(sold for $43.0)

Mint Year: 1740 Mint Place: Paris References: Feuardent 1624. Denomination: Medal (Jetton) - Order of  the Holy Spirit  Condition: A nicely toned VF+ with numerous circulation-marks!  Diameter: 30mm Weight: 10.2gm Material: Silver

Obverse: Bust of Louis XV right with long hair bound with a band. Designer´s signature (FM) below. Legend: LUD.XV.REX.CHRISTIANISS. Reverse: Illuminated Holy Spirit within the Holy Spirit Order Chain. Date (1740) below. Legend: ORDRE DU SASINT ESPRIT / 1740 ("Order of the Holy Spirit, 1740")

The Order of the Holy Spirit (French: Ordre du Saint-Esprit; sometimes translated into English as the Order of the Holy Ghost), s a French order of chivalry founded by Henry III of France in 1578. Today, it is a dynastic order under the House of France. It should not be confused with the Congregation of the Holy Ghost or with the religious Order of the Holy Ghost. It was the senior chivalric order of France by precedence, although not by age, since the Order of Saint Michael was established more than a century earlier. Although officially abolished by the government authorities in 1830 following the July Revolution, its activities carried on. It is still recognised by the International Commission on Orders of Chivalry.

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Louis XV (Versailles, 15 February 1710 – Versailles, 10 May 1774) ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death on 10 May 1774. Coming to the throne at the age of five, Louis reigned until 15 February 1723, the date of his thirteenth birthday, with the aid of the Régent, Philippe, duc d'Orléans, his great-uncle, thereafter taking formal personal control of government.

Unexpectedly surviving the death of most of the royal family, he enjoyed a favourable reputation at the beginning of his reign and earned the epithet "le Bien-Aimé" ("the Beloved"). However, in time, his lack of morals, general inability to effectively reform France and the Monarchy, and the perceived failings of his foreign policy lost him the affection of his people, and he ended his life amongst the most unpopular kings of France.

While historians have traditionally treated Louis XV harshly, more recent research has suggested that he was in fact very intelligent and dedicated to the task of ruling the largest state in Europe, bar Russia. His nagging indecision, fueled by his awareness of the complexity of problems ahead, as well as his profound timidity, hidden behind the mask of an imperious king, may account for the poor results achieved during his reign. In many ways, Louis XV prefigures the "bourgeois rulers" of the romantic 19th century. While dutifully playing the role of the mighty king carved out by his predecessor and great-grandfather, Louis XIV, Louis XV in fact cherished nothing more than his private life far away from the pomp and ceremony of Court. Having lost his mother while still little more than an infant, he longed for a reassuring and motherly presence, which he tried to find in the intimate company of women, something for which he was much criticized both during and after his life.

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