An American Congresswoman once stated that politics "was all about the Benjamins" referring to United States $100 dollar bills which have a picture of Benjamin Franklin on them. Although the Crusades (AD 1095-1291) were propagandized as "holy wars", they were mainly a matter of loot. One could say that the Crusades were "all about the Bezants", the "bezant" being a slang term for a Byzantine gold coin. During the Crusades hundreds of thousands of European noblemen, soldiers, peasants, and women poured into the Middle East which they regarded as the "Holy Land". Their original goal was to drive the Moslem occupiers out but soon Crusaders began forming states like ones in Europe. At the time, the only hard money (coins) in Europe were small silver coins called by various names, pennies, deniers, pfennigs, weighing about 1 to 1-1/2 grams and made of silver or billon (an alloy of some silver but mostly copper). Some bore the name of a king or emperor but local dukes, barons, count, bishops, or abbots struck most of them. Crusader Bishops of Valence Denier Billon Silver, 17 mm, 1.19 gm Obverse: S APOLLINARS, cross, circle lower right Reverse: VRBS VALENTIAI, Angel These small silver coins were minted for the Crusaders passing through the area England Edward I (1272-1307) Penny Silver, 16 mm, 1.13 gm, London Obverse: Crowned bust facing, EDWAR A(NG)L DNS HYB, (Edward King of England, Lord of Ireland) Reverse: Cross with pellets in each corner, (CIV)ITAS LONDON (London City) When the Crusaders moved East and into the territory of the Christian Byzantine Empire and the Moslem Empires they encountered gold coins in routine use. The term "Bezant" became a slang term for a Byzantine gold coin and sometimes for any gold coin encountered. At the time of the First Crusade (AD 1096) the Byzantine Empire minted two types of gold coins, the histamenon and the hyperperon. The Byzantine histamenon was made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver which was mostly silver. Alexius Electrum Histamenon Christ Electrum, 30 mm, 4.35 gm, struck: AD 1082-1087 Constantinople Obverse: Christ facing on throne, IC to left and XC to right Reverse: Crowned bust of Alexius facing, holding scepter surmounted by star and globe with cross AΛEΞIꞶ ΔECΠOT TꞶ KM (Alexios Despot, "TꞶ KM" is "Of Comnenus") The Byzantine hyperperon was made of almost pure gold: John II Gold Hyperpyron Christ Gold, 27 mm, 4.18 gm, struck AD 1122-1137, Constantinople Obverse: Christ on throne holding book of gospels, ΚΕRΟ ΙC ΧC ΗΘΕΙ (Christ help us) Reverse: Emperor left being crowned by Mary right, ΙΩ ΔΕCΠΟΤΗC Top: VΘ Right: ΜΡ (John, Despot, Mother of God) The Shiite Moslem Fatimid Empire controlled Egypt and minted gold dinars. These dinars were about the same weight as the Byzantine gold coins, both weighing around 4.2 grams. Fatimid Dinar of Caliph Al-Mustansir AH 443 (AD 1052) Gold, 21 mm, 4.16 gm, Struck at Misr (Cairo, Egypt) Obverse: Inner circle: No god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God Middle circle: And Ali is the most excellent of the caretakers and the vizier of the best of the messengers Outer circle: Muhammad is the messenger of God who sent him with guidance and the religion of truth that he might make it supreme over all other religions even though the polytheists detest it Reverse: Inner circle: Al-Mustansir Billah, Commander of the Faithful Middle circle: The Imam Ma'ad summons all to confess the unity of God the eternal Outer circle: In the name of God, this dinar was struck in Misr the year three and forty and four hundred The first military goal of the Crusaders was the Holy City of Jerusalem. The city had been under the control of the Fatimids but in AD 1071 the Turks took it over. The Fatimids got it back in AD 1098, just in time for the Crusaders to take it in AD 1099. The Crusaders also took several cities from the Seljuq Turks in Syria including Nicaea and Antioch which were incorporated into the four Christian Crusader states, the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Counties of Edessa and Tripoli, and the Principality of Antioch. The Crusaders needed gold money and rather than designing coins on their own began minting imitations of Fatimid dinars, complete with the Islamic slogans on them. These copies came to be called "Saracenic Bezants" after "Saracen", a Crusader slang term for a Moslem. Crusader Fatimid Imitation Dinar Gold, 20 mm, 3.90 gm, Struck in Kingdom of Jerusalem AD 1148-1187 Obverse: Imitation Arabic legends of Fatimid Caliph Al-Amir (AD 1101-1130) Reverse: Imitation Arabic legends In AD 1250 Pope Innocent IV (AD 1243-1254) ordered the Crusaders to stop minting coins with Islamic legends. Some did, some