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Nr. 5045-68
| From-To | Rarity* | Material | Diameter | Weight | | 2,2075055187638 | | - | - | | Description |
(Merovingians, AV Solidus. In the name of Anastasius (AD 491-518), struck in the time of Clovis I - Chlothar II, circa AD 500-587. PH?N?CTA[...] SIV - YUAVC, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Anastasius facing, holding spear and shield; T to right / VICTORI ?UYGG, Victory standing left, holding long voided cross; star over monogram (FET?) in right field, CONOB in exergue. Unpublished in the standard references, for type cf. Belfort 5045-68; MEC 343-348; Collection NK 1013-23; for monogram cf. Prou p. cxvi. 4.43g, 20mm, 6h. Near Mint State. Unique. There is still no modern comprehensive study on the Frankish coinage of the early Merovingian period, namely the pseudo-imperial gold solidi and tremisses issued in the names of the eastern emperors Anastasius, Justin I and Justinian I, with Victory as a reverse type. The largest collection of material is published in A. De Belfort, Description générale des monnaies mérovingiennes, tome IV (Paris, 1894, reprinted in 1996), nos. 5022-5356. Under the Roman Empire the minting of gold coins was a jealously guarded imperial monopoly, a privilege respected by the early Frankish kings who had little idea of the state as a public institution and could not conceive of any other form of government or economic system beyond that of their primitive Frankish tribal groupings. These pseudo-imperial issues were initially struck in the name of the eastern emperor Anastasius (491-518), who realised the military qualities of Clovis I and in 508 bestowed on him the titles of consul and patrician. Gold solidi continued to be struck until the late 580s in various styles and engraving quality and exhibit a large variety of mint initials and symbols for an ever expanding kingdom which had once been Roman civilised Gaul. This pseudo-imperial gold appears to have been withdrawn in about 587 in favour of a new national coinage with clearer mint marks, moneyers names and royal titles, so characteristic of later Merovingian coinage. Throughout this period the Frankish kings had usually deferentially respected the imperial convention of issuing pseudo-imperial gold coins in the emperor's name, but there was a striking exception: Theodebert I (534-548) had the audacity to break imperial custom by minting gold coins containing his own name and image (cf. Belfort 5467-5472and MEC 389). Not surprisingly, the Byzantine chronicler Agathias recorded the rumour in Constantinople that Theodebert was suspected of planning an invasion of Thrace. During the migration period of the 4th and 5th centuries AD the Franks were one of the principal elements in the West Germanic peoples, which included the Suevi, Burgundians, Ostrogoths and Visigoths. They settled in two principal groups; the Salians to the north-west of the river Rhine frontier covering modern Brabant and Flanders up to the Somme, and the kingdom of the Riparians around Cologne in the area between the rivers Moselle and Rhine. As Roman federate allies for much on the 5th century, the Franks achieved political mastery of much of Gaul under the leadership of the Salian Childeric (c. 457-481) and his son Clovis I (Chlodovech, 481-511), who became king as a boy of 15 at Tournai and whose talents can only be inferred from his legendary achievements. Culturally the Franks owed nearly everything to their contact with Gallic Rome, and they spoke a Latin dialect, the basis of modern French. The very name Clovis (in reconstructed Frankish 'Hlodoweg' meaning 'renowned fighter') was to morph into Latin as Ludovicus and the modern names Louis and Ludwig. During his reign Clovis increased Frankish power by brute force, putting to an end the old divisions between Ripuarian and Salic Franks and defeating the independent Roman governor Syagrius at Soissons in 476. According to the late 6th century History of Gregory of Tours, Clovis' conversion to Catholicism was largely due to the influence of his second wife, the Burgundian Princess Clothilda who he married in 493. This was a brilliant diplomatic move, followed by a long series of royal baptisms started in Rheims by St Remi in 496. Clovis now a forged a new Frankish identity allied to the Roman population of Gaul which was of great help in the struggle with the Arian Visigoths whom he defeated at Vouillé in 507 when he took over Aquitaine. Eventually he gained control over most of ancient Gaul, now called the Kingdom of the Franks (Francia). From his chosen capital at Paris, Clovis coordinated the political and economic organization of his kingdom with a council of bishops. There he also instituted the Salic Law, which codified the traditions of the Salian Franks with Roman law, still in force in Provence in southern France. Part of the Salic Law stipulated that a kingdom be equally divided among the immediate heirs of a ruler. On the death of Clovis in 511, Francia was divided into four nearly equal shares. His immediate successors, styling themselves 'Merovingian' after their semi-mythical ancestor named Merovech, were: Thierry I, Chlodomir, Childebert and Chlotar I, who inherited Metz, Orleans, Paris and Soissons respectively. Their greed and discord made them bitter and faithless enemies. When Chlodomir died in 524, Childebert and Chlotar murdered his sons and took his share. Yet Francia survived as one kingdom: Childebert I died in 558, and the extinction of his debauched grandson Theodebald I in 555 left the remaining Merovingian Chlotar I sole king. By this time Francia was even larger than it had been under Clovis: Thuringia was conquered by Thierry I in the early 530s; Burgundia occupied in 534 and Provence taken from the Ostrogoths in 537; much of northern Italy was occupied by Theodebert I in the early 540s, though not retained and recovered by Justinian's reconquest of Italy in the 560s.) |
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