1708, Austria, Emperor Joseph I. Silver "The Capture of Lille" Medal. PCGS AU55!

Description: 1708, Austria, Emperor Joseph I. Silver "The Capture of Lille" Medal. PCGS AU55! Mint Year: 1708 Medallist: Philipp Heinrich Mülle (P.H.M) Reference: Montenuovo 1310, Erlangen 2675. Condition: Certified and graded by PCGS as AU-55! Denomination: Medal - The capture of Lille by the forces of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Diameter: 45.9mm Weight: 33,66gm Material: Silver Obverse: Victory, trampling upon Lille and her shield, takes from her her mural crown. (reverse) Legend: SPES HOSTIVM PERTERRITORVM PRAECISA. ("The hope of the terrified enemy is cut off.") Exergue: PRVDENTIA FORTISS . DVCIS MARLEBVRG . OBSIDIONEM INSVLANVM PROTEGENTIS. ("By the prudence of the most valorous Duke of Marlborough protecting the siege of Lille.") Reverse: Pallas, seated, left, amidst piles of arms, terrifies a French soldier by the Gorgon shield. Legend: INSVLA FLANDR . GALLIS A FOEDERATIS EREPTA.("Lille in Flanders is wrested from the French by the Allies.") Exergue: INDEFESSA VIRTVTE INVICTISSIMI EVGENII SAB . PRINCIPIS . MDCCIIX. ("By the indefatigable valour of the most invincible Eugene, Prince of Savoy, 1708.") Lille is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord department, and the main city of the European Metropolis of Lille. Nicknamed in France the "Capital of Flanders", Lille and its surroundings belong to the historical region of Romance Flanders, a former territory of the county of Flanders that is not part of the linguistic area of West Flanders. A garrison town (as evidenced by its Citadel), Lille has had an eventful history from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Very often besieged during its history, it belonged successively to the Kingdom of France, the Burgundian State, the Holy Roman Empire of Germany and the Spanish Netherlands before being definitively attached to the France of Louis XIV following the War of Spanish Succession along with the entire territory making up the historic province of French Flanders. The siege of Lille (12 August – 10 December 1708) was the salient operation of the 1708 campaign season during the War of the Spanish Succession. After an obstinate defence of 120 days, the French garrison surrendered the city and citadel of Lille, commanded by Marshal Boufflers, to the forces of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. The siege was famous among contemporaries for l'affaire des poudres ("the gunpowder incident"), where the Chevalier de Luxembourg with 2,000 horsemen passed through the Allied lines and succeeded in delivering 40,000 pounds of desperately needed gunpowder to the defenders. The siege was made possible by the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Oudenarde and the landing in Ostend of large amounts of ammunition and food after the Battle of Wijnendale. Initially, the allies were divided over which cities should be targeted following the battle of Oudenaarde. Bernaldo de Quirós, a Spanish nobleman who had sided with the Allies after the battle of Ramillies, proposed the siege of Mons and Charleroi to secure Brabant and clear the way to France. Instead, under pressure from the English government, Marlborough insisted on capturing Ypres. However, Eugene and the Dutch deputies favoured an attack on Lille. Eugene argued that the capture of this city was crucial for a successful invasion of France. In addition to this, the Dutch deputies had other good reasons for their preference for Lille. After its conquest by the French in 1667, Lille had become one of the most important French cities and the wealthy city paid a large part of the French war chest. In addition, much of the booty captured by the Dunkirk Privateers from the allied merchant fleets ended up in Lille. A capture of this city would be a major blow to the French king. For most of the campaign, Eugene commanded the forces besieging Lille, while Marlborough commanded the forces covering those forces against external French interference. For a short period in late September however, after Eugene was injured on the 21st, Marlborough took command of both the besiegers and the covering force. On 22 October the Allies entered the city at the staggering cost of 12,000 casualties; Boufflers continued to resist from Lille's citadel for several weeks, exacting an additional 4,000 allied casualties. While the allies' deft manoeuvring frustrated French attempts to relieve their precious fortress—the last substantial French bastion in northern Flanders—Boufflers' valiant defence likewise prolonged the siege well into winter, to the point where no operations could be undertaken against France that year. The French garrison of Lille capitulated on 10 December and the remaining defenders marched out with full honours of war, and Boufflers was decorated by Louis XIV. For France, the results of the siege were mixed. The city's stubborn defence tied down Marlborough for the remainder of the 1708 campaigning season, preventing him from inflicting further damage on France in the aftermath of Oudenarde. But, with the loss of Lille, northern Flanders reverted to allied control; the Allies moved against Ghent, taking the city in late December. The fall of Lille also opened a corridor for an allied invasion of France in 1709, but this effort would run into a bloody standstill at the Battle of Malplaquet.

Price: 1589 USD

Location: Wien

End Time: 2024-02-01T14:44:59.000Z

Shipping Cost: 11 USD