France: feudal regions and coins

Robert of Anjou 1309 - 1343
Count of Provence (but not Anjou)

Feudal Coins by Region
(Where to Draw the Numismatic Lines?)

Here are four maps spanning five centuries of French history. The first reflects France at the end of the 9th century. The second jumps up to the mid 11th century, the third reflects the 12th century and the last is France at the start of the 100 Years War, 1337. The first two are from Wm. Sheppard, Historical Atlas, Barnes and Noble, NY, 1929 and were taken off a historical web site. The last two are from Dunbabin and Cope respectively.

France at the end of the 9th Century

Independent regions within west Francia had not yet securely emerged by the end of the 9th century. Aquitaine covered a large swath of territory, going up almost to the Loire. Boso of Provence had created an independent kingdom in the south. Lotharingia fell outside the sphere of Eudes and ran from the low countries to the Mediterranean, including Burgundy. It was not until the next century that Charles III gave land to Rollo and created Normandy as a separate duchy.

By 1035 the Carolingians were long gone and the Capetians had the throne of France, actually a relatively small area covering the Ile de France. There was substantial political fragmentation accompanied by the creation of hereditary independent counties and duchies. Normandy emerged and covered territory on both sides of the Seine. Aquitaine became a smaller territory, on the south of the Loire and sharing the south with Toulouse and other separate counties. South of Normandy, east of Brittany and north of Aquitaine, Anjou and Maine emerged, and occupied precarious territory nestled among strong and covetous neighbors. The Vermondois and counts of Flanders held territory north of Paris. Burgundy, covering the old Arelate territory of the counties of Burgundy and Provence, fell under the control of the HRE. The duchy of Burgundy remained oriented towards France.

France in the 12th Century

These territories stabilized by the 12th C, and Aquitaine became dominant south of the Loire. Normandy and Brittany were to the west, while Anjou and Maine still existed uneasily among them. Picardy and Flanders were in the north, Provence in the south and Burgundy was to the east. In addition, nestled between the duchy of Burgundy and Anjou was the county of Nevers, which had very stable bourders over a long period of time. These seven regions, admittedly with shifting borders, become the basis for the division of the feudal coins represented on this site. Paris remained a royal city and all the Paris mint coins were those of a king, reflected on the French Royals page.

France in 1337

Somewhat complicating the numismatic picture is the fact that English kings owned territory in France and minted coins in their names in France. These coins are not on the feudal pages, but rather on an Anglo-Gallic page. In 1337 English territory centered on the duchy of Guyenne, in the Bordeaux region. There is also a small territory in the north, at Pontieux.