Liard - Godefroy Maurice

Godefroy Maurice de la Tour d'Auvergne ruled Bouillon as a sovereign prince while simultaneously serving as a marshal of France — a dual loyalty that defined the duchy's peculiar position as a nominally independent enclave surrounded by the Spanish Netherlands and France. The liard was struck at a moment when Bouillon's autonomy was increasingly theoretical; Louis XIV had occupied the duchy militarily in 1676 and would not relinquish control for years. These copper issues circulated locally but under conditions entirely dictated by Versailles.