(sold for $179.0)

1728, Prince-Bishopric of Osnabruck (Lower Saxony). Silver Sede-Vacante Medal.R!

Mint Year: 1728 Engraver: P. Werner Denomination: Medal References: Kennepohl 381a; Zepernick 235 Mint Place: Osnabruck (Lower-Saxony, Germany) Condition: A small drilling hole on edge at 12 o'clock (the medal was probably attached to a loop, which was later removed), possibly cleaned in the past, otherwise a nice VF-XF! Weight: 32.13gm Diameter: 46mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Crowned nimbate bust of Charles "the Great" (also known as Charlemagne), holding sword and cross-topped orb. Legend and date around, eleven shields and names of canons around. Legend: SEDE . VACANTE . 1728 . S . CAROL . M . FVN . Comment: Engraver´s initials (P-W) ner rim below.

Reverse: Crowned facing bust Saint Peter, holding large key. Eleven shields and names of canons around. Legend: CAPIT . CATHE . OSNAB . S PETRVS . PATR .

Sede vacante is an expression, used in the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, that refers to the vacancy of the episcopal see (the official seat of a bishop) of a particular church. It is Latin for "the seat being vacant" (the ablative absolute to sedes vacans "vacant seat"), that is, the cathedra of the particular church.

The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück was a prince-bishopric centered on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück. The diocese was erected in 772 and is the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony.

The temporal possessions of the see, originally quite limited, grew in time, and its prince-bishops exercised an extensive civil jurisdiction within the territory covered by their rights of immunity. The Prince-Bishopric continued to grow in size, making its status during the Reformation a highly contentious issue.

In the German Mediatisation of 1803, the Bishopric was dissolved and given to the Hanover branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the see, the chapter, the convents and the Catholic charitable institutions were finally secularized. The territory of the see passed to Prussia in 1806, to the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, to Napoleonic France in 1810, and again to Hanover in 1814. Klemens von Gruben, titular Bishop of Paros, was made vicar Apostolic, and as such cared for the spiritual interests of the Catholic population.

The Diocese was reerected in 1824, but henceforth the Bishop would no longer wield any temporal power.

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