Colonial Acres Coins
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1849 Restoration of Pope Pius IX Papal Medal
1849 Restoration of Pope Pius IX Papal Medal
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1849 Restoration of Pope Pius IX Papal Medal
This is an interesting little slice of Italian history. 1848 saw revolutionary movements sweep across Europe, and Italy was no exception. As public disorder grew, the relatively liberal Pope Pius IX was forced to flee Rome in the guise of a regular priest, leaving the Papal States to rebels who dubbed it the Second Roman Republic (after the Classical Roman Republic, which preceded the Roman Empire). As churches were plundered and holy sites desecrated, Pius ran south to the city of Gaeta in the sympathetic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He remained there for a year in exile while the revolutionary spirit burned itself out in Rome and the Papal States were recaptured with the help of France. On his journey back to Rome in 1849, Pius paused in the port city of Civitavecchia. This made a trip with three points: Gaeta, Civitavecchia, and, finally, Rome, where Papal authority was restored.
This return trip is what this copper papal medal from 1849 is celebrating. The return of Pope Pius IX from his short exile was important to Catholics, who, in the midst of the upheaval of 1848, weren't sure that the seat of their faith would be restored at all. The obverse displays a left-facing bust of the Pope, while the reverse reads "Gaeta, Civita-Vecchia, Rome, 1849."
This is an interesting little slice of Italian history. 1848 saw revolutionary movements sweep across Europe, and Italy was no exception. As public disorder grew, the relatively liberal Pope Pius IX was forced to flee Rome in the guise of a regular priest, leaving the Papal States to rebels who dubbed it the Second Roman Republic (after the Classical Roman Republic, which preceded the Roman Empire). As churches were plundered and holy sites desecrated, Pius ran south to the city of Gaeta in the sympathetic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He remained there for a year in exile while the revolutionary spirit burned itself out in Rome and the Papal States were recaptured with the help of France. On his journey back to Rome in 1849, Pius paused in the port city of Civitavecchia. This made a trip with three points: Gaeta, Civitavecchia, and, finally, Rome, where Papal authority was restored.
This return trip is what this copper papal medal from 1849 is celebrating. The return of Pope Pius IX from his short exile was important to Catholics, who, in the midst of the upheaval of 1848, weren't sure that the seat of their faith would be restored at all. The obverse displays a left-facing bust of the Pope, while the reverse reads "Gaeta, Civita-Vecchia, Rome, 1849."
