Liudhard medalet
Encyclopedia
The Liudhard medalet is a gold Anglo-Saxon coin or small medal
found some time before 1844 near St Martin's Church
in Canterbury
, England. It was part of the Canterbury-St Martin's hoard
of six items. The coin, along with other items found with it, now resides in the World Museum Liverpool
. Although some scholarly debate exists on whether or not all the items in the hoard were from the same grave, most historians who have studied the object feel that they were buried together as a necklace in a 6th century woman's grave. The coin is set in a mount so that it could be worn as jewellery, and has an inscription on the obverse or front surrounding a robed figure. The inscription refers to Liudhard
, a bishop who accompanied Bertha
to England when she married Æthelberht the king of Kent. The reverse side of the coin has a double-barred cross, or patriarchal cross
, with more lettering.
The coin was probably struck at Canterbury in the late 6th century, most likely between 578 and 589. Although it could have been used as a coin, it was more likely made as a medallion to proclaim the wearer's conversion to Christianity. The coin is the oldest surviving example of Anglo-Saxon coinage. The design of the figured side has some affinities with Merovingian and Visigothic
coins, but the side with the cross has few known predecessors in coinage, and is the first northern European depiction of a patriarchal cross in any medium.
, who presented it along with other coins found with it, to a meeting of the Numismatic Society
. The medalet, along with two other similar items, had been acquired by W. H. Rolfe, who later acquired five other items from the same hoard, and all eight items were published in the Society's Numismatic Chronicle in 1845. About the origins and circumstances of the finding of the hoard, Smith only knew that they had been found "a few years since", and that all of the items had been found together. There may have been further items that were found but not preserved. All of the items were found in Canterbury, in the churchyard
of St Martin's in the town according to Rolfe, although the first published account stated that it was found at St Augustine's, Canterbury instead of St Martin's.
The whole collection, including the medalet, passed from Rolfe's collection to the collection of Joseph Mayer, and then passed to the Rolfe-Mayer collection in the City of Liverpool Public Museums. This now forms part of the World Museum Liverpool.
S. C. Hawkes argues that the eight items in the hoard were found in different graves, basing this on x-ray
and fluorescent analysis of the coins. However, the historian Philip Grierson
felt that the possibility of two graves from different time periods both containing coins of the same period was so small as to make the likelihood of the hoard coming from two graves slim.
The medalet is part of the only late-6th or early-7th century find of gold jewellery in a grave in a churchyard. All of the coins in the hoard were probably part of a necklace that was buried in a woman's grave. The medalet itself is the earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon coin.
and a robe, with a border of dots around the edge. Written on this side is the legend "LEV·DΛR·DV~·EPS". The inscription runs backwards. On the reverse side of the coin, has a patriarchal cross set on a base with two pendants descending from the upper arm of the cross. A circle and two half-circles intersect the cross. Above the cross, upside down, are the letters "AA". The cross is flanked by two inscriptions, each one reading "NINΛ". Under the cross are the letters "VΛV". The whole medalet weighs 1.57 gram (0.0553801205050258 oz).
Smith felt that the legend on the obverse named a 6th century bishop of Autun, but D. B. Haigh as well as C. H. V. Sutherland, Arthur Evans
, and G. C. Brooke all felt that it referred to Liudhard, a Frankish
bishop who accompanied the Frankish princess Bertha to Kent
in the late 6th century when the Christian Bertha married the pagan Æthelberht of Kent, and who perhaps died in the late 590s.
artisan. Given the dates of Æthelberht's reign, it appears likely that the coin was struck between 578 and 589. The loop for suspension is a feature of bracteate
s, pagan Germanic quasi-coins apparently made as amulet
s or jewellery, and often featuring a king. However bracteates are only stamped on one side.
The obverse is similar to coins from Merovingian France, especially from the southern parts, as well as showing influences from Visigothic Spain. The reverse side, however, has no known predecessors in Merovingian or Visigothic coinage. Although by the late 6th century, Merovingian and Visigothic kings were putting their names on their coins, no surviving coins from either kingdom name a bishop. The design of the figure is derived from Byzantine
imperial coins, and the cross itself is large and closely resembles an altar cross.
