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Gold Ecu - Joan of Albret
| Issuer | Béarn, Lordship of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1565 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Central ornate cross composed of elaborate fleurs-de-lis and foliate decorative elements, with a crowned letter I appearing in each of the four angles between the cross arms. The cross is rendered in a refined Renaissance style typical of French feudal coinage of the mid-sixteenth century. A continuous Latin legend runs along the periphery within a beaded border. |
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| Reverse description | Crowned shield of arms of Béarn bearing two bulls passant, one above the other, occupying the field of the escutcheon. The crowned shield is flanked on either side by a crowned letter I. The date 1565 and mint mark P appear within the surrounding Latin legend, which runs continuously along the periphery within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Joan of Albret issued coinage under her own name and title as sovereign of Béarn following the death of her husband Antoine de Bourbon in 1562. The political pressure to do so was considerable — Béarn maintained its status as a legally distinct sovereignty, not subject to the French crown, and an independent coinage was one of the clearest assertions of that standing. Joan was simultaneously navigating her conversion of Béarn to Calvinism, making 1565 a particularly charged year for any act of sovereign display.
Féodales 1302 is the standard reference for this type; Poey d'Avant 3436 cross-references it without resolving all die attribution questions.