(The victory of Oudenarde leads to the capture of Lille,
DDDCLLVIII = 1708.) Ex. SPECTANT . HORTVLANIS . LILIVM DE-
cerpt . ‘23 . oot . & 9 . dec . 1708. (The Lily is plucked in the
sight of the gardeners, 23 Oct. and 9 Dec. 1708.) I. a. i.
(Johann Georg Junker.)
Edge. Chronogrammatic. e V g e n I e e t M arL b ro : D e L e t I s
fo e n o r a gaL L I . (Eugene and Marlborough ! you wipe off the
debt with France, m d llllv iii = 1708.)
1-7. Rapin, vi. 12. Van Loon, V. 123. Thes. Num.
825.
MB. J i t . (edge not inscribed). Gotha, 2R. Very rare.
The obverse of this medal is by Christian Wermuth : it is
described in his Catalogue, 1713, No. 15, p. 21.
In their endeavour to defend the passage of the Scheldt,
the French placed their principal force opposite to Oudenarde,
where they supposed the passage was practicable. Marlborough,
having deluded them by feints, made attacks upon other points,
directing the parties if successful to unite on the heights above
Oudenarde. All this was accomplished; and as soon as the
allied forces began to concentrate above Oudenarde the French
withdrew, and thus the way was opened to the operations
against Lille. When the royal Princes of France were about
to join the army, Maugarde presented them with a copy of verses
highly adulatory and prophetic of success. In the exergue this
prophecy is ridiculed and construed ironically. These Princes
are the gardeners, in whose sight their lily, Lille, was plucked.
France, having formerly won so many victories, may be said to
have owed some to the Allies, and these debts Marlborough and
Eugene have now wiped off. Oudenarde supplied the Generals
with a laurel and a mural crown; a battle in the field and a
town defended.
181. G h e n t r e t a k e n . g-g- December, 1708.
Bust of Anne, I., crowned, lovelock on the left shoulder, in
gown fastened with brooch in front. Eeg. anna . d e i . gra : mag :
BR : fra: : ET . HIB : REGINA. Same as Nos. 147, 155, 172.
Rev. Within an enclosure of palisades, the Genius, or Virgin
of Ghent, with her Lion is seated as a captive at the foot of
a trophy of captured French and Spanish arms. Leg. s p e s .
ET . OPES . HOSTIUM . REBELLUMQUE . FRACTAE. (The hopes and
forces of the enemy and the rebels destroyed.) Ex. gandavuh
r e o u p e r a t . d . 30 . d e c . 1708. (Ghent retaken, 30 Dec.
1708.)
1‘45. Rapin, vii. 7. Van Loon, V. 127.
No specimen of this medal has been met with; it is by
Christian Wermuth.
On the of this year Ghent had been surprised, and had
given itself up to France. (See No. 148.) As it commanded
the courses of the Lys and the Scheldt, Marlborough resolved to
possess himself of it. Trenches were opened on the Dec.,
and on the g-g Dec. it capitulated, though the Governor, Count de
la Mothe,who had commanded the French troops at Wynendale,
had received orders to defend it to the last extremity. Thus were
the hopes of the French army and of their rebellious partisans
in the city defeated. The rebels alluded to in the legend are
those inhabitants who, in spite of their oath of allegiance to
Charles III., had opened the gates of Ghent to the French in
the July preceding. The reverse of this medal is adopted from
one struck by Louis XIV. (See Med. Louis XIV., 4to, 170, and
Van Loon, III. 226) to commemorate the capture of Ghent in
March, 1678, and, as with many of the medals by Christian
Wermuth, it is a satire, making the French memorial of a
victory a record of their subsequent defeat.
182. G h e n t r e t a k e n , December, 1708.
The Lion of the United Provinces, I., within a wattled fence.
Leg. n e s c i v s . f e r r e . iv g vm . E x . l i b e r t a s p a t r i a e . Same
as Nos. 153, 156, 165, 168.
'. Rev. Within an enclosure of palisades, the Genius, or Virgin
of Ghent, with her Lion is seated as a captive at the foot of a
trophy, &c.; same as the preceding.
l -45. Van Loon, V. 127. Thes. Num. 855.