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Message:: [QUOTE="seth77, post: 3208715, member: 56653"]Semi-related, as it doesn't have a "theme" (medieval coins seldom have "themes"), but is rather a celebratory donatio, a one-off issue to mark a royal wedding, is the tetartera of Richard I Plantagenet for his wedding to Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus, on May 12 1191. [ATTACH=full]832523[/ATTACH] This spec was sold by CNG Triton XVII, lot 905. Under the vise of his mother, Eleanor d’Aquitaine, Richard broke his engagement with Alys de Vexin, sister to Philip Augustus of France, risking a falling out with his senior partner in the crusade. The reason was his announcement of his engagement to princess Berengaria de Navarre, daughter of Sancho VI de Navarre, a realm neighboring Aquitaine, which both Eleanor and Richard wanted to gain as Berengaria’s dowry and add to the Angevin Empire under the House Plantagenet. Eleanor’s patronage of this engagement and thus alliance to Navarre was essential. Also of the essence was princess Berengaria willingness and vitality to travel to Messina with Eleanor and afterwards to Cyprus and then the Holy Land with Richard.  After her release from the captivity of Isaak, ruler of Cyprus and Byzantine usurper, and Richard’s conquest of parts of Cyprus — and most importantly Lemessos — Richard and Berengaria’s royal wedding took place on May 12 1191 at the old Chapel of Saint George in Lemessos and was conducted, by a most serene conclave of Catholic bishops and archbishops from Evreux and Bayonne. Joan of England (Richard's sister) was also present and most likely Guy de Lusignan (who had already renewed his allegiance to Richard), was there too. This occasion was also used to crown the couple as King and Queen of Cyprus, while Berengaria was crowned as Queen of England. The event, which was also celebrated among the local Greek population, prompted the mint at Lemessos to struck a series of celebratory tetartera, following the usual design, size and weight of the regular coinage. The coins were then used as donatio and thrown to the public at the wedding procession by Richard’s knights and vassals, in a ceremony that mirrored a Roman tradition. This was both an acknowledgement of the rights and traditions of the locals of Cyprus who saw themselves as Romans, citizens of the Basileia Romaion and an astute political move aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the population and local magnates in a bid for political legitimacy for Richard as the new sovereign of the island. The short notice in which these pieces were produced accounts for the rather poor craftsmanship of the dies and the flans used. Also the weight fluctuates from 0.5g to 1.1g. Despite that, and their obvious rarity (there are about 10 to 15 specimens known + 4 others which were offered this year), these little coins became soon tokens of appreciation towards Richard and/or memorabilia of the royal wedding, at least that’s what their distribution seems to show: they were carried by crusaders from Cyprus to as far into the Levant as Antioch and the southern parts of the Kingdom of Armenia, although they had virtually no intrinsic value, or any value at all outside Cyprus. The full conquest of the island by the forces of Richard and Guy was done by early June 1191 and the cordial relations with the Greek interests allowed for a smooth transition towards the new leadership. However, the personal cost to Richard of the continued campaign against Isaak Comnenus in Nicosia and Famagusta and then his campaign in the Holy Land, his declining health as he reached Acre, and his desire to keep his wife and sister, who had traveled with him, safe from the perils of war, meant a personal sacrifice for the newlywed couple: little or no time for themselves or a private life. After the treaty with Saladin and the subsequent end of the Third Crusade, leaving the Christian realms of the Holy Land safe, Richard parted ways with Berengaria in 1192 as he hastened to return to Europe. He would never see his wife ever again and their marriage would remain childless.[/QUOTE]

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