ST. URBAIN, Ferdinand de: Lorraine, ca. 1720, Bronze, 46 mm
Obv: Bust (r)  LEOPOLDVS· I· D· G· DVX· LOT· BAR· REX· IEROSOL
Rev: Bust (r)  ELIZ. CAR. AVRELIAN. REGIA. LOT. BAR. DVCISSA
Signed: S.V.
Ref: From the Series of the Dukes and Duchesses of Lorraine. Forrer V, p.310 #54; Mirnik #36;  Weiss BW194

Leopold Joseph Charles Dominique Agapet Hyacinthe (1679-1729) was the son of Charles V of Lorraine, and his wife Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria, a half sister of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.

At the time of Leopold's birth, Lorraine and Bar had been occupied by Louis XIV of France, forcing his parents to move into exile to Austria, where they lived under the protection of the Emperor. Leopold grew up in Innsbruck, while his father would be engaged in defending Vienna against the Turks.

In 1690, his father died and eleven-year-old Leopold became Duke of Lorraine and Bar and inherited the still occupied Duchies. His mother, trying to fulfil her husband's last wishes of returning her children to their patrimony, appealed to the Reichstag in Regensburg to restore her son to Lorraine. Leopold was sent to Vienna to receive a military education under the supervision of the Emperor. In Vienna, he grew up with his cousins, the Archdukes Joseph and Charles, both future Emperors. Leopold was also created a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece that year.

In 1697, the Nine Years' War ended with to the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick. The treaty restored the Duchies of Lorraine and Bar to the House of Lorraine. In 1698, Duke Leopold made an triumphant entry into his capital Nancy. He reconstructed and repopulated his war-stricken duchy, encouraging immigration. At the end of his reign the duchy was safe and prosperous.

In his foreign policy, Leopold tried to further good relations with France and to appease his powerful neighbor. To this end, in 1698, Leopold married Elisabeth Charlotte of Orleans, the niece of Louis XIV.

Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (1676-1744), petite-fille de France, Duchess of Lorraine, Bar and Teschen, was a French princess by birth. She was the third daughter of Philippe de France, duc d'Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France, making her a niece of Louis XIV. Her mother, after whom she was named, was Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, a daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine. In 1698 she married Leopold I, Duke of Lorraine and Bar.

Their son, Prince Francis Stephen of Lorraine, later married Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and became Holy Roman Emperor; Francis and Maria Theresa were, in turn, the parents of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Élisabeth Charlotte is an ancestor of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

LINK to portrait of Elizabeth Charlotte of Orleans (from wikipedia)