Maria Klementyna - granddaughter of King John III

Maria Klementyna was born in 1701 in Olawa, Silesia, an estate bequeathed by Emperor Leopold I to King John III's son, Prince James and his wife Hedwig Elisabeth Amalia Pfalz-Neuburg. Three queens were born at the local court and grew to adulthood - Maria Kazimiera, Maria Karolina and the youngest and, according to surviving accounts, the one most loved by Prince James - Maria Klementina. The biography of each of the sisters was marked by complicated turns of fate. Of the three, it was Mary Clementine who had the chance for the most harmonious and successful life, politically and personally, thanks to her promising marriage to the pretender to the throne of England and Scotland, James III Stuart (1688-1766).

Marriage against all odds

In 1717, a Stuart envoy, Charles Wogan, arrived at the Sobieski court in Olawa with the delicate mission of discerning a candidate for a wife for his lord. Contrary to the custom, whereby it is the eldest daughter who is the object of a courtship bid, it was the youngest of the sisters, Maria Clementina, who captivated both the Stuart envoy and, through accounts sent to Rome, the pretender himself. This is what Wogan wrote of her: '[T]he last of ye daughters who is the darling of the family by the advantage [s]he has over the others in point of sense, discretion, evenness of temper and a very becoming modesty'. The royal's parents, James and Jadwiga Elisabeth, as well as the subject herself, enthusiastically accepted the proposal. However, the marriage proposal between the Stuart in exile in Rome and the granddaughter of King John III, who was well connected to many of the ruling houses of Europe, met with strong opposition from the courts in London and Vienna. England's reigning Protestant King George I, fearing that James's marriage would strengthen his chances of regaining the throne - politically and economically, pressured Emperor Charles VI to prevent the union. What happened next is commemorated by an interesting object.

Escape

A memento documenting an extraordinary episode in the life of Marie Clementine, in which the royal showed strong spirit, courage and determination, is a medal. It was minted at the behest of Pope Clement XI (1649-1721) and commemorates Maria Clementina's journey to Rome to join in the sacrament of marriage with James III.

Due to the Emperor's lack of favour and approval, the decision to travel to Italy to meet her future spouse was fraught with risk. Nevertheless, in September 1718, Marie Clementine left the family home with her mother and a small court, heading south. The stated reason for their peregrination was the wish to visit the shrine at Loreto.

In October, while passing through Innsbruck, Maria Clementine and her travelling companions were detained and imprisoned as prisoners at Ambras Castle. This was on the orders of Emperor Charles VI, to whom the Sobieskis - because of their Olawa household - were subjects. It was he who should approve the royal's plan to marry a Stuart, and, as is well known, he was hostile to him.

On 27 April 1719, Mary Clementine escaped in the garb of a courtesan from imperial captivity and made her way, assisted by Jacobite envoys, towards the border of the Empire and Italy. Her escape was discovered late enough that the fugitive was already in territory outside imperial jurisdiction.

Medal (for bravery)

On the obverse of the medal that documents these events is rendered in profile a bust of a young, beautiful woman wearing her hair up high, some of which flows loosely in locks down her back. Her features are regular and her exposed neck adorned with a string of pearls is slim. The portrait of the sitter is shown wearing a dress with a deep neckline decorated with a row of stones, over which a cloak lined with ermine is superimposed. In the rim is an inscription written in majuscule: CLEMENTINA.M[agna].BRITAN[niae].FR[anciae].ET.HIB[erniae].REGINA.

On the reverse is stamped a symbolic scene of Marie Clementine's escape and her arrival in Rome.

In the foreground, a biga harnessed with two horses, driven by a woman, is shown. The way in which the movement of the horses is rendered suggests that this is a fast ride, bespoke to the escape. Behind the biga is a forested landscape, with the sea visible beyond contrasted. Francesca Ceci, author of the text discussing the medal, writes that this woodland view is an allusion to the landscape of Austria, the place of captivity from which the royal escaped by heading for the Italian peninsula. On the left, the destination of her journey is rendered - these are the city edifices, among which we recognise the Colosseum and Trajan's Column. In the same direction is the ship, which symbolises the return to Rome of James Stuart after his unsuccessful attempt to incite a Jacobite uprising from Spain (1719). Thus, the small composition clearly expresses that it is in Rome - against the odds - that the future spouses will be able to meet and, in accordance with their will and that of the Pope, be joined by the knot of marriage. Inscription stamped on the medal at the top, near the rim: FOTUNAM CAUSAMQUE SEQUOR, we can translate as: "I follow Fortune and my cause", the second inscription stamped below the scene: DECEPTIS CVSTODIBVS / MDCCXIX as the Guardians were deceived / 1719. A minor but telling component of the scene is the figure of a winged cupid who accompanies Marie Clementine, making an allusion to the motives that guided her during her escape. Another interesting addition is the shield with the Sobieski family coat of arms, Janina, shown under the royal crown, adorning the wall of the crest.

At the bottom of the obverse there is information about the maker of the medal: OTTO HAMERANI F[ecit]. He was a medallist who came from a famous family of artists specialising in medals, active in Rome for almost two centuries. Ottone (1694-1768) created on commission for three popes, Clement XII, Benedict XIV and Clement XIII, together with his brother, Ermenegild, holding the position of guardian of the papal mint. Among his important patrons was James III Stuart. Ottone is also the author of the medal commemorating his marriage to Mary Clementine, or the medals showing their sons Charles Edgar (1720-1788) and Henry Benedict (1725-1807).

The medal celebrating Marie Clementine's escape from Innsbruck was struck in various materials - copies made of gold, silver and bronze have survived. According to contemporary accounts, it was a very popular and readily acquired numismatic coin. Maria Clementine became a popular resident of Rome and a participant in its social and cultural life soon after her arrival.