The Bishopric of Vienne around the year 1000

[seth77]

This post is a re-post from CT and also somewhat connected with an earlier post I made here on the pitfalls of Carolingian vs Feudal coinage, see here.

The coinage of Vienne is usually very common. The earlier coinage, the grand deniers are scarcer.

But this grand denier, minted most likely under Thibaut as Sire and Bishop is extremely rare.

Thibaut came from the royal family of Burgundy and ruled Vienne from cca. 957 to his death in 1001. His coinage is usually nominal, but this issue is anonymous. Poey d'Avant considers these coins (#4818 and #4819) later than the ones bearing the bishop's name, on account of their lower weight and "feudal" style, so they likely date to around 1000.

AR21x19mm 1g silver grand denier, minted at Vienne cca. 1000.
+ VIENNA CV; cross
+ SCI MAVRIC ⠂ ; dot in middle of plain field.
Poey d'Avant #4818 Pl. CVI 7, not in Boudeau.

 

Another example was recorded by M. Morin and Poey d'Avant, described in Poey d'Avant's work (Pl. CVI 7), and was in the collection of the Grenoble Museum, while another was sold privately in France in the summer of 2019.

Possibly, the plain field with the dot in the middle was inspired by the silver Fatimid half dirham of the mid 10th century, something similar to this coin of al-Mu'izz al-Din Allah of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt.

The plain field with no design is not unique to Vienne at this particularly interesting time in history -- the beginning of the feudal organization in Western Europe -- a similar and also very rare grand denier, also dated to around 1000, was minted by the Bishopric of Langres. This is one of those series that require more specimens and research. Plus, they raise some questions about the use of (or at least familiarity with) Fatimid silver to around Vienne.

 

[Romismatist]

Not sure what the dot signifies, but it has been used on other coins of this era. I recently acquired an example with the same reverse motif, minted in Luneberg, Germany by Bernhard I of Saxony from 973 - 1011 AD (some say it may have been Bernhard II - 1011 - 1059 AD). These coins are typically roughly struck, as mine is.

I know that imitations also circulated in Frisia (Dannenberg 1299b) - see the third picture (not my coin).

Could it be that the pellet motif was inspired by your coin or the other way around?

Obv: "+ BERNARDVS" pellet

Rev: "NOMNE DOMO" cross

Dannenberg 589 / 589a

Edited August 21, 2022 by Romismatist

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Pretty cool! 

[seth77]

8 hours ago, Romismatist said:

Not sure what the dot signifies, but it has been used on other coins of this era. I recently acquired an example with the same reverse motif, minted in Luneberg, Germany by Bernhard I of Saxony from 973 - 1011 AD (some say it may have been Bernhard II - 1011 - 1059 AD). These coins are typically roughly struck, as mine is.

I know that imitations also circulated in Frisia (Dannenberg 1299b) - see the third picture (not my coin).

Could it be that the pellet motif was inspired by your coin or the other way around?

Obv: "+ BERNARDVS" pellet

Rev: "NOMNE DOMO" cross

Dannenberg 589 / 589a

Being unfamiliar with much of German coinage at this point, I did not know about this type, which is certainly very interesting and relevant. The peck marks are indications that it circulated also in the Scandinavian-Baltic realms. This possibility may add a further clue about the Fatimid silver coinage: the people who used these coins and probably the people who minted them were familiar with Fatimid silver (I'll add a reference for this from Spufford when I get to my laptop). But Vienne and Langres were further south and most importantly not really in the way of viking ecroachment. I think in this case the connection might have been to the Mediterranean trade. 

This is a theme certainly worthy of further research.

