(sold for $37.0)

1643, Royal France, Louis XIII. Silver 10 Sols (1/12 Ecu). Paris min. aVF!

Mint year: 1643
Mint Place: Paris (A)
References: KM-132.1. (rose) R!
Denomination: 10 Sols (1/12 Ecu)
Condition: Dark oxidation spots in obverse, harshly cleaned, otherwise about VF!
Diameter: 20mm
Material: Silver
Weight: 2.18gm

Obverse: Laureated and draped bust of of Louis XIII "the Just" right.
Legend: LVD.XIII.D.G. - FR.ET.NAV.REX

Reverse: Crpwmed royal shield with three fleur du lis symbols inside.
Legend: SIT.NOMEN.DOMINI (A) BENEDICTVM . 1643 (rose)

Louis XIII (27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643. Along with his First Minister Cardinal Richelieu, Louis "the Just" is remembered for the establishment of the Académie française and participation in the Thirty Years' War against the House of Habsburg. France's greatest victory in the war came at the Battle of Rocroi, five days after Louis' death—apparently from complications of intestinal tuberculosis, "marking the end of Spain's military ascendancy in Europe."

Born at the Château de Fontainebleau, Louis XIII was the eldest child of Henry IV of France (1589–1610) and Marie de' Medici (1575–1642). As son of the King, he was a Fils de France, and as the eldest son, the Dauphin. His father was the first Bourbon King of France, having succeeded his ninth cousin, Henry III of France (1574–1589), in application of Salic law. Louis XIII's paternal grandparents were Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme and Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre; his maternal grandparents were Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Johanna, archduchess of Austria, and Eleonora de' Medici, his maternal aunt, was his godmother.

Louis XIII ascended to the throne in 1610, at the age of eight-and-a-half, upon the assassination of his father. His mother, Marie de' Medici, acted as Regent until Louis XIII came of age at thirteen. Marie maintained most of her husband's ministers, with the exception of Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully, who was unpopular in the country. She mainly relied on Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy, Noël Brûlart de Sillery, and Pierre Jeannin. Marie pursued a moderate policy, confirming the Edict of Nantes. She was not, however, able to prevent rebellion by nobles like Henry II de Bourbon, prince de Condé, the next-in-line to the throne. Condé did squabble with Marie in 1614, briefly raising an army, but he received little support, and Marie was able to raise her own army. Nevertheless, Marie agreed to call an Estates General assembly to address Condé's grievances.

This Estates General assembly was delayed until Louis XIII formally came of age on his thirteenth birthday. Although Louis's coming-of-age formally ended Marie's Regency, she remained the de facto ruler of France. The Estates General accomplished little, spending its time discussing the relationship of France to the Papacy and the venality of offices, but not reaching any resolutions.

Beginning in 1615, Marie came to rely increasingly on Concino Concini, who now assumed the role of her favourite. Concini was widely unpopular because he was an Italian, and therefore a foreigner. This further antagonised Condé, who launched another rebellion in 1616. Huguenot leaders supported Condé's rebellion, which led the young Louis XIII to conclude that they would never be loyal subjects. Eventually, Condé and Queen Marie made peace via the Treaty of Loudun, which allowed Condé great power in government, but didn't remove Concini. With growing dissatisfaction from nobles due to Concini's position, Queen Marie, with Louis' help, imprisoned Condé to protect Concini, leading to renewed revolts against the Queen and Concini.

In the meantime, Charles d'Albert, the Grand Falconer of France, convinced Louis XIII that he should break with his mother and support the rebels. Louis thus organised a palace coup d'état. As a result, Concino Concini was assassinated (24 April 1617) and Marie was sent into exile in Blois. Louis created Charles d'Albert, his new favourite, the first duke of Luynes.

Luynes soon became as unpopular as Concini had been. Other nobles resented what they saw as Luynes's monopolisation of the King. Luynes was seen as not as competent as Henry IV's ministers, who had surrounded Marie de' Medici, and who were now dying off.

The Thirty Years' War broke out in 1618. The French Court was initially unsure what side to support. On the one hand, France's traditional rivalry with the House of Habsburg argued in favour of intervening on behalf of the Protestant powers (and Louis's father Henry IV of France was once a Huguenot leader). On the other hand, Louis XIII had had a strict religious Catholic upbringing, and his natural inclination was therefore to support the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II.

