Boniface And Lebuinus; Patron Saints On Early Low Countries Coins

I knew just by the title that I was going to enjoy this thread. It is interesting to me that the letter R in the mint name looks upside down, or perhaps that is a cimb8nation of poorly struck and some circulation flattening? Either way, I'm looking for ward seeing what else you've added.

It is not too hard to find the prototype for the Saint Lebuinus coin (this one I do NOT have in my collection):


© Heritage Auctions Europe

This type was struck at Tiel (modern day Gelderland, Netherlands, just southeast of Utrecht) from the reign of Henry II (began 1002...the images shown are from the next reign, Conrad II), and would have been circulating in both Utrecht and Deventer before those mints were open. If you take the emperor's arched crown and flip it upside-down, you get a beard of the same shape, i.e. the shape of Lebuinis' beard.
Based on the large number of Tiel coins that come up for sale at auctions, they were struck in large quantity, and circulated widely.

There was a third saint who appeared on Bishop Bernold's coins: Martin, who is patron saint of Utrecht. It's the same Martin who was an early (5th century) bishop of Tours, France, and it's believed his cult was brought to Utrecht in the 8th century by the Carolingian Franks who were in the area on their way to fight the Frisians, and who had Martin as their patron.
This is the scarcest of the three (so I do not have one ), and is probably the prototype for the Groningen Saint Boniface coin, since Utrecht was granted the right to mint a decade or two earlier than Groningen:


© Numismatik Naumann

I don't have MEC I, but I think that volume goes across all of Europe, but only covers up to about 1000 AD (and it misses southern Italy).

Before undertaking MEC, Grierson published a couple of collections of articles on selected topics in medieval coinage:
https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ch...Default.aspx

https://books.google.com/books/abou...60UaAAAAIAAJ

I was able to borrow a copy of the second one through the OSU library, and while the articles are interesting, they are on narrow themes (i.e. they read like the scholarly articles they are!), and are in the original languages of publication (presumably from conference proceedings?). So it's helpful to be able to read at least Italian and French (I forget if there was something in German).

And shame on me for never having looked through the first book that attempted this, Engel & Serrure: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008696171

My impression is that indeed, after 1000 the literature spreads out into regional reference books because the volume and variety of coinage starts exploding, making it nearly impossible for any one person to be expert (hence the idea for MEC volumes 2-14).

I don;t know my way around the literature on this era as well as I should, so maybe there are other suggestions.

A good overview that covers the 5th to 15th centuries is Coins of Medieval Europe by Grierson, published by Seaby 1991: https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ch...Default.aspx

Its about 250 pages is of course not a complete account of the coinage over such a long period, but it provides a good overview with plenty of examples from all parts of Europe and also a lot of historical background to the coinage. I have found it very useful to get an overall understanding of the development of the early to late medieval coinage.

I wasn't aware of that reference, and will keep an eye out for it. Especially because 250 pages fits my attention span



Thanks chrsmat71! Yes, this theme started the same way for me, noticing that the later medieval Italian coins in my collection often had their patron saint, as did a few of my 15th century Low Countries coins, a few from German states, and so on...Curiosity about how far back the trend goes, fueled by a collaboration with another CCF stalwart to write a paper in this field took me to these 11th century types.

@samoth, the descriptions and attributions of the coins come largely from Elsen's listings, the dates of the mints opening from the few pages in Van der Chijs Vol. 4 that touch on this, and the history of religion context from other reading. Then it gets whirled around in my mental word processor.
I've also got the de Wit catalog downloaded, and used it recently hunting for early German coins with saints' images.

So ... one more (purchased in last Elsen auction)

4. County of Frisia, Dokkum mint, denar 1068-1077 Count Egbert II, image of Saints Simon and Jude (Dannenberg 528).

© Jean Elsen et Ses Fils

Obv: Crowned bust of Egbert facing. + ECBERTVS
Rev: Busts of Saints Simon and Jude facing, beneath small cross. + DOGGINGVN

Saints Simon and Jude were among the twelve apostles, and according to tradition, evangelized to the east after Jesus' death, dying in Persia. So, unlike Boniface and Lebuinus, their lives did not intersect with the Low Countries. As best I can tell, they show up on Frisian coins (this same type was struck in six different mints!) because of a German connection.
In the 11th century, "middle Frisia" was a fief of the Counts of Brunswick (Saxony). So, Egbert II served concurrently as Count of Brunswick and Count of Frisia. The cult of saints Simon and Jude was prevalent in Saxony because Emperor Henry III was born on October 28, their feast day. He commissioned the construction of a basilica in Goslar (Saxony) in their names in 1040.
Brunswick was under the spiritual authority of the Bishopric of Hildesheim, and it goes without saying that Egbert would have known the Bishop of Hildesheim, Hezilo (bishop from 1054-1079). It just happens that Hezilo served as provost of the basilica of Saints Simon and Jude before becoming bishop. So Egbert would have been exposed to the cult of Saints Simon and Jude in Saxony, probably in several ways.

I can imagine a conversation where Hezilo pokes Egbert and says "What do you think of those fine coins struck by Bishop Bernold in Utrecht with Saint Boniface and Saint Martin? You know, you could show him up by putting TWO saints ... OUR saints ... on YOUR coins!"