Isaac Newton was behind Queen Anne coronation medal, secret sketchbook at Kew shows
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
Medal design could explain why Newton was knighted, say literary historians
© Trustees of the British MuseumFreely given away to crowds watching the crowning ceremony, the small metallic tokens were thought to have been designed by the court painter of the day, Sir Godfrey Kneller. But the newly-discovered notes reflect the design of the medals and suggest a political message from Newton, who was Master of the Mint when Anne came to power.
“The medal’s design shows Anne as the goddess Athena striking down a double-headed monster,” says Joseph Hone, who is embarking on a three-year examination of the writing printed at moments of national royal succession between the start of the 17th and 18th centuries.
“Earlier scholars assumed this represented domestic faction. But Newton explains in his notes that he was referring to the double Catholic threat posed by Louis XIV of France and James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender with a rival claim to the throne.
Anne with her son Prince William, Duke of Gloucester in a painting from the school of Sir Godfrey Kneller (circa 1694)“But designing medals was usually the job of lesser Mint employees. Thanks to these documents we now know that Newton designed medals himself.
“Moreover, he used his extensive knowledge of mythology and symbolism in his medals.”
Professor Paulina Kewes, of Oxford University's English Faculty, says the discovery is “really exciting”.
“Literature produced around the time of royal successions of the Stuart reign has been largely neglected,” she believes.
Isaac Newton (Bolton, Sarah K, Famous Men of Science. NY: Thomas Y Crowell & Co, 1889)© Wikimedia Commons, from the book The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England by David Williamson“The notes and sketches for this medal give us an insight into the politics surrounding Anne’s succession and Isaac Newton’s surprising role in them.”
Newton was subsequently knighted in 1705.
“Historians have previously put this down to party politics and Newton's campaign to become MP for Cambridge,” says Hone.
“But his role in designing medals for Queen Anne might have played a part, too.”
What do you think? Leave a comment below.
More from Culture24's Royal History section:
Henry VIII portrait and bed of his parents revealed in new Tudor display at Hever Castle
Charter reveals how Richard III planned to make Scarborough an independent county
Archaeologists open coffin of elderly woman found near Richard III's grave in Leicester friary
