Hausner Gábor szerk.: A Hadtörténeti Múzeum Értesítője = Acta Musei Militaris in Hungaria. 9. (Budapest, 2007)

KÖZLEMÉNYEK - PALLOS LAJOS: PERPETUUM FIDELITATIS MONUMENTUUM 1748. - A hűség örök emléke. Egy XVIII. századi magyar vonatkozású katonai kitüntetés

ban is. Harmadrészt az érem felirata is beszédes, hiszen hátlapi felirata megnevezi önnön funkcióját: a hűség örök emléke. Mindenesetre a tanulmányban foglaltakat megfelelő kiindulópontnak véljük ahhoz, hogy az országhatáron kívül, elsősorban Bécsben, tovább folytassuk a kutatást az érdemérem ügyében. PERPETUUM FIDELITATIS MONUMENTUUM 1748 - THE ETERNAL MEMENTO OF FIDELITY A HUNGARIAN RELATED MILITARY DECORATION FROM THE 18TH CENTURY In the Collection of Commemorative Medals of the Hungarian National iVIuseum's Coin Cabinet, the author detected a medal, which is suspended from a ribbon, and the special literature considers it to be a military related medal of merit. The obverse of the medal bears the effigy of Queen Maria Theresa and her titles, as well as the sign „R." The reverse shows the double-eagle of the Habsburgs, around which are the words „The Eternal Memento of Fidelity" in Latin and the date „1748." According to the records, the medal was designed by Jacques Roettiers (1698-1772), whose oeuvre catalogue identified it as a token commemorating the Peace of Aachen, which concluded the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748). The same medal, however, is specified as the medal of merit of the Hungarian warriors of the second Silesian War (1744-1745) by Hermann von Heyden's work published in 1897 on German and Austro-Hungarian awards (item No. 960). Heyden incorrectly identified the sign „R." as the initial of a non-existent mint in Hungary; consequently he did not publish the medal as the work of Roettiers. Referring to Heyden, Hungarian special literature regards the medal as an early Hungarian related award. A foreign work cited by the author also takes Heyden's catalogue as its basis, but it names the collection of Giovanni Fattovich as the source of a black-and-white photograph showing a version of the medal. Therefore, the available information is rooted in Heyden's statement, his sources, however, are yet to be explored. In view of the events of the second Silesian War, it is indeed possible that the medal was meant to be an award to acknowledge the merits of the auxiliary troops set up by the Hungarian nobility. The author's hypothesis is remarkable, although it requires further research.