Urban V — the only medieval pope to have been beatified primarily for his personal austerity rather than any political achievement — returned the papacy briefly to Rome in 1367 after more than six decades of Avignon residency, though he retreated back to France before his death in 1370. The Bologna mint operated under ongoing tension throughout his pontificate: the city had revolted against papal authority in 1360, just two years before this type was introduced, and the Bolognese remained restive subjects for the duration of his reign.
The bolognino grosso denomination itself had deep local roots predating papal control of the mint, which accounts for its persistence as a distinct regional type rather than being absorbed into the broader papal coinage system.
Urban V — the only medieval pope to have been beatified primarily for his personal austerity rather than any political achievement — returned the papacy briefly to Rome in 1367 after more than six decades of Avignon residency, though he retreated back to France before his death in 1370. The Bologna mint operated under ongoing tension throughout his pontificate: the city had revolted against papal authority in 1360, just two years before this type was introduced, and the Bolognese remained restive subjects for the duration of his reign.
The bolognino grosso denomination itself had deep local roots predating papal control of the mint, which accounts for its persistence as a distinct regional type rather than being absorbed into the broader papal coinage system.