Every year before we set off to have an actual Christmas, my parents and I exchange gifts. This was one I received. An aspron trachy of Alexios I, issued from 1092 to 1118. It was an essential part of his role in restructuring the Byzantine Empire to the course it would follow until the fall of Constantinople in 1204. He reformed the currency in 1092, going from a gold coin of 9 carats or less to one of 22 carats. He created new offices and began a process of installing his friends and family in them. The imperial household expanded to include most of the Byzantine nobility, due to the fact that his rise to the throne in 1081 had in many ways been a result of their support. In the West, he fought against the Normans. In the East, the Seljuks and Patzinaks were his main foes. The defining moment of his reign, however, was the arrival of the armies of the First Crusade, a massive gathering of European nobility and their subjects that were commanded to retake the Holy Land of Jerusalem from the Muslims, who passed through Constantinople along the way. The emperor demanded pledges of allegiance from the nobility that came, as well as the acknowledgement that all the territory that was taken would be under Byzantine control. This agreement fractured in 1089 when the Crusaders captured the city of Antioch, a former Byzantine city. Due to Alexios not helping capture it, Bohemund of Taranto took the city as his own. Alexios was understandably enraged and forced him to capitulate after fighting a brief war in 1108. At home, he fought against the Bogomil heresy, a sect that believed that the body was evil, but the soul was good. Their leader, a man named Peter, was publicly burned at the stake. Alexios’s son, John, had been crowned co-emperor in 1092, but despite this there was still a succession crisis. Some sources state that John’s older sister Anna tried to take the throne after Alexios’s death in 1118, but was defeated. Anna Komnene is better known for her book about her father’s reign, the Alexiad. I have read it, and it is very interesting to see how different it is from other Byzantine histories. Source: A History Of Byzantium: Second Edition, Timothy E. Gregory. Post your coins of Alexios or the Crusades.
Here's one he minted in response to the Normans. Alexius I/ Transitional AR Histamenon Nomisma 1081 to 1082 AD Obvs: ::KЄRO ΛΛЄϞIω IC XC, Christ bearded and nimbate wearing tunic and kolobion. Holds gospels in left hand Revs: ·ΔIMITI ΔϵCΠTH, St. Demetrius standing 3/4 facing presenting labarum to Alexius which holds sword and grasps shaft of labarum. 27x29mm, 4.17g. Thessalonica mint Ref: Sear 1904, DOC 4.1
Very nice coin Miles! The history of the Byzantine empire is so rich and full of drama. I plan to give it more studying as I work through all the coins I have collected. John
Nice trachy and early Christmas present Do you think you expect more coin presents during Christmas itself? My trachy: Manuel I Komnenos Billon Aspron Trachy (1143 A.D. – 1180 A.D.) Obverse: IC - XC. Christ Pantokrator seated facing on throne. Reverse: Manuel standing facing, holding labarum and globus cruciger, and being crowned by the Virgin standing to right. 3.30g; 30mm
Beautiful gift, congratulations. You asked for more examples of coinage minted during the crusades. This one like yours, was being circulated during the 1st crusade. This was thought to be the replacement for the follis because of its silver content. It took 6 of these billion tetartera to buy one of your billion trachy. However they only cocirculated in Constantinople itself. (Your coin was worth 18 of the normal tetartera.) I love this example the most, I have several but this one has the right combination of wear, patina and nicely struck. ALEXIUS METROPOLITAN TETARTERON S-1920 DOC 33 CLBC 2.4.1 Grierson 1042 OBV Bust of Christ, bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and kolobion holding gospels (open) in left hand. REV Alexius bust facing wearing stemma, divitision, collar piece and paneled loros of simplified type and holds in r. hand labarum-headed scepter and in l. hand Globus crucifer. Metropolitan Issues were minted in Constantinople, each of these coins had an added silver content of 3% ( 3.84 is recorded by Hendy) and were also issued more than likely with a very light silver wash (Silver traces are common on Metropolitan issues but intact fully silvered coins are very rare.) These more than likely were tariffed at a higher rate than the Thessalonica issues that have been shown to have no silver content. This would make them a separate denomination. Metropolitan issues are in general far scarcer than the Thessalonica issues. Grierson thought them to be for ceremonial use only, I disagree, it was a denomination used in the Capital Size 19.56mm Weight 3.8gm DOC catalog lists 13 examples with weights ranging from 2.9 gm to 4.7 gm and size from 17mm to 21mm CLBC Lists weights from 2.93 to 4.80gm. Die Diameter 16mm
It’s very interesting to see how the coins relate to each other, especially in this period. I need to get a nice tetarteron someday.
Congrats on the early Christmas present Miles. That is a really nice looking trachy from one of my favorite Byzantine emperors.
Hello again all! I had more coins, as suspected. They are talked about here, but be warned, they’re modern.
Also, I asked for and received this book, after first seeing it in a @TIF post from many months ago. While looking at it, I think to myself, “Hmmm, what’s passum? It does seem to show up a lot in this.” Raisin wine, apparently. I guess that makes some sense. I begin to wonder where I can even get raisin wine. I’m sure I can get it somewhere, certainly in Italy itself, but... the United States? I doubt it for many reasons, foremost being that I can’t even legally drink here. Secondly is that a quick google search shows that the one place I found that sells the modern version, Vin Santo, does not ship where I am. Well, I guess I’ll just focus on something else... after I get through the Latin instructions to make it and its translation. I think this is the most reading I’ve ever done in a cookbook. Anyhow, maybe someday I’ll actually make something out of this and post it here. Wish me luck.
I highly recommend the books of John Julius Norwich on the Byzantine rulers. Byzantium is in three volumes, or it comes condensed into one. Most histories of the Byzantine empire spend many pages on the Church, the administration, etc. in addition to the emperors. That is all well and good, but Norwich knows what we really want--stories of the emperors, i.e. gossip!
