[2.2] Innotescat ergo presentibus ac futuris, quod ego P. de tali loco terram meam, quam habeo in tali loco, invadiavi G. de tali loco pro centum solidis Pictavensis monete pactionem talem cum eo faciens, quod si prius moneta ceciderit, qua solvantur hii centum solidi, cum prefatam terram redimero vel heredes mei, si prius decessero, tunc ad illam valentiam reddatur pecunia, quam nunc habet.rubr. in Ad tantum stili officio om. W1 stili] tali M1 magnis] non add. perp. Meisenzahl
[2.3] Cambiuntur autem ad Andegavenses denarios Pictavini denarii tali modo: pro duobus denariis Pictavinis dantur tres Andegavenses.2ego] etc. add. O et expl .P.] .D. W4 AM1 .B. E quam om. W2 L W4 AEM1 in (de L) tali loco] iuxta talem locum W4 AM1 om. E qui sic dicitur add. A Pictaviensis (talis W1L) monete] Parisiensium W4 AEM1 faciens] habitam W1 qua legi] quam codd quam--decessero om. L redimero (redemero W1)] redimam W4 M1 valentiam] valens L reddatur] reddetur A quam nunc habet] quam prius habuit cum accepi E
[2.4] Quod teneri faciant hoc vadimonium et nullus calumpnia perturbari permittant, fratres mei B., C., D. sacramento fidei se ligaverunt.Cambiuntur--Andegavenses om. W4 AEM1 Cambiuntur] Cambiunt L autem] enim L W1 ad om. L denariis Pictavinis W2] om. W1 LW4 AEM1
[2.5] Insuper miles quidam G. nomine, de cuius feodo terra manat, consentionem suam apposuit et presentem cartam sigilli sui munimine roboravit.Quod] pretaxatum prem. E teneri] pactum teneant et E faciant...permittant] faciat...permittat A vadimonium] vadium M1 ligaverunt] iuraverunt A promiserunt E
[2.6] Actum etc.feodo terra] feodores E manat (manet L) W2] movet A movebat E consentionem] confessionem L concensionem AM1 apposuit] adhibuit AE roboravit: confirmavit A confirmavit et prem. W2 communivit etc. E et expl. Huius rei testes sunt .A. B. C. add.W4 AM1
Actum etc. om. A
1 Mortgage of 100 solidi on a piece of land (ed. MEISENZAHL 80+-81+, Agen no. 50).
2 No exchange rate between the money of Anjou and Poitou is
given in PETER SPUFFORD Handbook of
medieval exchanges (London 1986), who does not employ the evidence of Wertbeständigkeit
clauses from charters. As opposed to the 2:3 rate given in this model charter, one may
interpolate an exchange rate 2 s. Angevin = 2 s. 3 d. Poitvin (or 2:2.3) using as
intermediaries the thirteenth century rates SPUFFORD gives
for Angevin-Parisian (p. 194), Parisian-Tournais (p. 167), and Tournais-Poitvin (p. 182)
coinages.
BARRANDON, JEAN-NOEL and DUMAS, FRANÇOIS Le titre et le
poids de fin des monnaies sous le regne de Philippe Auguste (1180-1223) Cahiers
Ernest-Babelon 1 (Paris:CNRS, 1982) see pp. 23-28
BISSON, THOMAS C. Conservation of
Coinage: Monetary Exploitation and its Restrain in France, Catalonia and Aragon,
c.1000-1225 AD (Oxford, 1979)
Subject: RE: Query
Date: Thu, 02 Oct 97 09:51:49
From: "Alan M. Stahl" <STAHL@amnumsoc.org>
To: "Steven M. Wight" <swight@loop.com>
Dr. Wight:
I'm afraid there are no easy answers or quick references for your questions. Spufford's
Manual in its printed form (an enlarged version exists on CD, which I have but have not
yet tried to use, and maybe also still online -- I can give further info if you wish) is
mainly focussed on commercial documents and coinages. Thus whenever possible, things are
expressed in terms of florins or earlier trade coins such as sterling and provinois. It is
also based exclusively on published sources, though the online form did accept data from
manuscripts. The kind of charter clauses you're talking about are more theoretical than
actual exchange rates (especially in the case of models), but no less reliable in general
than the kinds of exchange rates Spufford used which conceal interest. I would caution
you against using 13th century quotes to explain 12th century equivalences (the rates
changed considerably over time, especially once the Capetians began regulating seigneurial
coinages) and not to confuse the seigneurial and then royal coinage of Tours (tournois)
with that of Tournai.
As far as the specifics, I haven't found a direct link of the coinages of Angers and
Poitou, and both were subject to mutations in the centuries of their issue. The best
summary of conditions for French seigneurial coinages in the late twelfth century is
Franc,oise Dumas and Jean-Noel Barrandon, _Le titre et le poids de fin des monnaies sous
le re`gne de Philippe Auguste (1180-1223)_, Cahiers Ernest-Babelon 1 (Paris:CNRS, 1982),
where the documentary sources for comparative values are compared with the results of
physical analysis of surviving coins. A document of 1186 links the coinages of Angouleme,
Poitiers and Limoges in parity to each other, and several link that of Angers in parity
with Tours and Guingamp (Brittany), but their are no direct or even easy indirect links
between Poitiers and Angers (pp. 23-28). As illustrated in the map on p. 56, Poitiers was
on the 4d12gr standard (i.e. 4/12ths plus 12/24ths of a 12th or 37.5% silver), but Limoges
was slightly higher and Angouleme could be lower; while Angers was on a 4d
standard (33% fine) as were Tours and Guingamp. Of course the value of a single penny (as
well as a sou of 12 pennies and a livre of 240) depended on the weight (taille) as well as
alloy (loi). Twelfth-century France was a world of debased and (occasionally) restored
competing currencies, so relationships between any two coins may not have lasted long --
hence the provisional clauses you get in charters. A good overview of the politics
involved in all of this is in Thomas C. Bisson, _Conservation of Coinage: Monetary
Exploitation and its Restrain in France, Catalonia and Aragon, c.1000-1225 AD_ (Oxford,
1979).
I hope this reply at least helps with some of the problems involved, if not really answering any of the questions. Please keep in touch if you wish to continue this conversation.
Alan Stahl
***
© Steven M. Wight, Los Angeles 1998
Scrineum © Università di Pavia 1999