLI·CESAris:ET·FERDInandi·REgis:SORor
"Mary Queen of Hungary, widow, sister of Emperor Charles and King Ferdinand"   -   Bust with bonnet.
Rev.:  +IN·PACIENCIA·POSSIDEBITIS·ANIMAS·VESTRAS·LVCaE·XXI
"By standing firm (with patience) you will gain life. Luke 21" (verse 19)
Sitting herdswoman (Patientia), sheep in front, castle in the back, above angel with cross in a cloud.

Look at the copy of a lost oil painting around 1548 from Tizian.


Cast silver medal (1550),  dies from Leone Leoni.     Ø 68 mm, 165,11 g.
Bernhart 163-5; Armand I 168,26; Toderi/Vannel 63.
- On the Marriage of Mary with the Hungarian King on January 13, 1522 -
Obv.:   IMPerator·CAESar·CAROLVS·V·AVGustus·
laureated effigy of the emperor in ceremonial armor, bandage and order of the Golden Fleece on the ribbon.
Rev.:   MARIA·HVNgariae·BOHemiae·REGina·MDXXI·
Effigy of Mary to the left as a Hungarian queen with hat over the hood, 1521.
Leone Leoni, mintmaster and die cutter in Milan since 1540, came to Brussels in 1549-50 at the invitation of the Emperor, where he created a series of medal dies, including those with the portrait of his sister Maria and his deceased wife. The emperor also commissioned statues, including a bronze statue of Maria, now exhibited in the Prado, Madrid.


Cast silver medal n. d. (1555?).    Ø 59,5 mm, 51,59 g.   v. Loon I, p.5.
Obv.:   MARIA REGINA HVNGariae et BOHemiae Z LVDOVici VXOR PHILippi REGis HISPaniarum FILia
Portrait from the front with bonnet and chain, head turned to the right.
Rev.:   HIS DEVS OCIA FECIT   "God made her busy"
Three-master on calm sea under bright sun.

Charles' youngest sister :   Catherine   (*1507   †1578)
Wife of John III, King of Portugal ,   Regent for her grandson Sebastian.
Catherine spent her childhood with her mentally disturbed mother in Tordesillas. In 1524 she married King John III of Portugal (1502-57). Catherine resolutely influenced Portuguese politics. She introduced inquisition on the state's behalf and helped bring about her brother Charles' marriage plans: her children Mary and John were married to Charles' children Philip and Joan in a double wedding. After her son's and her husband's death in 1554 and 1557 respectively, she became regent for her unstable grandson Sebastian until his coming of age in 1568.

Charles' wife :   Isabella of Portugal   (*1503   †1539)
Regent in Spain 1529-33 & 1535-36.
Isabella was born in Lisbon in 1503. She was the eldest daughter of King Emanuel of Portugal and Mary, a sister of Charles' mother. Isabella's parents and the Spanish Cortes urged Charles to marry her, offering an enormous dowery, but Charles took his time. Eventually, he married his beautiful cousin in Sevilla in 1526 without having seen her previously. They spent their honeymoon in the Alhambra.
Isabella and Charles had three children: Philip (*1527), subsequently King of Spain, Mary (*1528), who became Maximilian's II wife, and Joan (*1535), wife of John of Portugal.
During Charles' absence from Spain in 1529-33 and 1535-36 Isabella acted on his behalf reliably and intelligently. Isabella died in Toledo in 1539, aged 38, after her 7th pregnancy in 12 years. She was buried in Granada in the burial chapel of the Catholic Kings. Charles refused to be married again.


Cast silver medal (1530),   workshop Matthes Gebel.     38,6 mm; 33,01 g.
Bernhart 66; Habich I/2 1011; Coll.Enzenberg 126 (this piece).
Obv.:   ·IMP·CAES·CAROLVS·V - Pius·Felix·AVGVSTus·AN·AETatis·XXX
Bust right, bearded, flat beret, fleece at the ribbon. Outside narrow leaf wreath.
Rev.:   ¤IZABELA·CAROLI·IMPERATORIS·VXOR  -  Bust of Isabella left, necklace.


Cast silver medal (c.1550)   by J. Jonghelinck after Leone Leoni.   Ø 35,6 mm, 25,07 g.
Armand I 168,24; Bernhart 169,2; Toderi/Vannel 51.
In memory of his deceased wife Isabella of Portugal.
Obv.:   IMP·CAES·CAR - OLVS V·AVG   -   Charles V bust with laurel.
Rev.:   DIVA·ISABELLA·CA - ROLI·V·VXor   -   Isabel's bust.