didn't. Ordinary residents of the Crusader States did not handle gold coins but wealthy citizens did. In medieval times looting was a common feature in battles and these coins were prize booty as they were small, easily carried, and easy to dispose of. During battles, a frequent goal of soldiers was to capture a nobleman who could be sold for a ransom payment. These ransoms were usually in bezants or dinars, depending on what was available. During a later Crusade France's King Louis IX was captured by the Egyptians and ransomed for 800,000 bezants or 400,000 French livres tournois. The bezant has turned up later, too. One small example is the coat of arms of England's Duke of Cornwall (currently Prince Charles), which has 15 bezants in a triangle. The story of the 15 bezants occurs during the Crusades when the Duke of Cornwall was captured by the Saracens. A ransom of 15 bezants was demanded. The people of Cornwall to raised the money for the ransom and the duke was released. This story sounds odd as the ransom for a duke would have been thousands of bezants. The Crusades were a long time ago but... The United States now has a "Space Force" with it's own Bible. US Space Force Bible dedication The cross on the red book is the Jerusalem Cross, the emblem of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Great write up. Having worked in the region, I've always found the history of the Crusades most interesting. I've refrained from collecting the Crusader coins as 1) I don't need an additional area to collect and 2) most I've come across and could afford have been poorly struck and a non-appealing condition. I like your examples.
Very neat and precise write-up. All I could swiftly pick up from my old folders, are 2 coins: The first depicts the Cross of Jerusalem under king James II De Lusignan, whereas the second is a silver Fatimid dirham.
Beautifull writeup, coinage I have lots of the Islamic Dinars/ Crusader coinage from Sicily/ Chios/ Mytilene/ Rhodes/ Achaea.
Actually, they were a way to get upstart firebrands out of the country, and away from the status quo......
However, the three most elite formations, Teutonic Knights/ Templars/ Hospitalers where devout religious orders/ and where following the orders of the Pope, to restore Christianity to the birthplace of Christ.
With this thread, my "Likes" have reached 11,111 Likes. The last being posted by coin-friend Talerman. Thank you and Merci to all of you. Cheers..
It had a lot to do with the concept of primogeniture. By this tradition, only the eldest son could inherit the father's land. Younger brothers (especially those from "the wrong side of the sheets") might get some inheritance - or none - but were never in line to step into their father's shoes as lords of the land on his death. So you have a lot of relatively well-off (or at least higher class), relatively well-educated younger brothers with no prospects of being anything beyond (clutch the pearls!) a merchant or professional soldier with the accompanying necessity of dirtying one's hands with work and endeavor. These were the "upstart firebrands" to which you refer - and they often left without much urging since all the land in Europe was spoken for. Of course, to the extent that such folks listened to the church, they also got encouraging propaganda from that source, The church, in its capacity as a mouthpiece of the nobility, was encouraging the crusades. This was probably at least partially in hopes of enabling this diaspora of potential troublemakers to the East. These "dispossessed" younger nobles assumed they could carve out their own kingdoms by crushing the local opposition - the sophistication and ferocity of which they pitifully underestimated. However, those who managed to live and return to Europe came armed with something far more valuable - learning and technology. They brought home medical knowledge and amazingly, people who would have died from wounds and/or diseases were getting better! They brought home the Arabic numerals including the amazing abstract concept and character of zero and replaced the insanely difficult and cumbersome Roman numeral system of mathematical notation. They brought home (for those open minded enough to profit from it) the extant collected knowledge of the ancient world - as much as the Islamic world had been able to preserve from the holocaust of knowledge occurring at the end of the western Roman Empire, and the further work carried out by eastern scholars in all fields. I am probably over simplifying here and I'm sure folks will chime in to correct me on various points, but this is the "Cliff's Notes" version of the causes and effects of "The Crusades" I carry around in my head.