[seth77]

I had to look for a Bernhard II Billung like the one @Romismatist posted and found one from Poland:

Bernhard II Billung as Duke of Saxony (1011-1059)
AR17mm, 1.26g, silver pfennig, minted at Luneburg, ca. 1018/20-1030.
[+ IN NOMI]NE D[NI]; dot in middle field
[BE]RNHAR[DX]; crosslet
Dannenberg 589a

 

These coins are very different from the Vienne emission above in both workmanship and overall look, even if the device in the field is similar (now apart from the Fatimid silver that might have reached the Dauphine region spilling over from the Mediterranean commerce for the Vienne spec and the Viking trade routes and connections to the Middle East and North Africa for the Saxon spec, I wonder if the latter emission wasn't also influenced to some extent by the sceattas from the earlier period, I have seen a lot of them lately here on NumisForums, see here).

This is the first type minted for Bernhard II as Duke of Saxony, probably in Luneburg (with a possibility of Bardowick also minting these) -- possibly why the type does not have the minting city in the legend. In the Scandinavian trade (Sweden hoards, see Julia Hahn p. 8 ) the type arrives ca. 1018 at the earliest or better yet 1020. With a possible lag, that had been observed for the period 1005-1015 when less German coin in general entered the Scandinavian markets, the type might be earlier, but Julia Hahn gives a main period when the type was certainly in use as ca. 1020-30 (p. 12).

The death of Otto III in 1002 takes the Billungs out of the inner circle of the Holy Roman Emperor, which in turn puts some distance between the local lords and the Duke of Saxony and the Emperor, a process that translates into more autonomy and self-reliance by the Billung dukes. This move towards separation and local autonomy is also seen in the local coinage, that starts becoming more and more nominal for the duke, while the immobilized coinage for Otto III (and Adelheid) migrates more and more to East ('Wenden" and outside the actual realm of both the Holy Roman Emperor and the Billung dukes).

This transition period is perhaps at the center of the decreased German coinage entering the 'Viking' North from Saxony after 1005 and a return to some consistency with the coinage of Bernhard II ca. 1018-1020. Apart from the hoards used by Julia Hahn (Luneburg zugeschriebene wikingerzeitliche Munzen in schwedischen Hortfunden, Arkeologi II VT 2010), Peter Berghaus & Hendrik Makeler (Deutsche Munzen der Wikingerzeit, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 307 p. 72) note just one specimen of the type, and that is fragmentary and possibly an imitation. This specimen has plenty 'peck marks' showing that it was heavily circulated in the 'Viking' trade, from Scandinavia to the Baltic shores.

This (and possibly @Romismatist's spec) is probably a Baltic shore find, while the Frisian(?) contemporary copies show without doubt that the eastern Saxon coinage (even the lesser baronial mintings) was used to the north-west also. On the other hand the coinage of Dauphine has in general an almost opposite European circulation cycle -- towards the Mediterranean trade and Burgundy at its utmost north. But the emission from OP seems to have been so small that it likely did not leave any mark on the inter-regional trade at all, very unlike the coinage of East Saxony which was one of the main trade means from Scandinavia to the 'Wenden' in northern Poland and the Baltic area.

Edited October 11, 2022 by seth77

[Edessa]

Germany, Saxony. Holy Roman Empire. Otto III, AD 983-1002. AR Pfennig (20mm, 1.35g, 7h). Otto-Adelheid type, Royal mint at Goslar. Obv: +D.IG[RA+R]E.X; Cross potent with O-D-D-O in angles. Rev: [+A]TEA[HLHT]; Church tower; omega to left, alpha to right. Ref: Hatz Type III, 7; Dannenburg 1167. With peck marks.

[JeandAcre]

17 hours ago, seth77 said:

I had to look for a Bernhard II Billung like the one @Romismatist posted and found one from Poland:

Bernhard II Billung as Duke of Saxony (1011-1059)
AR17mm, 1.26g, silver pfennig, minted at Luneburg, ca. 1018/20-1030.
[+ IN NOMI]NE D[NI]; dot in middle field
[BE]RNHAR[DX]; crosslet
Dannenberg 589a

 

These coins are very different from the Vienne emission above in both workmanship and overall look, even if the device in the field is similar (now apart from the Fatimid silver that might have reached the Dauphine region spilling over from the Mediterranean commerce for the Vienne spec and the Viking trade routes and connections to the Middle East and North Africa for the Saxon spec, I wonder if the latter emission wasn't also influenced to some extent by the sceattas from the earlier period, I have seen a lot of them lately here on NumisForums, see here).

