Another lady one does not really see too often: Jeanne de Savoie, as Duchess of Bretagne (1329-1341) and Viscountess of Limoges (1329-1334/1338): AR16mm 0.79g billon denier minted at Limoges, cca. 1330-1334. + IhA DVXIT º BRIT º; field separated in 4 quarters, 1st and 4th quarter the coat of arms of the Duchy of Bretagne (three mouchetures d'hermine) and 2nd and 3rd quarter the coat of arms of Dreux family. + VIC º LEMOVICEn º; cross, small cross of Savoie (cross potencee) in 2nd quarter. Boudeau 404, p. 52, Poey d'Avant 2320, Jezequel L10 This little and unassuming type has a very interesting selection of three heraldic elements: the quartered field on the obverse with Dreux and Bretagne across from each other and the croisette potencee of Savoie on the reverse. Also of interest is the presence of the annulet as stop sign/privy mark and the annuleted T, most likely following the trend set by the french royal coinage of Philippe VI de Valois. Jean III de Dreux-Bretagne, Jeanne's husband, was close to the Crown of France and fought for Kings Louis in his 1315 campaign against Flanders and Philippe VI de Valois at Cassel in 1328 against the Flemish revolt of Zannequin, which ended the Flemish Peasant Wars (Revolte des Karls) of 1323-1328. After 1334, Jean found himself in the awkward position of balancing his relationship with Philippe VI of France and his new overlord, Edward III of England, to whom he owed fealty as he inherited the title of Earl of Richmond, during the early stages of the Hundred Years War. The Viscounty of Limoges was founded as a fief of the Dukes of Aquitaine and entered the domains of the Dreux-Bretagne family in 1275, when Arthur II married Maria, daughter of Guy VI de Limoges. Jeanne de Savoie married Jean III of Bretagne in 1329 and consequently was offered the Viscounty to hold in fief. She was his third wife, around 25 years younger than him and she enjoyed the title of Viscountess of Limoges until 1334 while keeping the usufruct of the realm until the death of Jean in 1341. Their marriage remained childless, which prompted the War of the Breton Succession to start at Jean's death, between two claimants -- Jean de Monfort and Charles de Blois-Chatillon -- who both claimed the duchy by jus uxoris.
Thank you for the appreciation. The story and the historical context is what makes these pieces worthwhile. They don't have much aesthetic appeal nor intrinsic value but the socio-political and historical details they reveal once you have them identified are really worh the work and time. As for the write-ups, I find that what wiki and many other online sources are lacking is perspective and oftentimes thouroughness, so books and or research done by other like-minded academics and or enthuziasts/local historians are still the best tools we have to navigate the Middle Ages. So following their model, whether I write a post for CoinTalk, an article for a publication or a note for collectors, I try to write the things that I like to read in other posts, articles or notes.
Anastasios Tzamalis, when discussing the coinage of the Frankokratia in Greece, noted the difficulties of photographing medieval coinage and why authors from de Saulcy to Schlumberger to Metcalf and Malloy, Preston, Baker et al preferred drawings of the coinages instead of photography. Imaging technology is getting better and better, but oftentime these small medieval pieces remain hard to capture in a decent image.
