Viscountcy Of Albi (1100-1250) Denier - A Question

First, it is nice to see another obscure (at least to me) medieval.

I've seen those capped cylindrical objects (both sides as they also form the arms of the cross) also called spindles. Apparently there was a rapidly growing textile industry in southern France from the mid-13th century. A slightly off-the-wall hypothesis is that the curved object is NOT a bishop's crozier, but is some other hook-shaped tool used in textile manufacture. Catalogs tend to copy one another on such things. If the first one calls it a crozier (probably Poey d'Avant in this case?) most later ones just follow, without questioning.

Of course, your speculation on both a bishop and a noble (who issued a coin) being in positions of authority also makes sense. I don't know much about the history of the south of France, but I understand that in Italy the bishops ruled the towns in the early medieval period, followed by "communes" or republics in some places (Florence being the most obvious example), and then those famous local noble families starting from the 13th-14th century (Visconti/Sforza, Este, Scaliger, Malatesta, Gonzaga, Medici etc.). So I suppose there could have been a period when there was a sort of shared authority.

Many thanks for the responses. I hadn't considered many of those possibilities.

My gut feeling is that is is NOT a bishop's crozier as it just doesn't sit right with the surrounding artifacts of the design which are not religious looking at all. The Cathar link is an interesting one and it's something I know nothing about - I must investigate that further.

I had wondered if it was some sort of degenerate monogram for viscount, vicecomes is the Latin for "viscount" given the state of the surrounding legend, but I can't think of any other example that has that.

Thanks again for the thoughtful replies.

I think that is much more likely and the imagery is certainly more in keeping with what should be expected. Great detective work.

Even if it were, on balance, more likely to be a nutcracker emblem it's hard to shake the legacy of a long-standing and respected reference works though . I suspect it will continue be labelled as a crozier for a long time.