1/2 Gold Ecu - Francis Phoebus

Francis Phoebus ruled Béarn for only four years before dying in 1483 at age nineteen, almost certainly poisoned — his death conveniently clearing the way for his sister Catherine to inherit, and ultimately drawing Navarre into the orbit of Ferdinand and Isabella. These half écus, struck across his short reign, are among the few physical artifacts of a lordship that would itself be absorbed into France over a century later under Henri IV.