DECORATION OF THE ARM BAND OF THE CITY OF BORDEAUX, MINIATURE, RESTORATION ERA.
Gold and enamel, fixed crown design, fluted ring, ribbon tied in a bow.
17.5 x 10 mm.
Superb.
France.
Restoration era.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
On February 1, 1814, the Duke of Angoulême, nephew of King Louis XVIII, landed in Spain in Saint-Sebastien, and then went to meet with the Duke of Wellington, who offered him no direct support. He had come to represent Louis XVIII in the southern departments of France.
On March 6, he decided to send troops to Bordeaux, whose strength was too weak to withstand a siege. The royalists pushed the imperial civil and military authorities to leave the city by exaggerating the English threat. On March 12, 1814, Jean-Baptiste Lynch, mayor of Bordeaux, and the companies of the royal guard welcomed General Beresford leading the English troops at Place Nansouty. The Duke of Angoulême also arrived in Bordeaux on the same day. It was the first French city to proclaim the downfall of Napoleon. The Army of the Pyrenees found itself with English forces in its rear.
As a reward for their service, the royal guard received the Decoration of the Lily, and particularly those who were present within its ranks before and during the events of March 12th, also received a new distinction: the Arm Band of Bordeaux. This decoration was created on June 5, 1814, by the Duke of Angoulême and was awarded from July 17 onwards to the infantry of the royal guard as well as to royal volunteers on horseback.
The medal of the Decoration of the Arm Band of Bordeaux
A delegation of royal volunteers, received by the king on September 6, 1814, requested the creation of a decoration. The king approved this request, and thus, on the same day, the Decoration of the Arm Band of Bordeaux was created.
Some authors have referred to the Decoration of the Arm Band of Bordeaux as the Order of the Arm Band of Bordeaux, particularly due to the oath, or rather the sacred commitment to support and defend the cause of the king at the cost of blood and life, taken by the recipients upon accepting this decoration. However, the Arm Band of Bordeaux has never been officially considered an order, but rather a decoration.
Reference :
15075