The French nobles were further antagonised against Luynes by the 1618 revocation of the paulette tax and by the sale of offices in 1620. From her exile in Blois, Marie de' Medici became the obvious rallying point for this discontent, and the bishop of Luçon was allowed to act as her chief adviser, serving as a go-between to Marie and the King.

French nobles launched a rebellion in 1620, but their forces were easily routed by royal forces at Les Ponts-de-Cé in August 1620. Louis then launched an expedition against the Huguenots of Béarn who had defied a number of Royal decisions. This expedition managed to re-establish Catholicism in Béarn. However, the Béarn expedition drove Huguenots in other provinces into a rebellion led by Henri, duc de Rohan.

In 1621, Louis XIII was formally reconciled with his mother. Luynes was created Constable of France and Louis and Luynes set out to quell the Huguenot rebellion. The siege at the Huguenot stronghold of Montauban had to be abandoned after three months, owing to the large number of Royal troops who had succumbed to camp fever. One of the victims of camp fever was Luynes, who died in December 1621.

Following the death of Luynes, Louis determined that he would rule by council. His mother returned from exile and, in 1622, entered this council where Henry II de Bourbon, prince de Condé recommended violent suppression of the Huguenots. The 1622 campaign, however, followed the pattern of the previous year: Royal forces won some early victories, but were unable to complete a siege, this time at the fortress of Montpellier.

The rebellion was ended by the Treaty of Montpellier, signed by Louis XIII and Henri, duc de Rohan in October 1622. The treaty confirmed the tenets of the Edict of Nantes: several Huguenot fortresses were to be razed, but the Huguenots retained control of Montauban and La Rochelle.

Louis ultimately dismissed Noël Brûlart de Sillery and Pierre Brulart, vicomte de Puisieux in 1624 because of his displeasure with how they handled the diplomatic situation over the Valtellina with Spain. Valtellina was an area with Catholic inhabitants under the suzerainty of the Protestant Three Leagues. It served as an important route to Italy for France and also it provided an easy connection between the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburg Kingdoms, especially in helping each others with armies if necessary. Spain was constantly interfering in the Valtellina, which angered Louis as he wanted to hold possession of this strategically important passageway. (At these years the French Kingdom was literally surrounded by the Habsburgs as they were the Kings of Spain and Austria. As a plus these empires included the territories of today's Belgium, the Netherlands, parts of Germany and Northern Italy.)

Cardinal Richelieu played a major role in Louis XIII's administration from 1624, decisively shaping the destiny of France for the next eighteen years. As a result of Richelieu's work, Louis XIII became one of the first examples of an absolute monarch. Under Louis and Richelieu, the crown successfully intervened in the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburgs, managed to keep the French nobility in line, and retracted the political and military privileges granted to the Huguenots by Henry IV (while maintaining their religious freedoms). In addition, Louis had the port of Le Havre modernised, and he built a powerful navy.

Unfortunately, time and circumstances never permitted the King and the Cardinal to attend to the administrative reforms (particularly of France's tax system) which were urgently needed.

Louis also worked to reverse the trend of promising French artists leaving for Italy to work and study. He commissioned the painters Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne to decorate the Louvre. In foreign matters, Louis organised the development and administration of New France, expanding its settlements westward along the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City to Montreal.

On two occasions the King's younger brother, Gaston, Duke of Orléans had to leave France for conspiring against the King's government, and for attempting to undermine the influence of both his mother and of Cardinal Richelieu. After waging an unsuccessful war in Languedoc, he took refuge in Flanders. In 1643, on the death of Louis XIII, Gaston became lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and fought against Spain on the northern frontiers of France.

On 24 November 1615, Louis XIII married Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip III of Spain. This marriage followed a tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with Royal marriages. The tradition went back to the marriage of Philip II of Spain with the French Princess, Elisabeth of Valois. The marriage was only briefly happy, and the King's duties often kept them apart. After twenty-three years of marriage and four miscarriages, Anne finally gave birth to a son in 1638, the future Louis XIV.

Many[who?] regarded this birth as a divine miracle and, in show of gratitude to God for the long-awaited birth of an heir, his parents named him Louis-Dieudonné ("God-given"). As another sign of gratitude, according to several interpretations, seven months before his birth, France was dedicated by Louis XIII to the Virgin Mary, who, many believed, had interceded for the perceived miracle. However, the text of the dedication does not mention the royal pregnancy and birth as one of its reasons. Also, Louis XIII himself is said to have expressed his scepticism with regards to the miracle after his son's birth.