"Ducat", you know the name of a or some gold coin(s). I recently read that the word "Ducat" is actually derived from the inept Byzantine emperor Michael VII Doukas Can others confirm it? Here is my coin of Michael VII Doukas: Obverse: Jesus Reverse: Michael VII Doukas. Size: about 30 mm Sear: 1878
I came across this new fangled invention called an Internet, and I plugged in a few words using my Compaq Presario and dialup modem. Now, I didn't have a lot of hope I'd get a result, because this Internet thing seems kinda sketchy, but here is what it says.... So both sources say it goes back to the twelth century, and the meaning is basically a coin minted by a Duke, or Duke's coin....ie. ducato/us. I wonder what they'll think of next. Maybe one day cellphones will have this Internet thing on them so we can access dictionaries in mere seconds and we can find a simple answer such as the origin of a word with one click? Nah, it will never happen.
There are two aspects here: 1. Doukaton - which is a territory ruled by a duke (dux), a military leader under the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) administration from the 6th century onward. 2. Doukaton - the common Greek parlance for the silver basilikon coinage of Andronikos II, introduced around 1300 (perhaps 1303-1304), which had as blueprint the Venetian grosso (matapan) introduced by Enrico Dandolo (perhaps 1193-1194). This silver Byzantine coinage had as its primary function the payment of Latin mercenaries (mainly Catalan and Franks) fighting for the Empire in Asia Minor against the Turks. Also to consider - the Byzantines called the coinage officially basilikon (coinage of the emperor) but in common usage it was called by its Venetian origin doukaton (coinage of the duke/doge).
