Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Denier - Ruthard et empereur Henri IV
| Issuer | Archbishopric of Mainz |
|---|---|
| Year | 1088-1105 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Crowned bust of Emperor Henry IV facing left, holding a long staff surmounted by a cross, representing imperial authority. The figure is rendered in the schematic, flat style characteristic of late 11th-century German hammered coinage. A circular Latin legend naming the emperor surrounds the effigy in the field. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Ruthard served as Archbishop of Mainz from 1089 to 1109, a period dominated by the Investiture Controversy — the bitter struggle between Pope Gregory VII's successors and Henry IV over who held the authority to appoint bishops and abbots. Ruthard's political allegiances shifted considerably during this conflict; he eventually sided with the reformist papal faction and was instrumental in supporting the election of the anti-king Henry V against his own father.
The joint naming of emperor and archbishop on this denier reflects the imperial church system at its most strained — a formula that would become increasingly awkward as the two named parties moved toward open rupture.