Historical and Commemorative
Medals
Collection of Benjamin Weiss
ACCESSION TO THE REGENCY OF THE
KINGDOM OF FRANCE ST URBAIN, Ferdinand de: France, 1715, Bronze, 44 mm
Philippe (Philip) II (1674-1723), Duke of Orleans (1701-1723), Regent of
France (1715-1723), was the son of Philippe I, Duke of Orleans and his
second wife Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine. He was also the nephew
of King Louis XIV. In 1692, he married Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mlle de
Blois, his first cousin and the legitimized daughter of Louis XIV and Mme de
Montespan. This marriage won him the favor of the king. Philippe fought at Sternkerk, Neewinden and Namur. He was
successful in campaigns in Italy and Spain but his suspected desire to
succeed Philip V, King of Spain, gained him Louis XIV’s disfavor. In 1715 he
was appointed president of the council of regency of the young King Louis
XV, and on Louis XIV’s death he invested himself with absolute power. On the
majority of King Louis XV in1723, he relinquished his supreme power but
became first minister to the king until his death later that year. Philippe became Regent of France in 1715, the event
commemorated by this medal. His regency, which lasted until his death in
1723, was the last in the kingdom of France. He is still commonly referred
to as le Régent and his regency as la Régence. Philippe had several good qualities. He was a liberal and
imaginative man and had great administrative abilities. As Regent, he
changed the manners of the ruler and his nobles from the hypocrisy of Louis
XIV to complete candor. On the religious front, though a professed atheist,
he restored liberty to the persecuted Jansenists. He was against censorship
and ordered the reprinting of books banned under the reign of his uncle.
Reversing his uncle's policies again, Philippe formed an alliance with
England, Austria, and the Netherlands, and fought a successful war against
Spain that established the conditions of a European peace. Philippe promoted
education, making the Sorbonne tuition free and opening the Royal Library to
the public (1720). Unfortunately these actions were spoilt by an excessive
taste for pleasure and a lack of moral restraint, marking his regency as one
of the most corrupt periods in French history. He was succeeded by his only
son Louis, later Duke of Orléans (1703–1752). LINK to Biography of Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (from Wikipedia)
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