Inhuldiging van Frans II, Duits keizer als graaf van Namen 1792

This medal, made by an anonymous artist, commemorates the inauguration of Francis II as Count of Namur. Consider the history embedded in this small, weighty object. Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, is celebrated here as Count of Namur, a region now part of Belgium. This medal speaks to the fractured and layered identities within the Holy Roman Empire. The iconography is telling: On one side, a classical profile of Francis, embodying power and authority. The reverse shows a crowned coat of arms. These symbols reinforced the established hierarchical structures of the time. What did it mean to be a ruler, and what did it demand? The medal highlights the performance of power, the symbolic representations of authority, and the complex web of regional identities within larger empires. It speaks of how objects like these played a part in constructing and maintaining a sense of order and allegiance.