52
NOTES AND QUERIES. [n s. vi. JULY 20, 191?.
the year 1880 or thereabouts, as near as I
can fix the date in my memory.
His exploits and insane acts were recounted at great length in the Italian journals of the period ; and the authorities were blamed for his violent death, as he was rightly considered a crazy believer in his own Messiahship. WILLIAM MERCER.
MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW : MEDALS
(11 S. v. 390, 474). There is an engraving
of the medal of Gregory XIII. in Joseph
Mendham's ' The Life and Pontificate of
Saint Pius the Fifth,' 1832, facing p. 213.
Mendham writes (p. 216) :
" There were several medals struck in France on this triumphant occasion. Two are in my possession : one in bronze, with the date under the head, 1572, and on the reverse a figure of the king on his throne with several heads under his feet, and the legend, VIRTUS . IN . REBELLES. The other is a fine large one in silver, the head, of a ferocious expression, on one side, on the other a figure of Hercules attacking the hydra with a club in one hand and a torch in the other with the legend, NE FEBRUM SIMUL IGNIB S OBSTO, a nd the date 1572 in the exergue."
A foot-note refers to ' Thuani Hist.,' lib. liii. c. 1.
There is a good deal about the medals in Edward Smedley's ' History of the Reformed Religion in France,' 1832-4, vol. ii. He writes (p. 35) that the medal with the effigies of Charles IX., issued in Paris, pre- ceded the Papal medal. A foot-note says that a vignette of the latter is given as a headpiece to the ' Epitome ' of the 49th Book of De Thou, in the third volume of the London edition. Reference is also made to Bonanni, ' Numismata Pontif. Roman.,' i. 336 (fig. 27). The foot-note goes on to state that De Thou describes both gold and silver medals struck at Paris. The legend round the king's head in one was VIRTUS IN REBELLES ; the device on the reverse, two columns (" the ordinary device of Charles"), and the legend PIETAS EXCITAVIT JUSTITIAM. In the other the legend on the obverse was CAROLUS ix. REBELLIUM DOMiTOR ; the device on the reverse, Hercules with his club and a lighted torch destroying the hydra.
In ' La France Metallique,' by Jacques de Bie, 1634, appear the reverses of many medals of Charles IX. One medal appa- rently has both sides given. According to the signs it is of silver, and measures IrV in. On the obverse is the king on his throne under a royal canopy, a sword in his right hand, and in his left a tall staff surmounted
by the hand of justice. At his feet are a
corpse and many heads. The legend is
VIRTVS . IN . REBELLES. The reverse shows
the escutcheon of France, &c., surmounted
by a crown, a pillar on each side, &c. The
legend is PIETAS . EXCITAVIT . IVSTITIAM.
In the exergue is 1572.
On the preceding plate is a reverse repre- senting Hercules attacking the hydra. In the " explication " it is particularly noted that he, armed with a club and a torch, is threatening the hydra with the fire, and not cutting off its heads. The legend is NE .
FERRVM . TEMNAT . SIMVL . IGNIS . OBSTO.
(" Ignis " for ignibus.) There is no date in the exergue. The size and metal are the same as in the last.
The reverse of another medal, dated 1572, represents the king, habited as a Roman emperor (military), pushing back with his right hand two falling columns, which have crowns as capitals. The legend is MIRA .
FIDES . LAPSAS . RELEVAT . MANVS . VNA ,
COLVMNAS. There are the same legend and almost the same design on another reverse which has no date. In the former the king is unarmed ; in the latter he has a pike in his left hand and a hanger at his side. Both medals are marked silver, the former measuring it in., the latter IxV in.
Another, with 1572 in the exergue, has a woman standing, an open book in the left hand, a palm branch in the right, in an oval of rays of light. Behind the lower part of the figure are several human faces lying on flames. The legend is SVBDVCENDIS . RATIONIBVS. Silver, size nearly 2 in.
Another, having the date 1572, not in the exergue, but at the end of the^legend HAE . TIBI . ERVNT . ARTES . represents a mailed arm coming from a cloud. The naked hand holds upright a sword, with two serpents facing each other, one on each side of the blade. The sword-point passes into a crown of laurel. Silver, size 1 J in.
Possibly these medals do not all refer to the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
ROBERT PIERPOINT.
BAG-ENVELOPES (11 S. v. 467). I cannot quote chapter and verse, but have always understood that Henry Dobb, of 134, Fleet Street, perfected and introduced the gummed envelope. This business Dobbs, Kidd & Co. ceased to exist a few years ago, but their proprietary articles passed to another house, from whom it is possible information could be obtained.
There is a third claimant. Amongst the advertisements in Clarke's' Handbook Guide
