Miniature circular bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the Arms of the Holy See within a circular laurel wreath circumscribed ‘SEDES APOSTOLICA ROMANA’; the reverse inscribed ‘PIUS IX PONT. MAX. ROMAE RESTITVTVS CATHOLICIS ARMIS COLLATIS AN MDCCCXLIX’; diameter 16.46mm (0.65 inch); on possibly original correct ribbon. The medal was created by Pope Pius IX to reward the 9,000 French troops under General Oudinot who restored Rome to him. In February 1849, a revolutionary mob led by Garibaldi and Mazzini seized power in Rome and proclaimed a Roman Republic. The Pope slipped out of Rome and called upon Catholic states to intervene. First was France whose Expeditionary Force arrived on 20 April 1849 and was promptly hurled back into the sea. The French were surprised by the strength of resistance and besieged Rome throughout June and restored Rome to the Papacy in July. It was not until 1870 that Rome, with the exception of the Vatican City, was incorporated into a newly-united Italy. The medal is rare in miniature.
|