Featured Medieval - The Grosso and the Fourth Crusade

I'm quite excited by my newest coin, not only for the very interesting design (let's face it, most medieval coin designs are rather boring), but because of the history surrounding it.

When Pope Innocent III ascended to the Papal throne in 1198, Europe had achieved an uneasy and temporary truce with Saladin and the Muslim defenders of the Third Crusade. The great kings and princes of Europe became too enmeshed in their own quarrels to organize another crusade like the previous one attended by the kings of England, France, and the Holy Roman Emperor. Yet, a relatively small group of knights would eventually be gathered. Their goal was the Holy Land to re-establish the Crusader states, but without the patronage of the Kings of Europe, they were sorely lacking funds. Despite this, the Crusaders would agree to meet in Venice, and from there hire the boats necessary to sail to the Holy Land. Venice then, was prepared to receive a large amount of money which would be distributed to their shipwrights and other craftsmen for the creation of the Vessels.


Pope Innocent III

The amount the Crusaders agreed to pay was 85,000 marks of silver. The mark had become a unit of account, being 2/3 of a pound of silver, and was quite frequently used in international trade in ingot form. The Crusading army, lacking the financial backing of a king, failed to raise this money, and even borrowed some money from Venice to pay Venice. For Venice's part, they had been promised the sum of 85,000 marks, and had already used that sum to start making the ships for the Crusading army.

The Doge of Venice at this time was Enrico Dandalo. Enrico realized that the silver ingots so regularly used in international commerce would need to be coined to pay the shipwrights and others for their labor and for provisions (the ingots might be an easy way to pay one person, but inconvenient when paying many). However, there was a problem with the Venetian Denier: it had become debased, and much smaller is size than it originated (the denier of Charlemagne was 1.7 grams in weight and became the standard for Europe, but in the ensuing centuries many deniers would become smaller and debased: the Venetian denier in the 1170s was 0.1 grams). Should the 85,000 marks be minted into Deniers, this would equate to 230 million deniers, and an overwhelming amount of labor from the moneyers. The simple solution was to mint a new, larger, non-debased coin: a "great" coin, called a 'grosso.'


Enrico Dandalo Grosso. Asta Numismatica Ranieri N. 4, lot 1238

I wish I could say this was my coin. I did search for an Enrico Dandalo Grosso, but the only one I could find for sale had a starting bid price of €1,500; already well beyond my budget. My coin was minted soon after, however, by Enrico's successor Pietro Ziani. Both Ziani and Dandalo would play a role in what came next.

To give the Readers Digest version, since the Crusading Army couldn't pay Venice for the ships, and Venice had sunk large amounts of their own money into the venture, Enrico Dandalo concocted a plan to attack the rival trading city of Zara and subjugate it for payment. Dandalo, aged and blind, took the cross and led the attack on Zara. Innocent III was shocked by the attack on fellow Catholics, and excommunicated the Venetian leaders (whom he viewed as responsible for the diversion).


The course of the Fourth Crusade

Not long before these events, the Byzantine emperor Isaac II was overthrown, and his son and heir, Alexios IV, was imprisoned. Alexios would be smuggled out of his imprisonment, and upon hearing of the Crusader's financial predicament, he promised the Crusaders support, wealth, and use of the Byzantine navy, in exchange for returning Byzantium to him and his dynasty. This would prove to be too tempting a promise for the floundering crusade to ignore. In 1203, the Crusaders would besiege the city of Constantinople. Alexios would be installed as emperor, but naturally was not very popular with the citizens of Constantinople. After a series of political missteps, Alexios would be overthrown, and a new emperor crowned. The Crusading army demanded the new emperor keep Alexios' vow of support. When he did not, the crusaders attack during and sacks Constantinople in 1204. With this attack, the Crusaders not only gained enough money to pay Venice, they gained an empire.


Italian States, Venice
Pietro Zani, r. 1205-1229
AR Grosso, 19.79 mm, 1.9 grams
Obv.: [·+·]P·ZIANI· ·S·M.VENETI outside (Z retrograde), D/U/X down banner held between doge and St. Mark facing. I suspect the banner is a papal banner based on the devise, but I have no confirmation of that.
Rev.: [I¯C] X¯C accross field, Christ enthroned facing

Enrico Dandalo would die in Constantinople in 1205. He would be succeeded as Doge by Pietro Ziani, under whose authority my coin would be minted. Ziani had apparently joined the crusade, but it would be he who would be responsible for bringing back many of the riches of Constantinople, and placing them in Venice. To this day, one can see the golden horses which were once in front of the imperial palace placed on top of the the Duomo de San Marco in Venice (although the ones outside are a reproduction, the originals are just inside the Duomo to protect them from the elements). Ziani also contemplated moving the capital of Venice to Constantinople, but was prevented by the Venetian council.


