18th to 19th centuries
MEDALLIC PORTRAITS OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE CHILDEBERT
I (REIGNED 511-558)
OBV: CROWNED PORTRAIT OF CHILDEBERT I RIGHT; LEGEND "CHILDEBERT I . ROY DE FRANCE"; COUNTERSTAMP "Y" ON PORTRAIT CHEEK.
REV: EIGHT LINE LEGEND "6. / NÉ. 497*. / SUCCEDE 511. / EDIT CONTRE LE / PAGANISME. / MORT. 558. / PREMIERE RACE / F"
CHILDEBERT I (b. 496, d. 558), THIRD SON OF KING CLOVIS I OF THE FRANKISH MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY. HIS MOTHER WAS SAINT CLOTHILDE. HE SHARED THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS WITH HIS THREE BROTHERS AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH. HE WAS KING OF PARIS FROM 511, AND ALSO KING OF ORLÉANS FROM 524, UNTIL HIS DEATH.
DURING HIS REIGN, HE EXPANDED HIS DOMINIONS MORE THAN ANY OF HIS THREE BROTHERS. HE WAS A RELIGIOUS MAN, OF WHICH THE FRENCH LEGEND ON THE REVERSE (FOUGHT AGAINST PAGANISM) ATTESTS.
THE FRENCH LANGUAGE USED ON THIS MEDAL IS ARCHAIC, THAT, COMBINED WITH THE WAY THE MEDAL IS STRUCK, AND HOW THE TYPE OF THE LEGEND IS ARRANGED, MAKES THE STRIKING PERIOD PROBABLY 18th CENTURY, RATHER THAN 19th.
THE MEDAL HAS A SILVERY SHEEN, POSSIBLY PLATED, BUT IS STAMPED "CUIVRE (COPPER)" ON THE RIM. IT IS UNSIGNED.
34 mm IN DIAMETER 15.36 GRAMS IN WEIGHT
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