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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;+VGO.DVCKS, post: 7610953, member: 110504&quot;]Déols is fun for having been a barony, or seigneurie, which issued its own coins, routinely in the seigneur’s name, from the 11th into the earlier 14th centuries.&nbsp; This is part of what makes the whole French feudal series so great: it’s not limited to duchies or more prominent counties.&nbsp; Starting from the lower aristocracy, anyone with the economic means to do this, could.</p><p>...Small is Big.&nbsp; When you get a triangulation of a seigneurie or small county, issued in an individual ruler’s name, for whom any documentation is extant, it’s an ideal convergence.</p><p>I have a couple of earlier ones, including the iconic issue of Raoul VI /VII (1160-1176), but pictures of those are either nonexistent, or eluding capture.&nbsp; For Raoul, [USER=84065]@Edessa[/USER] posted a better example than mine on @Ryro’s thread, ‘If you&#039;re into evil you&#039;re a friend of mine:’ <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/if-youre-into-evil-youre-a-friend-of-mine.366524/page-3#post-4865335" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/if-youre-into-evil-youre-a-friend-of-mine.366524/page-3#post-4865335">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/if-youre-into-evil-youre-a-friend-of-mine.366524/page-3#post-4865335</a>.*</p><p>But from these later examples, c. 1206-1234, the progression is an object lesson in the dynamics of the Capetian kings’ rise to national power between the later 12th and early 14th centuries.&nbsp; This process saw dramatic acceleration in the reign of Philippe II (1180-1223).&nbsp; Along with his conquests at the expense of the so-called Angevin Empire, Philippe was remarkably adept at exploiting existing feudal law to royal advantage.</p><p>...With all its limitations, traditionally favoring baronial autonomy.&nbsp; Here we see a brief interval of Philippe as bailiff of Déols during the heir (Guillaume I)’s minority.&nbsp; From the same heir’s majority, the coins revert to being in the seigneurs’ own names.&nbsp; ...Canny as he was in navigating his own milieu, Philippe knew when to ‘put on the brakes,’ allowing the baronial succession to follow its usual course.</p><p>When Raoul died in 1176, he left (--medieval dynastic history alert: ) ‘only’ a daughter, Denise, as heiress of the barony (/seigneurie).&nbsp; ...Very underage, but, um, that usually didn’t stop these people.&nbsp; (Caveat: Cawley, the author of this site, numbers the operant parties by birth order, independently of whether they reigned.&nbsp; He numbers this Raoul as “[VII].”&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/poiteast.htm#_Toc494350016" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/poiteast.htm#_Toc494350016" rel="nofollow">https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/poiteast.htm#_Toc494350016</a></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310288[/ATTACH]</p><p>Map of France at Philippe II’s accession in 1180.&nbsp; The ‘Angevin Empire,’ centered in the duchy of Aquitaine, is shown in red and pink; the Capetian royal demesne is shown in blue.&nbsp; Capetian vassal states are in yellow and light green.&nbsp; (From Wikimedia Commons.)</p><p><br /></p><p>As of Raoul VI’s death in 1176, Déols was located just within the Angevin orbit, due east of the county of Poitou (with Poitiers its caput, or feudal capital). Not far to the east of this was the southern extremity of the Capetian royal demesne, centered in Bourges.&nbsp; Along with the intergenerational penchant for revolt on the part of several prominent, neghboring counties in greater Aquitaine, it was a volatile part of the map.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here’s where the dynastic weeds get higher than usual, even for the period.&nbsp; Denise’s second marriage, arranged by Richard I in 1189, was to André de Chauvigny, a seigneur based in an eponymous lordship located just between Déols and Poitiers, east to west (sadly absent on the map).&nbsp; Poitiers was the caput (/feudal capital) of the Angevin county of Poitou, the northernmost part of Aquitaine.