Billung dukes of Saxony: feudal coins from 10th-11th-century Germany and Frisia

Yes, I think so too.
Romans had some tentative knowledge of Scandinavia at least since the writings of Ptolemy around AD 150. They interacted closely with Germanic Heruls, who seemed to have been made up of Scandinavian warrior bands, from the mid-3rd century to their last appearance in the sources at the end of the 6th century.
Contacts with Scandinavians continued in the Byzantine Empire right until the 13th century, i.e. the end of the Varangian guard.
In terms of historical periodisation, however, the Viking Age does not overlap with the Roman Imperial Age, hence historians would never speak about Vikings in the context of Roman history or Romans in the context of Viking history.

 

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Yes that one is of Godfrey the Bearded. Apparently this one is attributed to Mere as well, although I have seen it previously attributed to other sites like Stade and Hildesheim as well. Was thinking of getting one of those too...

I guess my earlier non-bearded coin was of Godfrey II (997-1069 AD)...

 

@romismatist, I guess a point of clarification is called for. I knew mine was Godfrey the Bearded; my collecting centers around lineal ancestors (all from descendants of an underachieving son of Edward I, who settled in Maine in the 17th century.) I was asking if yours was.
As is true of so much in historical nomenclature, the numbering of Godefrois of Lorraine is less than consensual among academics. 'Godfrey the Bearded' (II /III; d. 1069) was Duke of Upper Lorraine from 1044, and granted Lower Lorraine in 1065. The preceding Godfrey /Godefroi was Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1012-1023. Fortunately, Charles Cawley's magisterial "Medieval Lands" genealogical website comes to the rescue: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/LOTHARINGIA.htm#_Toc359914662

 

Here is a Pfennig of Duke Bernhard I Billung from my collection. The coin was minted in my home region at Bardowik (or Lüneburg).

Bernhard was Duke in Saxony following the death of his famous father Hermann Billung in 973 until his own death in February 1011.
Berhard I was marshal of the emperor and led campaigns against the Danish King Harald Bluetooth and the Slavic Luitzen tribe in Brandenburg.

The Billung family was related to the last pagan Saxon duke Widukind, who, in the 8th century had fought a long and bloody war of resistance against the Frankish invasion under Charles the Great.

Some trivia:
Widukind is still held in high esteem today. Some families in Westfalia that claim decent from Widukind's followers are called "Sattelmeier" today. They own large and very old farms called "Sattelhöfe". When a Sattelmeier dies, a special ceremony is held. Thus, the bells of the Stiftskirche zu Engern, i.e. the church where Widukind is buried will ring at the "royal hour". The coffin will be taken to Widukind's graves on a carriage drawn by 6 black horses. The Sattlemeier's horse follows the carriage only then come the mourners. During the funeral service at Widukind's grave the Sattlemeier's horse waits in the entrance of the church.

 

Many thanks for all the cool --and, I promise you, utterly unfamiliar-- background information, @Tejas. And that's an exceptional example of Bernhard I. Wow. ...I'm still waking up, and this helped a Lot!

 

Here is my Pfennig of Duke Bernhard II, 1011-1059:

 

Here is Count Thietmar (another son of Duke Bernhard I).

 

I always wondered what this coin is. It is an Obol, but I don't know anything about the issuer:

 

Another unattributed Pfennig, possibly from Hamburg under Count Thietmar.

 

Wow, those are Great, @Tejas. All of your last three are types I'm wholly unfamiliar with. If I wasn't in a race to get out the door for work, I could contribute both sides of my better ones of Ordulf and Hermann. Hopefully I'll remember when I get home!

 

Very nice coins @+VGO.DVCKS I really like them all. You are building a great collection of 11th century coins. My favorite coins in your post are the two denar of Bernhard II, with the one with the the quarters facing bust my favorite. Thanks for sharing such an interesting group of coins.

 

Could not resist this, although I know next to nothing about these 'wendenpfennige' other than they were initial Magdeburg issues but then copied by the Slavs in Eastern Saxony (Wenden) after ca. 1000. Perhaps Dbg 1323 (variation of Dbg 643?)

 

Very nice, seamless expansion of the historical context, @seth77. ...I still don't have one of those, but I should.