in time of war, is comparatively modern. It has been supposed that the circular ornaments on the Roman standards had medals in their centres, but there is no evidence to show that this was the case, and the standards shown on the column of Trajan appear only to have had plain bosses in their centres. It is true that the Chinese are said to have used military medals during the Han dynasty (1st century A.D.), but, as far as the West is concerned, we have to come to the 16th century before we find the custom of wearing medals as decorations of honour a recognized institution.
The wearing of decorative medals was common in England in the reign of Henry VIII., but the first medals commemorating a particular event that were evidently intended as a personal decoration, and were in all probability (though there is no absolute proof) bestowed as reward for military services rendered to the Crown, are the “Armada” medals of Queen Elizabeth, 1588–1589. Of these there are two. The earliest, generally styled the “Ark in flood” medal, is a large oval medal of silver (2 by 1·75 in.), and bears on the obverse a profile bust of the queen surrounded by the inscription, ELIZABETH D. G. ANGLIAE. F. ET HI. REG. On the reverse is an ark on waves, with above the rays of the sun, and around the legend, SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS. This medal dates from 1588, and in the following year there was given another medal, a little larger (2·3 by 2·1 in.) and struck in gold, silver and copper. The obverse of this second medal bore a full-face bust of Elizabeth, with the legend, characteristic both of the monarch and the period, DITIOR IN TOTO NON ALTER CIRCULUS ORBE. The reverse has an island around which ships are sailing and sea-monsters swimming, and on the island there are houses, a flourishing bay-tree, standing uninjured by a storm of wind, and lightning emerging from heavy clouds above. The island is inscribed NON IPSA PERICVLA TANGVNT. These medals are of special interest as demonstrating thus early the existence of a doctrine of sea-power. In fact, in the medals of James I. (1603–1625), none of which have a distinct reference to war services, the “ark in flood” design was again reproduced on the reverse, this time with the legend slightly altered, viz. STET SALVVS IN VNDIS.
Other European nationalities were also about this period conferring decorative medals as a reward for war services, as for example, the “Medal to Volunteers” issued in Holland in 1622–1623 and the “Military Medal of Gustavus Adolphus” issued in Sweden in 1630. Here it may be noted that in following the history of medals as used as a decoration to reward military services, only those of British origin need be dealt with in detail, since Great Britain has utilized them in a much greater degree than any other nationality. The countless minor wars of the 19th century, waged by the forces of the Crown of every class, navy, army and auxiliary, have no equivalent in the history of other states, even in that of France, the United States and Russia. The great wars of the 19th century were divided by long intervals of peace, and the result is that with most of the great military powers the issue of campaign medals has been on a small scale, and in the main decorations have taken the form of “Orders” (see Knighthood and Chivalry: Orders), or purely personal decorations for some meritorious or exemplary service.
During the reign of Charles I. (1625–1649), we come across numerous medals and badges; a considerable number of these were undoubtedly associated with, and given, even systematically given, as rewards for war services; for a royal warrant “given at our Court of Oxford, the eighteenth day of May, 1643,” which directed “Sir William Parkhurst, Knight, and Thomas Bushell, Esquire, Wardens of our Mint, to provide from time to time certain Badges of silver, containing our Royal image, and that of our dearest son, Prince Charles, to be delivered to wear on the breast of every man who shall be certified under the hands of their Commanders-in-Chief to have done us faithful service in the Forlorn-hope.”
From the foregoing it must not be deduced that this medal was in any way intended to reward special valour. In those days “forlorn-hopes” were not volunteers for some desperate enterprise, as to-day, but a tactical advanced guard which naturally varied, both in numbers and arm of the service, according to ground and circumstances. That a very free distribution of the award was contemplated is evident from the fact that “soldiers” alone were specified as recipients and that a clause was inserted in the warrant strictly forbidding the sale of the medal. This letter ran:—
As there are in existence several medals of this period which bear the effigies of both the king and Prince Charles, it is uncertain which in particular was used for the “forlorn-hope” award. Very probably it is one, an oval silver-gilt medal (1·7 by 1·3 in.) which bears on the obverse a three-quarters (r.) bust of Charles I., and on the reverse a profile (l.) bust of Prince Charles (see Mayo, Medals and Decorations of the British Army and Navy, vol. 1. No. 16, Plate 5, No. 3). During the Commonwealth (1649–1660), parliament was lavish in the award of medals in recognition of war services, and for the first time we find statutory provision made for their bestowal as naval awards, in the shape of acts of parliament passed Feb. 22, 1648 and April 7, 1649 (cap. 12, 1648 and cap. 21, 1649), and Orders in Council of May 8 and Nov. 19 and 21, 1649, and Dec. 20, 1652. There is no doubt whatever that there was a “Medal of the Parliament” for sea service issued in 1649. This medal, oval (·95 by ·85 in.) and struck in gold and silver, had on the obverse an anchor, from the stock of which are suspended two shields, one bearing the cross of St George, and the other the Irish harp. The motto is MERVISTI. On the anchor stock, T. S.[1] The reverse has on it the House of Commons with the Speaker in the chair. This medal is referred to in a minute of the Council of State of Nov. 15, 1649:—
That there was a “Medal of the Parliament” for land service as well, is proved by the following extract from the Journals of the House of Commons (vii. 6, 7):—
This order was duly carried out, as is shown in the minutes of the Council of State, June 2 and July 30, 1652, but there is no trace to-day of either medal or chain. It is not unlikely that this medal is one figured at page 117 of Evelyn’s Numismata (the engraving, unnumbered, is placed between Nos. 39 and 40, and there is no allusion to it in the text), which has on the obverse a representation of the parliament, and on the reverse a bust of the Protector with a camp and troops in the background.
The most splendid of all the naval awards of this period were those given for the three victories over the Dutch in 1653, namely:—
- ↑ Thomas Simon, master and chief graver of the mint. Most of the medals of this period were his work, and they are considered to be amongst the best specimens of the medallic art that have been produced in the country.
