LOUIS XV : PEACE OF GENEVA
 

DUVIVIER, Jean: France, 1738, Bronze, 41 mm
Obv: Bust of Louis XV (r)    LUD. XV. REX CHRISTIANISS.
Rev: Peace, surmounted by the symbol of the Holy Ghost, standing on a cloud and holding the French shield, is offering an olive branch to Geneva, who is sitting on a plinth inscribed with the Arms of Geneva.    RESPUB. GENEVENSIS PACATA
Exergue:  MDCCXXXVIII.
Signed:  DU VIVIER F

In the eighteenth century, Geneva had developed a system of government whereby its inhabitants were divided into three classes: the citizens by birth, who were entitled to citizenship and who were eligible to all offices; the bourgeois, who were able to attend the great council but who could not be members of the small, executive council nor hold public office; and the householders or commoners , who had no rights to citizenship whatsoever. At a certain point dissatisfaction towards this form of government emerged, the bourgeois and citizens revolted, and disorder broke out. This medal commemorates the quelling of such disorders and the restoration of harmony in Geneva. (from Thompson)
This medal is similar to that of Jean Dassier, Restoration of Peace at Geneva,  commemorating the same event.

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