Silver medal Famous brides - Kateřina z Poděbrad stand
Silver medal Famous brides - Kateřina z Poděbrad stand
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
Famous brides
The five-part series of the Czech Mint called Famous Brides tells the story of noble Czech women who were married in foreign countries. Katherine of Poděbrady is the last to appear on silver medals embellished with patina.
The second-born daughter of King George of Poděbrady named Katherine became the object of her father's marriage policy at the age of nine. At the time, the potential king of Hungary - the fifteen-year-old Matthias Corvinus - was in formal imprisonment at the Prague court, and so George arranged their union. When Matthias was actually elected king, his value as a groom and potential increased. However, political conflicts in central Europe continued to postpone the wedding. When Catherine of Poděbrady finally became Queen of Hungary and Croatia, she had only three years to live. She died at only fourteen, after giving birth to a stillborn child, and was buried in the Church of St. Sigismund. She is said to have been the only woman Matthias truly loved. After her death, Czech-Hungarian relations eventually turned into open hostility. King Matthias Corvinus did remarry, but even his second wife did not give him the heir he desired…
"The historical portrait of Katherine of Poděbrady has not been preserved, but it was partly inspired by the painted portrait of her mother. There is also a likeness of Catherine's twin sister. The space to the left of the face is filled with her husband's crown and also a raven with a ring in its beak. It is one of the heraldic figures in Matthias' family coat of arms and also refers to the king's middle name, which translates as raven," explains the author of the medal and history lover, academic sculptor Michal Vitanovský. The inscription on the obverse side gives the name and the years of the Queen's life: KATEŘINA Z PODĚBRAD, 1449–1464 . The reverse side of the medal presents a linear figure of King Matthias Corvinus and a medieval veduta of Budin, above which is the city's coat of arms. Next to the name of the city on the reverse side, you will also find the name of the king and the year of his marriage: BUDÍN 1461, MATYÁŠ KORVÍN.
The medal includes a special appendix which, in the words of Michal Vitanovský, introduces Catherine's life and the details of the medal's relief.