This is the first type minted for Bernhard II as Duke of Saxony, probably in Luneburg (with a possibility of Bardowick also minting these) -- possibly why the type does not have the minting city in the legend. In the Scandinavian trade (Sweden hoards, see Julia Hahn p. 8 ) the type arrives ca. 1018 at the earliest or better yet 1020. With a possible lag, that had been observed for the period 1005-1015 when less German coin in general entered the Scandinavian markets, the type might be earlier, but Julia Hahn gives a main period when the type was certainly in use as ca. 1020-30 (p. 12).

The death of Otto III in 1002 takes the Billungs out of the inner circle of the Holy Roman Emperor, which in turn puts some distance between the local lords and the Duke of Saxony and the Emperor, a process that translates into more autonomy and self-reliance by the Billung dukes. This move towards separation and local autonomy is also seen in the local coinage, that starts becoming more and more nominal for the duke, while the immobilized coinage for Otto III (and Adelheid) migrates more and more to East ('Wenden" and outside the actual realm of both the Holy Roman Emperor and the Billung dukes).

This transition period is perhaps at the center of the decreased German coinage entering the 'Viking' North from Saxony after 1005 and a return to some consistency with the coinage of Bernhard II ca. 1018-1020. Apart from the hoards used by Julia Hahn (Luneburg zugeschriebene wikingerzeitliche Munzen in schwedischen Hortfunden, Arkeologi II VT 2010), Peter Berghaus & Hendrik Makeler (Deutsche Munzen der Wikingerzeit, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 307 p. 72) note just one specimen of the type, and that is fragmentary and possibly an imitation. This specimen has plenty 'peck marks' showing that it was heavily circulated in the 'Viking' trade, from Scandinavia to the Baltic shores.

This (and possibly @Romismatist's spec) is probably a Baltic shore find, while the Frisian(?) contemporary copies show without doubt that the eastern Saxon coinage (even the lesser baronial mintings) was used to the north-west also. On the other hand the coinage of Dauphine has in general an almost opposite European circulation cycle -- towards the Mediterranean trade and Burgundy at its utmost north. But the emission from OP seems to have been so small that it likely did not leave any mark on the inter-regional trade at all, very unlike the coinage of East Saxony which was one of the main trade means from Scandinavia to the 'Wenden' in northern Poland and the Baltic area.

Terrific integration of the numismatic and historical dimensions, as always, @seth77.

...I knew I'd done an OP on the Billungs, and eventually found it in the old forum.  Since my numismatic acumen doesn't hold a candle to yours, I focused on the history, as is my wont.  https://www.cointalk.com/threads/billung-dukes-of-saxony-feudal-coins-from-10th-11th-century-germany-and-frisia.383062/

None of my examples have the dot motif, but two have similar legends to yours and @Romismatist's.  (--Somebody needs to coach me on how to upload in smaller formats!)

Bernhard I, denar of Bardowick, or possibly Lüneburg or Jever.
Obv. Profile; BERNHARDVS DVX.
Rev. (From 4 o’clock: ) N NOMINI DNI AMEN. Dannenberg 585; cf. 585a, noting a variant with more blundered legends, anticipating the later issues.

Bernhard I; denar, with the same range of possible mints.
Obv. (From 11 o’clock: ) BERNHA[R DV]X.
Rev. (From 4 o’clock: ) DENMON[IOMO]. Dannenberg 587 (obverse); 589 (reverse).

Edited October 12, 2022 by JeandAcre

[seth77]

Hi @JeandAcre check out Julia's paper that I have attached to my previous reply, I think both your coins are discussed there with some details on dating and other aspects.

[JeandAcre]

Huge thanks!!!  (Keyboard acting up; can't type your handle.  Gotta restart the machine.)  Bookmarked and tabbed --this time!