The patriarchal, or double-barred cross
had become a common symbol for the True Cross
by the time of the striking of the medalet. The historian Martin Werner argues that the form of the cross on the reverse, with the pendants, is set to resemble the crux gemmata
, or jeweled cross, set up in the 4th or 5th century at what was believed to be the site of Golgotha inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem. Werner further speculates that the base of the cross on the medalet is meant to symbolize the hill at Golgotha. The circle crossing over the cross on the reverse is an early form of a cross that later appears in conjunction with the hetoimasia
or "empty throne" motif in Byzantine art
.
The medalet is the first northern European artistic work to display a patriarchal cross, and it is also the first securely datable item to use the circle crossing a cross.
Medal
A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...
found some time before 1844 near St Martin's Church
St Martin's Church, Canterbury
The Church of St Martin in Canterbury, England, situated slightly beyond the city centre, is England's oldest parish church in continuous use. Since 1668 St Martin's has been part of the benefice of St Martin & St Paul Canterbury. Both St Martin's and nearby St Paul's churches are used for weekly...
in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, England. It was part of the Canterbury-St Martin's hoard
Canterbury-St Martin's hoard
The Canterbury-St Martin's hoard is a coin-hoard found in the 19th century at Canterbury, Kent dating from the 6th century. It consists of eight items, including three gold coins.-Discovery and publication:...
of six items. The coin, along with other items found with it, now resides in the World Museum Liverpool
World Museum Liverpool
World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a free Planetarium. Entry to the museum itself is also free...
. Although some scholarly debate exists on whether or not all the items in the hoard were from the same grave, most historians who have studied the object feel that they were buried together as a necklace in a 6th century woman's grave. The coin is set in a mount so that it could be worn as jewellery, and has an inscription on the obverse or front surrounding a robed figure. The inscription refers to Liudhard
Liudhard
Liudhard was a Frankish bishop – of where is unclear – and the chaplain of Queen Bertha of Kent, whom she brought with her from the continent upon her marriage to King Æthelberht of Kent...
, a bishop who accompanied Bertha
Bertha of Kent
Saint Bertha was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history.Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, Merovingian King of Paris...
to England when she married Æthelberht the king of Kent. The reverse side of the coin has a double-barred cross, or patriarchal cross
Patriarchal cross
The Patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity. Similar to the familiar Latin cross, the Patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main one, so that both crossbars are near the top. Sometimes the patriarchal cross has a short,...
, with more lettering.
The coin was probably struck at Canterbury in the late 6th century, most likely between 578 and 589. Although it could have been used as a coin, it was more likely made as a medallion to proclaim the wearer's conversion to Christianity. The coin is the oldest surviving example of Anglo-Saxon coinage. The design of the figured side has some affinities with Merovingian and Visigothic
Visigothic Kingdom
The Visigothic Kingdom was a kingdom which occupied southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to 8th century AD. One of the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire, it was originally created by the settlement of the Visigoths under King Wallia in the province of...
coins, but the side with the cross has few known predecessors in coinage, and is the first northern European depiction of a patriarchal cross in any medium.
Discovery and ownership
The medalet was first revealed to the public on 25 April 1844 by Charles Roach SmithCharles Roach Smith
Charles Roach Smith , FSA, was an English antiquarian and amateur archaeologist who was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the London Numismatic Society. He was a founding member of the British Archaeological Association...
, who presented it along with other coins found with it, to a meeting of the Numismatic Society
Royal Numismatic Society
The Royal Numismatic Society is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics...
. The medalet, along with two other similar items, had been acquired by W. H. Rolfe, who later acquired five other items from the same hoard, and all eight items were published in the Society's Numismatic Chronicle in 1845. About the origins and circumstances of the finding of the hoard, Smith only knew that they had been found "a few years since", and that all of the items had been found together. There may have been further items that were found but not preserved. All of the items were found in Canterbury, in the churchyard
Churchyard
A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
of St Martin's in the town according to Rolfe, although the first published account stated that it was found at St Augustine's, Canterbury instead of St Martin's.
