Historical and Commemorative
Medals
Collection of Benjamin Weiss
GEORGE I DASSIER, Jean: England, 1731, Bronze, 41 mm George Louis, George I (1660-1727), King of Great Britain
and Ireland (1714-1727) and Elector of Hanover (1698-1727), was the first of
the Hanoverian kings, succeeding Queen Anne and ending the Stuart line to
the throne. Although a German, who could speak little English, he succeeded
to the throne as a result of the Act of Settlement which excluded Catholics
from ascending to the monarchy. George was chosen over
James Stuart (the
Elder Pretender), the son of James II, as James Stuart was Catholic and
George was the next Protestant in line to the throne. This succession was
somewhat circuitous: in Germany, George was heir through his father, Ernest
Augustus, to the hereditary lay bishopric of Osnabruck, and to the duchy of Calenberg, which formed one portion of the Hanoverian possessions of the
house of Brunswick. George I, the great-grandson of James I, inherited the
British crown through his mother Sophia, a protestant granddaughter of James
I of England. George I was succeeded by
George II,
George III,
George IV and
Queen Victoria, the last Hanoverian monarch. Politically, George favored the Whigs over the Tories,
suspecting the latter of Jacobite sympathies. He put down Jacobite
rebellions in1715 and 1719. Not being able to speak English well, George
preferred his native Hanover and took little interest in domestic affairs.
He allowed power to pass to Parliament and ministers such as Robert Walpole
and Charles Townshend. When the financial speculation known as the South Sea
Bubble burst in 1720, George’s political reputation was saved by Walpole,
who demanded in return a freer reign on government. George was succeeded by
his son, George II. (From O’Brien) It may be noted that other European states
have religious provisions for their monarchs similar to that of Great
Britain. These include Denmark, Norway and Sweden—whose constitutions compel
their monarchs to be Lutherans—and the Netherlands whose constitution
insists their monarchs be through the Protestant House of Orange. The
Spanish and Belgian constitutions similarly include provisions for the
succession through Roman Catholic houses. LINK to portrait of George I (National Portrait Gallery)
LINK to Act of
Settlement (from wikipedia) |
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