Silver medal (ca. 1549),   model by Leone Leoni.    Ø 75 mm, 124,3 g.
Armand I 168,25; Bernhart 163/1; Attwood 28; Domanig 43/44; Slg.Lanna 639.
In memory of his deceased wife Isabella of Portugal.
Obv.:  DIVA·ISABELLA·AVGVSTA·CAROLI·V·VXor   "The Blessed Empress Isabella, Charles V's wife"
Isabel, half-length magnificently dressed.
Rev.:   HAS·HABET·ET·SVPERAT   "She has these and surpasses them"
Three Graces standing in a circle, their arms around each other. On both sides amoretti leap up to them.
This is one of Leoni's great medals. Charles V commissioned it himself when Leoni was staying as his guest in Brussels in 1549. Despite Leoni's reputation for violence and outrageous conduct, Charles V found him fascinating and spent a good deal of time watching him at work. Charles commissioned a number of paintings and sculptures of Isabel, but this was the most important medal issued with her portrait, and it must have been one he greatly appreciated. The figures of the Three Graces were taken from an antique source, other examples are found on medals of the period by different artists, but their embellishment with amoretti was Leoni's own.   [Nomos]

Compare Isabels picture from Tizian posthum painted in Augsburg 1548, 117x98 cm, Prado, Madrid.

Further portraits on coins and medals by Leone Leoni on this website.

Charles' daughter :   Mary   (*1528   †1603)
Wife of Emperor Maximilian II
Mary was educated together with her brother Philip II. She was mainly interested in catholicism, which she practiced in an exalted form, only surpassed in this respect by her sister Joan.
In 1548 she married her cousin Maximilian (i.e. Emperor Maximilian II since 1564), who had only reluctantly started out on the wedding journey to Spain, partly because he sympathised with Protestantism. Their marriage was a happy one, and they had 16 children, among them the future Emperors Rudolph II and Matthias, and Anne, wife of King Philip II, mother of the long-hoped-for heir to the throne. Mary had her children educated in a stricly catholic way. She could not alleviate the tension between her husband Maximilian II and her brother Philip II. In 1581, five years after Maximilian's II death, she retreated to Spain, where she died lonely and embittered.


Cast bronze medal (before 1562),   model attributed Jacopo da Trezzo.     Ø 64 mm.
Domanig 52; Attwood 76; Armand II 237,6.
Obv.:   MARIA AVSTriae REGina BOEMiae - CAROLI V IMPeratoris FIlia
"Mary of Austria, Queen of Bohemia, daughter from Emperor Charles V"
portrait to the left, with headdress, hair-piece and jewel on the band on her chest.
Rev.:   CONSOCIATIO RERVM DOMINA   "Union, mistress of things"
A draped figure of Union, holding in her right hand three branches, in her left hand a crown,
steps over war trophies.
Attwood's attribution to Trezzo seems to be the final word, however others have suggested Pompeo Leoni and even Leone Leoni. Compare the medal by Pompeo Leoni dedicated to Don Carlos, where the revers looks similar.


Cast bronze medal 1562,   model by Pompeo Leoni.     Ø 35,2 mm.
On the Bohemian coronation of Maximilian II.     Armand II 238,10, Toderi/Vannel 130.
·MAXIMILIANVS· - ·BOHEmiae·REX·   //   ·MARIA·AVSTriae - REGina·BOEMiae


Cast silver medal 1575,   model by Antonio Abondio.     Ø 59 mm.
two separate casts in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y.    Habich 3412; Domanig 102; Kress 464.
Vs.:   IMPerator:CAESar: - MAXIMILianus:II:AVGustus:
bare-headed bust of Maximilian II in draped armor and with fleece order looking to the right.
Rs.:   MARIA IMPERatrix: - MDLXXV   -   Breast image Marias with hood and neck brace to the left.
The signature from Antonio Abondio (AN: AB:) behind the back of each figure.
Abondio (*1538 †1591) began to work in Italy 1552-65. From 1565 he worked at the courts of Viena or Prague with excursions to the Netherlands, Spain, Bavaria and north Italy. He was a most accomplished wax-modeller and exercised a great influence on the development of the late German-Austrian school.

Look at the detail from the painting 1551, 181x90 cm from Antonis Mor, Museo del Prado, Madrid.


