BOHEMIA. Prag (Prague), circa 1600-1650. Cast Medal (Gold, 51 mm, 17.00 g, 12 h), so-called 'Judenmedaille'. On St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231). ELISABETA•FILIA•ANDR•REG•UNGAR•PBIIT•MARB•AN•M•CC•XXXI Crowned and draped bust of St. Elizabeth to right within decorated border. Rev. ✠ DISPERSIT•DEDIT•PAUP:IUST:EIUS•MANET•IN•SECUL:SECULI St. Elizabeth's Church of Marburg within decorated border. Bernhart 21. Hoffmeister p. 2f. Klein B 21. Very rare in gold. Somewhat rough and with the usual contemporary tooling, otherwise, extremely fine.



This so-called ‘Judenmedaille’ features St. Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and wife of Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, on the obverse. Born into the Hungarian royal house of Árpád, Elizabeth was brought to Thuringia at a young age and later became one of the most widely venerated female saints of the Middle Ages. To this day, she remains an important symbolic figure in both Thuringia and Hesse, while in Hungary she is especially revered as St. Elizabeth of Hungary and regarded as one of the country’s most prominent royal saints.

The reverse depicts the Church of St. Elizabeth in Marburg, begun in 1235, the year of her canonization. The church was consecrated in 1283, although its towers were not completed until 1340. One of the earliest great Gothic churches in Germany, it became an influential model for later buildings, including Cologne Cathedral and St. Paul’s Church in Strasbourg.