Since we are, after all, a coin group, I'll include a few photos of crusades-era and/or crusades adjacent coins: Bohemond III of Antioch, 1163-1188 AD. AR Denier Obv: +BOAMVNDVS. (Double-annulet A's) Helmeted and chain-mailed bust left; crescent and star in fields left and right Rx: +ANTIOCHIA. Short-cross with crescent in upper-right quadrant (Hmm - I should really look up the exact type in Malloy) “Crusader Era” Ayyubids - Or possible contemporary copy by Latin rulers of Jerusalem. Al-Kamil Muhammad I, AH. 623-634 = 1218-1238 AD. AR Dirhem, 21mm, 2.88gm, axis: 235º Mint of Damascus, AH. 630 - 1234 AD. Obv: Inscription of al-Kamil Muhammad. Rx: Inscription naming Caliph al-Mustansir. Cf. Balog 450-461 Not "Crusader", per-se, but of the era: Genoa, AR Denier in the name of Conrad III, Holy Roman Emperor 1139-1339 A.D. (Type frozen) Obv: +IANVA. City-gate Rx: (+)CVNRADI REX. Short cross Hungary, Bela III, 1172-1196 Æ Faux Arabic Rezpenz, 23mm, 2.22g, 5h Obv & Rx: Pseudo-Arabic legend and inscription within circular borders Unger 115; CNH I 101; Huszar 73 And a couple of obligatory Bezants: Manuel I, 1143-1180 AD. Electrum Aspron Trachy, 32mm, 4.18g, 6h Mint of Constantinople Obv: O ЄM / MA - Nɣ / HΛ. Nimbate bust of Christ facing, wearing pallium & colobium and holding book of Gospels; IC – XC to l. and r. Rx: MANɣHΛ ΔЄCΠOTH. The Virgin (on right) and Manuel standing facing. The Virgin crowns emperor who holds labarum and akakia. SBCV 1957 Alexius I, 1081-1118 AD. Billon Aspron Trachy, 27mm, 4.27g, 6h Mint of Constantinople Obv: Christ enthroned facing, nimbate and wearing pallium & colobium; holding book of Gospels; IC – XC to l. and r. Rx: AΛЄΞIЄ ΔЄCΠT. Bust of Alexius facing wearing crown and jeweled chlamys; holding labarum and gl cr. SBCV 1918 Empire of Trebizond, John II Comnenus, 1280-1297 AD. AR Asper, 22mm, 2.86g, 7h Obv: OA (in monogram) / Є / V - ΓЄ / N / O[TΠZ] St. Eugenius standing holding long cross Rx: Iɯ / O / KO / MN - N / O / C. John standing holding labarum-headed scepter and globus; Manus Dei at upper right. SBCV 2610
Thank you for the excellent summary @lehmansterms. Your description basically meshes with my understanding of Crusader history. One of the people I admire is Salah ed-Din Jusuf (Saladin) and his battles with Richard the Lion-Hearted always intrigued me. Your coins are great. I don't know why, but the Hungarian coin with the pseudo-Arabic legends fascinates me. I'd like to have one.
Thanks - I've been collecting for a long time and although top condition has never been my #1 consideration, I have a few relatively decent-looking pieces. That pseudo-Arabic rezpenz is really not a particularly scarce piece. Bela III pumped out a huge number of large-module Æ or billon pieces. Many of the more common type (see photo) are scyphate - but some are flat like this one - why two different fabrics for the same type I have no idea. All the pseudo-Arabic pieces I've seen have been flat. Hungary, Bela III, 1172-1196 Æ Rezpenz (flat), 27mm, 2.11g, 3h. Mint of Buda Obv: BELA REX STS Bela III and Steven III seated facing, each holding scepter; at bottom, half-circle with 3 vertical marks. Rx: SANCTA MARIA Virgin Mary, nimbate, seated facing, cross on either side of head; holding scepter and Christ-child. Unger 114, CNH 98-100; Huszar 72 http://old.stoa.org/gallery/album173/BelaIIIFlat?full=1 I don't remember precisely, but I don't think I paid over $25 for each of the rezpenz specimens I have - got them from a dealer in Vienna on ebay.