Marys daughter Anna of Austria (1549-1580)


Silver medal 1570,  model from Jacques Jonghelinck.     Ø 40 mm, 18,51 g.
on the marriage to Philip II of Spain.     Smolderen 73 p.310; Armand I, 240, 14; v. Loon I p.131.
Obv.:   ·ANNA AVSTRIACA·PHILYPPI CATHOL·  -  Bust of Anna of Austria to right,
wearing high collar and knotted necklace.   In the arm section: ÆT·Z1
Rev.:  ·FOELICITATI - PATRIAE·   "For fatherlands benefit"  -  Date palm, symbol of fertility,
bottom: engraved date 1570.
Compare the medal dedicated to Philip and Anna.
Mary married her cousin emperor Maximilian II. Their daughter Anna married Mary's brother, king Philip II of Spain. She gave birth to Philip's successor, king Philipp III. of Spain, who married Margaret of Austria, a granddaughter of Charles V's brother Ferdinand. His son Philip IV again married an Austrian Habsburgian princess. The genetically weakened Spanish Habsburg line finally died out in 1700.

Charles' daughter :   Joan   (*1535   †1573)
Wife of Prince John of Portugal ,     Regent in Spain 1554-59.
Joan was Charles' youngest daughter. She was only 4 years old when her mother died. In 1552, she married the Portugese heir apparent John, who died in 1554, just before the birth of their son Sebastian. Joan returned to the Spanish Court and became Governor General of Spain until Philip II himself took over in 1559. She died at the age of 38 in the Escorial.


Cast bronze medal (about 1552),  model by Jacopo da Trezzo.    Ø 63 mm.  Domanig 49.
Obv.:   IOANNA AVSTRiae CAROLI - V IMPeratoris FILIA   -  Bust with beret.
Rev.:   CONNVBII - FRVCTVS   "conjugal offspring"
Ceres on a throne, a hare at her feet, a bust of Mars at the leg of the chair.
Ceres is the Roman goddess of farming, fertility and marriage.


Medal 1563 by Gianpaolo Poggini.     Ø 38 mm.
Domanig 50; Armand I,p.240,n.17; Coll.Wilmersdörffer 42 (this piece).
Obv.:   ·IOANNA CAROLI·V·AVGustus·FILiae·LVSITANiae·PRINCipae·
effegy to the right, in widow's clothing with a high collar; signature below: I.PAVL.POG.Fecit.
Rev.:   AΠAPA - ΛΛAK - TOΣ·
Europe holding cornucopia and bouquet of roses and sitting on a bull to the left.
Above: three angels sprinkle roses.   Exergue: ·M·D·LXIII·

Charles' daughter :   Margaret of Parma   (*1522   †1586)
Wife of Alessandro de Medici ,   Wife of Ottavio Farnese
Governor General in the Netherlands 1559-67.
Margaret, premarital daughter of Charles and the maid Joan van der Gheenst, was taken from her mother and educated in a Brussels family as befitted her rank. In order to confirm his reconciliation with the Pope Clemens VII in 1529, Charles promised his 7-year-old daughter in marriage to Alessandro de Medici, a known libertine, ostensibly the Pope's newphew, more likely his son. Charles saw his daughter for the first time when she married in Naples in 1536. A year later, the rakish Alessandro was killed and Margaret was a widow at the age of 15. Cosimo, head of the Medici family, would have liked to marry Margaret, and she was not opposed to the idea. However, the emperor had different plans, as the new Pope Paul III was looking for a wife for his grandson Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma. Charles forced his daughter into this marriage, and she did not agree to marry Ottavio until 1543, when he returned from Charles' expedition to Algier.
In 1556 she had to entrust her beloved son Alessandro to the Spanish Court of Philip II. Philip II appointed her Governor General of the Netherlands in 1559. She did her best to reconciliate the King of Spain and the Dutch people, but the problems at the eve of the revolution were too complicated. Eventually, the King sent Bloody Duke Alba to the Netherlands in 1567. Alba was not only entitled with an authority that left Margaret practically powerless, he was also accompanied by an army. Margaret resigned the same year and returned to Parma. Philip II asked her to head a peace mission to the Netherlands in 1580, but her endeavours failed because of her son Alessandro's military actions. He became Governor General in 1583, and his mother retreated to Italy.


