The coin: AR denier, 6th type, 19mm. Obv:
LODOVICVX REX, grand E, annulet, cross.
Rev: STAIII CVTELLVTII, central cross,
A in opposite quadrants. D106.
The king: He is the son of Philip I and Bertha
of Holland, and called Louis the Fat. As 'king of France,' his territory
was actually limited to the Ile de France, a series of territories running
down the center of modern France, from Sens in the north to Bourges in
the south. His major accomplishment was a series of administrative reforms
that shifted power in his territory away from feudal holders of administrative
functions to people (clergy and lower nobles) who were more committed to
the king than had previously been the case.
The times: modern France does not exist, and
will not for centuries. It is a series of feudal principalities often in
conflict with each other, and having weak allegiance to the king. The Duke
of Normandy has become king of England in 1066, leaving many of the English
Normans with French land holdings, laying the foundation for a split allegiance.
This will not be finally resolved until the mid 1500th C, and will color
French-English relations in the intervening centuries. |
