Eleanor of Savoy became Countess of Tonnerre through her marriage to Amadeus of Chalon, and following his death she governed the county in her own right during a period when female comital authority in Burgundy was contested but not unprecedented. These deniers were struck during her regency administration, one of the few instances in early 14th-century France where a woman exercised direct mintage rights in her own name. The billon content reflects the chronic silver shortage that plagued minor French feudal mints throughout this period, forcing repeated debasement of small denomination issues.
Eleanor of Savoy became Countess of Tonnerre through her marriage to Amadeus of Chalon, and following his death she governed the county in her own right during a period when female comital authority in Burgundy was contested but not unprecedented. These deniers were struck during her regency administration, one of the few instances in early 14th-century France where a woman exercised direct mintage rights in her own name. The billon content reflects the chronic silver shortage that plagued minor French feudal mints throughout this period, forcing repeated debasement of small denomination issues.