The reproduction horses outside the Duomo de San Marco. The real ones from the Byzantine Imperial Palace are just to the left inside the church. Photographs inside were not allowed when I took this photo in April of 2009

I suppose the point of the tale is that finances and economics are often the crux of history. The split between the Eastern and Western churches may have been official since the Schism of 1054, but the Catholic Crusaders attack on the Orthodox Byzantines would ensure the continued separation of the church, never mind the first major step towards the eventual fall of "Rome." Because of the need to pay individuals, Venice created a new coin, and this too would spread to the rest of Europe, where Grossos (or 'Groats' as the English would call them) would become the new standard for silver coins, on the eve of Europe shifting to a gold standard.

 

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Very nice, I like it a lot.

 

Nice coin and great write up man

 

Interesting coin and a great writeup.

 

Fascinating post! Great images and research! Beautiful coin!

 

Thanks for the awesome ride through time, FitzNigel ... congrats on the sweet new Grosso (very cool addition)

Ummm, I have a sweet Grosso example, but it is from the next coin-century ... do you still wanna see it?

The Duke of Milan, Bernabo and Galeazzo II Visconti, AR Grosso or Pegione
1355-1378 AD
Diameter: 25 mm
Weight: 2.50 grams
Obverse: Serpent with maiden in its mouth between B G; above (an eagle) a aquiletta R/S
Reverse: Ambrose on the throne

 

Absolutely I want to see it Steve! That's interesting because it shows how the Grosso in different areas was larger than in Venice. In size, my Grosso is about as large as an English denier/penny, but about twice the weight. I'll need to take some comparison photos - sadly I don't have any English or French 'grossos' to compare them to, as though coins became rather big!

 

Wow, this gives me an opportunity to show off my Grosso, one of the first medieval coin I bought. I just started collecting this year, so I admit I know very little about medieval coins. But the seller said this is the coin that many other medieval coins imitate (but it sure looks a lot like your coin, which was minted first...)


VENICE, possible Balkan strike
Francesco Dandolo 1328-1329 AD
AR Grosso 2.14 gm - 19 mm
Obv: [FR]A.DANDVLO left, S.M. VENETI right right, Saint Mark giving banner to Doge, DVX between.
Rev: Christ enthroned, IC XC
Reference: Bi.2808 R

Thanks for the writeup @FitzNigel, I appreciated learning some medieval history

@stevex6, I really like the design on your coin...and will have to get me one!

 

Very interesting story, and cool coin!

 

Wonderful presentation and super cool coins one and all !!!

 

Thank you for that great post. I have always been interested by the history of the crusades.

 

Excellent write-up! The model of the grosso would soon traverse beyond the borders of Venice to other Christian nations who mimicked the grosso to ride the wave of this successful currency for several decades to come. I posted some of my other "Grosso-like" coins in another thread here:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/original-vs-imitations-of-ancient-coins.283216/

Can you identify all the Christian symbolism that was added to the coin?

 

Great post and coin, thanks for sharing

Q

 

We all like to show coins that don't come up here often.

This is an Ar Grosh of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria 1331-1371 AD.

 

This design would certainly be imitated a lot in the east - as others have shown. The Idea of a Grosso would be imitated throughout most of Europe (but this is probably more a product of the commercial revolution occurring, coupled with more silver deposits being discovered)

Love the other Venetian grossi and imitations guys!

 

Too bad this forum doesn't have 2 Like buttons for each post! I read your excellent article a second time and I wanted to Like it again!

 

Wonderful write-up @FitzNigel , and a fantastic Grosso! I loved the ties between history, economics, and creating coin standards. Really enjoyed the history. Thank you.

 

Thanks guys - I've honestly been focusing more on French feudal coins lately, but when I learned the fourth crusade, and all of its financial problems were responsible for a new shift in currency, I just had to get an example. A shame the Enrico Dandalo examples are so Pricey! However, Pietro Ziani was still involved, and I'm pleased with the example I got. And I've always enjoyed the story behind the fourth crusade - what an epic disaster!

 

Very interesting topic and well written indeed. Hmm, no second like but we can always feature it ... Done.

Christian

 

Thanks Christian! I always feel honored when a post gets featured. I just love the coins and love to tell the stories behind them!