AR denier, 21mm, 1.2gr. Obv: +ULEMO COMS, central cross, Rev: +Briuvces::, central cross. Mint is Brioude. R4062; Boud 371v; PdA 2218v; Fecamp 8491 - 8510; Dup 817. There are many variations of this coin. This is a very early feudal coin. Dumas (257) observes "Le monnayage de Brioude au nom de Guillaume est l'un des premiers monnayages independants de Francie occidentale." She continues to note it starts early in the 10th century and continues through the century. This coin is at the heavy range of the 30 coins she catalogues in the Fecamp hoard. She argues that the larger flan (21 - 23mm) is a later rather than earlier coin. Regardless, this type represents the earliest of French feudal coinage.

William I came from a line of local rulers who were able to gain power in the breakdown of Carolingian authority at the end of the 9th century. His grandfather, named Bernard, apparently aligned with Pepin II, who revolted against Charles the Bald. Bernard was able to hold on to the title of count of Auvergne. His father was count Bernard Plantevelue, son of Bernard, who ruled at the end of the reign of Charles the Bald. His father added territory in Autun, the Lyonaise and other Midi lands. On his death, William was able to hold on to many, but not all, his father’s lands. His heir, William II, is a nephew.

William became count of Aquitaine. With the election of Eudes as king of France, all semblance of Carolingian control in the south disappeared. Rouche, in Veyne, A History of Private Life, notes "a few years before 918  ... Guillaume of Aquitaine had a denier struck at Brioude. He thus opened the way to a proliferation of feudal coinage." William's coinage was among the first non-royal coinage in France.

William was known as The Pious. He was the founder of the famous abbey of Cluny. From Demey, "William, duke of Aquitaine .., count of Macon and Bourges by God's graces, proposed to Bernon, about of Baume-les-Messieurs and Gigny, to found a house of prayer on one of his estates. On September 11, 910, he signed the foundation act in his hometown of Bourges. Twelve monks took up residence on the rural domain of the Cluny villa. William renounced all rights over the new foundation: only the Holy See was to be suzerain there." This independence was key in the ultimate success of the abbey.

Today Brioude is a midsize market town with an attractive Romanesque basilica, that of St. Julien. There was a Carolingian church on the site but it was destroyed in the builing of St. Julien, which was started during the second half of the XIth C. The nave dates from the 13th C. Parts of the basilica are heavily painted, with some of this going back to the 13th C. If you look on the near pillar of the nave you can see some of this. The last image is of a part of the ceiling. There is a fairtly unique style Auvergne style to the basilica.

AR denier, 22mm, 1.05gr. Obv: SCE MARIAE, central six armed cross. Rev: +MONETA, central cross. Mint is Le Puy, c 950-980. Illegible legends. R-; Dup 837; B 372; Dumas 8522-42, several varieties; PdA 2224-28.  Dumas dates these types from c 970.  PdA 2224-28 calls this coin a 'remarquable denier, qui appartient a la fin du X siecle." This coin is from an eccleasiastrical mint. Raoul granted the first royal concession to mint in 924, affirmed by Lothaire in 955.

Bishops of Le Puy  (12th - 13th C)

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Billon denier, 19mm, 1.09gr. Obv: Chrismon with knobbed arms, deformed legend. Rev: cross with knobbed arms, deformed legend. R4431; Boud 375; PdA 2231; Dup 839.

Comte de Rodez: Hugues II and III (1156 - 1196)

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AR denier, 17mm, .77g. Obv: +VGO COMES, central cross. Rev: RODES CIV, in the field '+DAS.' Mint is Rodez. R4273 (as Hugues I - IV, 1132 - 1274); Boud 767 (as Hugues II and III, with CIVIS); PdA 3876 (as billon).

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AR denier, 16mm, .7g. Obv: +VGO COMES, central cross. Rev: RODES CIVI, central +DAS. Mint is Rodez. R4273; Boud 767; PdA 3876.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame dates from the 13th C and work on it continued into the 16th C. The soil of the Auvergne is red, and this red stone and brick is reflected in local building styles, most evidently in the cathedral in Albi. The cathedral in Rodez is also built of this local red stone, giving it a distinct regional flavor. Rodez today is a midsize city dominated by the cathedral. The interior image lower right is from an 19th C lithograph.

AR denier, 21mm, 1.15gr. Obv: +ARVERNA, central VRBS. Rev: +SEA MARIA, central cross (nothing in the quadrants). Mint is Clermont Ferrand. R4158v; Boud 377 (rarity 20f); PdA 2241 as 11th C after 1030; Dup 824 as anon 12th C.

AR denier, 19mm, 0.9 gr, late 12th C. Obv: SEA MARIA, virgin crowned. Rev: VRBS ARVERNA, central cross, crossed lis. Mint is Clermont Ferrand.  R4907, Boud 379-381 as Sea Maria; Dup 830 as 13th C.