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Denier - Hugh II
| Issuer | Archbishopric of Besançon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1067-1085 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A stylized frontal bust of Saint Stephen, the patron of Besançon Cathedral, depicted with a raised right hand in the gesture of benediction and dividing the surrounding legend into two halves. The figure is rendered in the schematic, hieratic style typical of feudal episcopal coinage of the period, with rudimentary facial features and vestmental detail visible on this hammered flan. The reverse legend identifies the saint by name within the outer circle. |
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| Reverse lettering | S STEPHANVS (Translation: Saint Stephen.) |
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| Additional information |
Hugh II held the archbishopric of Besançon during a period of acute tension between imperial and papal authority — the very years bracketing the Investiture Controversy, which reached its crisis point at Canossa in 1077. Besançon sat within the Kingdom of Burgundy under the Holy Roman Empire, and its archbishops exercised both ecclesiastical and temporal coining rights, a dual authority that made their deniers instruments of jurisdictional assertion as much as anything else.
Billon content in Burgundian ecclesiastical issues of this period varied considerably between strikes, and examples attributed to Hugh II are not common in any condition.