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Parpaiolle - Aimo di Monfalcone
| Issuer | Bishopric of Lausanne |
|---|---|
| Year | 1491-1517 |
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| Currency | Livre (1420-1536) |
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| Obverse description | Central quartered shield bearing the arms of Bishop Aimo de Monfalcone, displayed within the field. The escutcheon is divided into four quarters depicting heraldic devices associated with the Monfalcone family and the Bishopric of Lausanne, rendered in the Gothic hammered style typical of late 15th-century ecclesiastical coinage. A circular legend surrounds the shield, separated from the central device by a plain inner border. The coin exhibits the characteristic irregular flan and bold strike of hand-hammered episcopal issues of the period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The enthroned Madonna is depicted seated facing, holding the Christ Child to her right, in a hieratic composition characteristic of late medieval Marian iconography. The figure of the Virgin is rendered in a stylized Gothic manner, with the head of the Madonna extending upward into the surrounding circular legend. A beaded or plain inner border frames the central device, separating it from the outer legend. The reverse type reflects the strong Marian devotion of the Bishopric of Lausanne, whose cathedral was dedicated to Notre-Dame. The inscription, referencing the Regina Caeli antiphon, encircles the entire composition. |
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| Additional information |
Aimo de Montfalcon — appointed Bishop of Lausanne in 1491 through the direct intervention of the Duke of Savoy — used his episcopal mint aggressively to assert temporal authority in a region where Savoyard and Bernese interests were in constant friction. The parpaiolle was a small billon or debased silver denomination circulating widely across the Franco-Swiss border zone, and Lausanne's version competed directly with issues from Bern and Geneva. Montfalcon's tenure ended abruptly in 1517 when Bern occupied the Vaud, dissolving the bishop's secular power entirely and ending coin production at Lausanne for good.