Tag Archive for: Renaissance

Adolf of Schwarzenberg – The Liberator of Raab

On March 29, 1598, Adolf of Schwarzenberg reconquered the fortress of Raab, taking it back from the Turks. The Emperor was thankful: He elevated the victorious military to Imperial Count and thus made the House of Schwarzenberg an important factor in the Habsburg Empire.

Trinity Medal

On March 13, 2014, the famous Trinity Medal created by Hans Reinhart the Elder will be auctioned off at Künker. The masterpiece of German medal art is part of the Baums Collection.

The Anabaptists – an episode from the history of Münster

Anyone looking up the St. Lambert’s Church in Münster discovers above the church clock a kind of decoration that is more than peculiar. High above, for everyone to see, there are three iron cages suspended from the steeple. Their background story will be told today.

Gold for Portugal

Portugaleser, that is how the magnificent large gold coins are called that were produced in Hamburg. But what do they have to do with Portugal? The answer lies in the route the African gold has taken in the Early Modern Times…

Between Germany and France: The Duchy of Lorraine

On 16 May 2017, one of the most significant collections of Lorraine that has come on the market during the last decades will be put to auction at the Heidelberger Münzhandlung. We will tell you the story of this duchy on the basis of a few of the collection’s rarities.

Sigismondo Malatesta – Condottiere and Ruler of Rimini

In 1462, there was a great fire to be witnessed in Rome: Pope Pius II burnt the effigy of Sigismondo Malatesta, once beloved son and captain-general of the Holy Roman Church. Who was this man? A beast? The anti-christ? Or simply a child of one’s times?

Henry VII – Founder of the Tudor Dynasty

In the mid-15th century two aristocratic houses divided England deeply fighting the so-called War of the Roses. Henry VII overcame this situation by a marriage founding a new, stable dynasty: the Tudors.
By examining 12 coins we are going to stroll through Great Britain’s history – this is part 5.

Joachim II and his Jewish court factor

On February 1, 2017 the auction house Künker offers the top items from the Gunther Hahn Collection “Brandenburg-Preussen” as part of its Berlin Auction. They include some extremely rare coins of Joachim II who relied on Lipman ben Juda to conduct his financial transactions.

Henry VIII – the Man Who Had Six Wives

Henry VIII is renowned for his many wifes. Behind these marriages was his endeavour to unite love and a secure dynasty. On behalf of this goal he even broke with the Pope and the church.
By examining 12 coins we are going to stroll through Great Britain’s history – this is part 6.

Human faces, part 37: Francis I, “Traitor of Christendom”

Why was the human head the motif on coins for centuries, no, for millennia? And why did that change in the last 200 years? In this episode, King Francis I makes a politically necessary decision, which earns him the title “Traitor of Christendom”.