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Gold Florin - Gaston Phoebus
| Issuer | Béarn, Lordship of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1369-1391 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Florin (5⁄4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Gaston III of Béarn — "Phoebus," a nickname earned for his blond hair and physical vanity, not any celestial symbolism — was among the most powerful independent lords in late 14th-century France, controlling Béarn with a sovereignty he defended ferociously against both the French crown and the English. His right to strike gold coinage was itself a political statement: Béarn was not French soil under his reading of feudal law, a position he argued in person before the Paris Parlement in 1368, one year before this florin series began.
Gaston died in 1391 during a bear hunt at Orthez, collapsing mid-meal with no legitimate heir, ending the Foix-Béarn line's independent minting entirely.