Denier - Anonymous m obverse

Tournai occupied an awkward ecclesiastical and political position throughout the twelfth century — claimed by the French crown, contested by Flemish interests, and operating as one of the few bishoprics in the Low Countries with the right to strike its own coinage. Anonymous episcopal issues of this period were deliberately vinted without a bishop's name partly to sidestep the recurring disputes over which claimant actually held the see.

The diocese saw no fewer than six different bishops between 1121 and 1200, several of whom faced excommunication, exile, or contested elections.