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This medal has been minted in
This medal is signed by the eminent French medalist, Jean-Claude AMMAN.
Jean Baptiste de Valbelle, 1627 – 1681, was a navy commandor of the French fleet in the naval battle of Solebay. He was the Knight of the Order of
The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
av. Jean Baptiste de Valbelle
rv. The scene of the battle of Solebay.
diameter – 86 mm, (3 ⅜”)
weight – 303.70 gr, (10.72 oz)
metal – bronze, authentic patina
A fleet of 75 ships, 20,738 men and 4,484 cannon of the United Provinces, commanded by Lieutenant-Admirals Michiel de Ruyter, Adriaen Banckert and Willem Joseph van Ghent, surprised a joint Anglo-French fleet of 93 ships, 34,496 men and 6,018 cannon at anchor in Solebay (nowadays Sole Bay), near Southwold in Suffolk, on the east coast of England.
The Duke of York and Vice-Admiral Comte Jean II d'Estrées planned to blockade the Dutch in their home ports and deny the
The Knights Hospitaller
The Knights Hospitaller is a Christian organization that began as an Amalfitan hospital founded in Jerusalem in approximately 1023 to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the Western Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, it became a religious/military order under its own charter, and was charged with the care and defense of the Holy Land. Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the Order operated from Rhodes, over which it was sovereign, and later from Malta where it administered a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily.
The Knights Hospitaller are also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Order of St. John, Knights of Malta, and Chevaliers de Malte; Italian: Cavalieri dell'Ordine dell'Ospedale di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme or Cavalieri di Malta, French: Ordre des Hospitaliers, Maltese: Ordni ta’ San Ġwann.