Silver 10oz medal Pragmatic Sanction proof
Silver 10oz medal Pragmatic Sanction proof
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
Product description
Almost 300 years ago, the assemblies of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia adopted the so-called Pragmatic Sanction, thanks to which one of the greatest women in European history - Maria Theresa - could ascend the throne. The Czech Mint commemorates this jubilee by issuance of the silver medals.
Charles VI, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, did not have a simple life. He was the last Habsburg to live in the male line, his efforts to maintain the family by the sword failed, and the future of the Danube region was uncertain. He saw the way out of the hopeless situation by issuing the pragmatic sanction. This groundbreaking document established the indivisibility of the Habsburg states, as well as a new succession order, which enabled the transition of the government to the female line of the family. Four years later, the emperor´s daughter named Maria Theresa was born. Charles VI placed all his hopes in her and gradually ensured the recognition of pragmatic sanctions by most European powers. However, the handover of the power to the young queen in 1740 did not take place in peace. The grumbling inside Austria, which questioned the woman ascending the throne, stopped, but Prussia, led by King Frederick II, intended to intervene in Central European affairs. Power storms broke out, known as the Wars of the Austrian Succession. The full backwardness of the Habsburg Empire was manifested in them, which, despite all the efforts of its female ruler, lost Kladsko, most of Silesia and part of the Italian provinces. Although the pragmatic sanction was generally accepted, the loss of part of the historical lands of the Czech Crown was not changed by the ensuing global conflict - the Seven Years' War… Maria Theresa was not only purposeful but also stubborn, and her failures were to implement some reforms and to equate the Habsburg Empire with Western Europe. The Empress formed one of the largest European monarchies for four decades and, in addition to renewed prosperity, she gave it two equally enlightened emperors - Joseph II. and Leopold II.
The obverse side of the commemorative medal, which is the work of academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů, presents the title page of a pragmatic sanction supplemented with the seal of Charles VI, the text PRAGMATIC SANCTION 1720 and a decorative astragal. The reverse side is dominated by a double portrait of Charles VI. and the young Maria Theresa supplemented by their names.
The schedule of issuance of silver medals counts only 99 pieces.