&nbsp; Richard had inherited the entire duchy in 1172, and clearly saw the young but newly widowed Denise as a pawn in the regional political landscape.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310289[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310290[/ATTACH]</p><p>County of Poitou.&nbsp; Richard I (as king), 1189-1199.&nbsp; AR denier.</p><p>Obv.&nbsp; +RICARDVS REX.</p><p>Rev.&nbsp; (in three lines, annulet above: ) PIC [/] TAVIE [/] NSIS (‘S’s couchant).</p><p>Duplessy 922, variant.&nbsp; (...If anyone wanted to help out with Elias, it would be cordially appreciated!&nbsp; There was a rumor, I think from [USER=87080]@TheRed[/USER], that someone has since done one better than Elias, for Anglo-Gallic.)</p><p>...Fast forward to 1204.&nbsp; Especially in the aftermath of Philippe’s conquest of most of the so-called Angevin Empire, he was on a roll.&nbsp; Prior to this, André de Chauvigny, lord of Déols by marriage, had switched his primary allegiance to Philippe.&nbsp; During the minority of his son, Guillaume I, Philippe acted as guardian and bailiff of the seigneurie.</p><p><a href="https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/poiteast.htm#_Toc494350014" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/poiteast.htm#_Toc494350014" rel="nofollow">https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/poiteast.htm#_Toc494350014</a></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310291[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310292[/ATTACH]</p><p>Déols.&nbsp; Philippe II as bailiff //bailistre, 1206-1207.&nbsp; Denier.</p><p>Obv.&nbsp; +REX FILIPVS.</p><p>Rev.&nbsp; Hexagram, annulet in center (as on issues of Raoul VI).&nbsp; +DE DOLIS.</p><p>Duplessy 682.&nbsp; ...More couchant ‘S’s, on either side.</p><p>Here is where it gets interesting.&nbsp; Even though, by 1207, Philippe’s position in the entire region was effectively uncontested, he seems to have allowed Guillaume’s accession without demur --but now, effectively for the first time, under direct royal suzerainty.&nbsp; The profusion of fleurs de lis in Guillaume’s first issue might be seen as an acknowledgment of the latter development.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310293[/ATTACH]</p><p>Déols.&nbsp; Guillaume I de Chauvigny, 1207-1234.</p><p>Rev.&nbsp; Hexagram, fleur de lis in center.&nbsp; +DE DOLIS.&nbsp; Duplessy 683.</p><p>Obv.&nbsp; Cross, fleurs de lis in two angles.&nbsp; +GVILERMVS.&nbsp; Duplessy 683.</p><p><br /></p><p>Guillaume’s second issue, possibly following Philippe’s death in 1223, ‘dials back’ the visual rhetoric; fleurs de lis are conspicuous by their absence.&nbsp; Here, one might see a reassertion of traditional feudal semi-autonomy.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310294[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1310295[/ATTACH]</p><p>Déols.&nbsp; Guillaume I, 1207-1234.&nbsp; 2nd issue, variant.</p><p>Obv.&nbsp; +GVILLERMVS.</p><p>Rev.&nbsp; Hexagram, extending to outer borders; crescent in center.</p><p>(From 12 o’clock: ) D [/] E [/] D [/] O [/] L [/] I.</p><p>Duplessy 685A.</p><p>...People are cordially invited to post any feudal coins, from France or elsewhere, along with anything else involving client states in other capacities.&nbsp; Yes, thank you, ancients emphatically included, whether from Europe or (sorry for this rhetorical flourish --just not enough), ‘wherever toys are sold.’</p><p><br /></p><p>* [USER=84065]@Edessa[/USER], if you could use the Duplessy reference --since it’s sitting here, open, in plain sight-- it’s</p><p>Duplessy, Jean.&nbsp; Les monnaies françaises féodales.&nbsp; Tome I.&nbsp; Paris: Maison Platt, 2004.&nbsp; P. 164, No. 679.</p><p>He refers to this Raoul as VI (accurately, in terms of the regnal succession), and notes the variant you have, with the couchant ‘S,’ without a separate listing as a subtype.&nbsp; Coins of the period from this part of France (especially in Poitou, with Berry to the east, and the rest of Aquitaine to the south), often have this feature in the lettering.&nbsp; Not exclusively enough to really qualify as a regional phenomenon, but distinctly enough to notice.</p><p>...Cool Robert Johnson video, BTW![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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