2 Kreuzers - Theodore of Bettendorf

Theodore of Bettendorf held the see of Worms for less than a decade, appointed coadjutor in 1570 and ruling as bishop until his death in 1580. The Bishopric of Worms was among the smaller ecclesiastical territories of the Holy Roman Empire, perpetually squeezed between the ambitions of the Palatinate and the city of Worms itself, which had turned Lutheran and resented episcopal authority within its walls. Small silver fractions like this one were the practical currency of local commerce that larger territorial coinages ignored.