Cast bronze medal, about 1550,   sign. model by Pier Paolo Galeotti.   Ø 45 mm.
Armand III.p.107 & II.p.210 n.38; Domanig, Erzhaus Österreich, 64.
Obs.:   MARGARITA·AVSTRIA·CAROLI·V·IMP·Filia·  -  Bust left with widow's hood.
Under the last word IMP of the legende: the initials PPR from Pier Paolo Galeotti, called Romano, 1520-84.
Rev.:   NEC·ME·MEA·CVRA·FEFELLIT·   "Nor have my anxious hopes deceived me" (Virgil)
A crowned woman sitting in a landscape with a tree near a city and receiving a branch from a flying dove.


Cast silver medal 1567 by Giuliano Giannini.     Ø 34,3 mm.
van Loon I, p.99, no.1; Toderi/Vannel 1639a.
On the successful government of Margaret as regent of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567.
Obv.:   *MARGARETA AB·AVSTRIA·Ducissa·Parmae·ET Placentiae·Caroli·V·Filia  -  Bust right.
Rev.:   BELGICI - ·TVTELA·*  "protector of the Burgundian Netherlands"
Tutela (Margherita) stands as patron goddess of the Netherlands in the portal of a temple.


Cast bronze medal (1557).     Ø 32,5 mm.  van Loon I, p.99, No.4.
On the successful government of Margaret as regent of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567.
Obv.:   MARGARET AB·AVSTRIA·Ducissa·Parmae·Placentiaeque  -  Bust to the right.
Rev.:   UT INTER SIDERA✶  "Like under the stars"   -   Sun shines a garden.


small Cast silver medal, 1567,   model by Jacques Jonghelinck.   Ø 33 mm
Domanig 65 (Obv.); van Loon I, p.99,2.
Obv.:   MARGARETA·DE·AVSTRIA·Ducissa·Parmea·ET·Placentiae·GERManiae·INFERioris·Gubernatrix
"Margaret of Austria, duchess of Parma and Piacenza, governor-general of the Low Countirs"
Bust to right, wearing a veiled headdress. Engraved below the shoulder: ÆTatis 45   "at age 45"
Rev.:   A·DOMINO·FACTVM·EST·ISTVD     "This has been accomplished by the Lord"
Amazon with sword, palm and laural branches in a stormy landscape with four blowing winds.
Engraved below 1567.   The allegorical figure is meant to be Margaret.
The medal was issued on restoration of order and shortly before Margaret left the Netherlands.

Compere the painting about 1565 (oil on wood 44x34 cm) from Adriaen Thomasz Key, KHM Vienna,
as detail from a painting from Antonis Mor (Staatl. Museen Berlin).


large Cast silver medal, 1567,   model by Jacques Jonghelinck.   Ø 66,7 mm, 56,58 g.
Smolderen (Jacques Jonghelinck) 56; van Loon I, p.86; Scher 158.
Obv.:  MARGARETA·DE·AVSTRIA·Ducissa·Parmae·ET·Placentiae·GERMANIÆ·INFERIORIS·GVBernatrix
Bust to right, wearing a veiled headdress, a gown with puffed sleeves, and a necklace with a pendant cross.
Engraved on the truncation: ÆTatis 45   "at age 45"
Rev.:   FAVENTE·DEO   "If God so wishes"
An allegorical figure standing on a rock battered by wind and waves ant turned to the left, wearing a laurel wreath and classical garments, with a sword in the right hand, palm and olive branches in the left. In the background, to the right, are a church and other buildings, partially obscured by shrubbery. To the left, beyond an arm of the sea, is a fortified town, towards which a man is paddling in a small boat.
Engraved at the bottom: ○ I567 ○


Satirical cast bronze medal 1566.   17th century work.     Ø 60 mm, 56,58 g.   v. Loon I, p.75.
Obv.:   as before.
Rev.:   QUID PREMITIS REDEAT SI NOBILIS IRA LEONIS - 1566   "Woe to you when the lion resumes his noble anger"  -  The Dutch lion lies in a bookbinding press and is being "squeezed" by Margarete and Cardinal Granvelle, with the court in the background.


Cast bronze medal n. d. (1567),   model by Leone Leoni or Pastorino.   Ø 46 mm, 57,93 g.
Armand I, 196,48 & 16,165(Rev.); Attwood 933.
On the return of Margaret to Italy, after Duke of Alba took over her position in the Netherlands.
Obv.:   MARGARITA - AVSTRIA·   -   bust to the right.
Rev.:   DOMINVS.CVSTODIT.TE.DOMINVS.PROTECTIO.TVA.
Riders flee to the right under a stone hail from the walls.
Allusion to the escape of Corsair Barbarossa after his arrival in Italy.

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