Belgian Seal Matrice, Barony of Petit-Rechain, Commemorating the Libotte–Hamal Marriage & Elevation

1760

€ 350.00 VAT margin scheme

Article code: 26-1719

Bronze seal matrice commemorating the elevation of the Barony in the locality of Petit-Rechain (in present-day Belgium) on 23 Januari 1760 and the marriage of Baron Henri Frederic de Libotte and Countess Marie-Marguerite de Hamal in July 1759.

The full text on the seal:

BARONIA PARVA RECHAIN ERECTA EST 28 JAN 1760 A B. HENRICO FREDERICO BARONE DE LIBOTTE DESPONSATO M. MARGARITÆ COMITISSÆ DE HAMAL 1759

Diameter: ± 61,7 mm
Very good condition, with well-preserved details and the inscription fully legible.

The Barony of Rechain was established on 28 January 1760 by Baron Henri Frederic de Libotte who married to Countess Marie-Marguerite de Hamal in 1759. This seal served as a tangible assertion of the newly formalised baronial status of Petit-Rechain and of the seigneurial judicial authority held by Henri-Frédéric de Libotte.

Quantity

Petit-Rechain was not just a village, but a seigneurial jurisdiction. The seigneury of Petit-Rechain is documented with high, middle and low justice from at least the 16th century. That means the lord had judicial authority, not merely landownership.

Henri-Frédéric de Libotte belonged to a recently elevated noble line. His father, Jacques de Libotte, lord of Petit-Rechain, received the title of Baron by letters patent in 1744. A later nobiliary source records Henri, Baron de Libotte and Seigneur of Petit-Rechain, receiving heraldic honours including banners and a count’s coronet in 1756.

Marie-Marguerite de Hamal came from the old noble Hamal / Looz-Hamal family, described in heraldic sources as an ancient and important house connected with the counts of Looz. The Libotte–Hamal marriage was not just personal; it strengthened the prestige and noble alliances of the Petit-Rechain lordship.