III REPUBLIC 1898 - Lot 331

III REPUBLIC 1898 LUX SPES. In front of the port of Nantes, seated France holding a book inscribed JE PVIS TOVT PAR CHRIST PH IV and embracing a young child. To the right, G. PRVD'HOMME. R/. IIIME CENTENAIRE DE L'ÉDIT DE NANTES. Draped and cuirassed bust of Henri IV at right, flanked by the inscriptions 31 MAI - 1er JVIN 2 JVIN 1898. On the edge, cornucopia and SILVER. Silver medal by G.H. Prud'homme* 1898 (69.00 g) Ø 50.36 mm Rare. Superb. Tercentenary of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes was an Edict of Toleration promulgated in April 1598 by King Henri IV of France at the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, to put an end to the Wars of Religion that had ravaged the kingdom of France since 1562, and particularly to the Eighth War, which began in 1585. This edict granted Protestants religious, civil and political rights in certain parts of the kingdom and, in annexes called "brevets", granted them a number of places of refuge, including some sixty places of safety, and guaranteed them the payment of an annual subsidy from the royal treasury. The first version of the edict, actually signed and sealed in Nantes, has been lost and is known only from a copy held by the Bibliothèque de Genève. It is therefore the second version, probably drafted later, but still dated April 1598, that constitutes the authentic text sent to the parliaments for registration. The Edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV in October 1685 (Edict of Fontainebleau), but its application had already undergone restrictions, first under Louis XIII, following the crisis of 1627-1629 marked by the siege of La Rochelle and concluded by the Peace of Ales, then under Louis XIV, due to the policy of converting Protestants carried out from 1661 onwards.