The whole collection, including the medalet, passed from Rolfe's collection to the collection of Joseph Mayer, and then passed to the Rolfe-Mayer collection in the City of Liverpool Public Museums. This now forms part of the World Museum Liverpool.
S. C. Hawkes argues that the eight items in the hoard were found in different graves, basing this on x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
and fluorescent analysis of the coins. However, the historian Philip Grierson
Philip Grierson
Philip Grierson, FBA was a British historian and numismatist, emeritus professor of numismatics at Cambridge University and a fellow of Gonville and Caius College for over seventy years...
felt that the possibility of two graves from different time periods both containing coins of the same period was so small as to make the likelihood of the hoard coming from two graves slim.
The medalet is part of the only late-6th or early-7th century find of gold jewellery in a grave in a churchyard. All of the coins in the hoard were probably part of a necklace that was buried in a woman's grave. The medalet itself is the earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon coin.
Description
The medalet itself is a gold coin, set in a loop mount so that it could be worn as jewellery. On the obverse side is a bust of a man wearing a diademDiadem (personal wear)
A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by Eastern monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. The word derives from the Greek "διάδημα" , "band" or "fillet", from "διαδέω" , "I bind round", or "I fasten"....
and a robe, with a border of dots around the edge. Written on this side is the legend "LEV·DΛR·DV~·EPS". The inscription runs backwards. On the reverse side of the coin, has a patriarchal cross set on a base with two pendants descending from the upper arm of the cross. A circle and two half-circles intersect the cross. Above the cross, upside down, are the letters "AA". The cross is flanked by two inscriptions, each one reading "NINΛ". Under the cross are the letters "VΛV". The whole medalet weighs 1.57 gram (0.0553801205050258 oz).
Smith felt that the legend on the obverse named a 6th century bishop of Autun, but D. B. Haigh as well as C. H. V. Sutherland, Arthur Evans
Arthur Evans
Sir Arthur John Evans FRS was a British archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete and for developing the concept of Minoan civilization from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout eastern Mediterranean...
, and G. C. Brooke all felt that it referred to Liudhard, a Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
bishop who accompanied the Frankish princess Bertha to Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
in the late 6th century when the Christian Bertha married the pagan Æthelberht of Kent, and who perhaps died in the late 590s.
Origins and similarities to other coins
The coin that formed the base of the medalet was most likely minted in England, probably at Canterbury. Evans felt that it was produced by a Frankish member of Liudhard's household, but Grierson was less sure of it being produced by a Frank. Both, however, concluded that it was not really meant to be used as money, but was rather struck for use as a medallion showing conversion to Christianity. The historian Margaret Deanesly argued that it was made at Canterbury, by a native JutishJutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
artisan. Given the dates of Æthelberht's reign, it appears likely that the coin was struck between 578 and 589. The loop for suspension is a feature of bracteate
Bracteate
A bracteate is a flat, thin, single-sided gold medal worn as jewelry that was produced in Northern Europe predominantly during the Migration Period of the Germanic Iron Age...
s, pagan Germanic quasi-coins apparently made as amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
s or jewellery, and often featuring a king. However bracteates are only stamped on one side.
The obverse is similar to coins from Merovingian France, especially from the southern parts, as well as showing influences from Visigothic Spain. The reverse side, however, has no known predecessors in Merovingian or Visigothic coinage. Although by the late 6th century, Merovingian and Visigothic kings were putting their names on their coins, no surviving coins from either kingdom name a bishop. The design of the figure is derived from Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
imperial coins, and the cross itself is large and closely resembles an altar cross.
The patriarchal, or double-barred cross
Patriarchal cross
The Patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity. Similar to the familiar Latin cross, the Patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main one, so that both crossbars are near the top. Sometimes the patriarchal cross has a short,...
had become a common symbol for the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
by the time of the striking of the medalet. The historian Martin Werner argues that the form of the cross on the reverse, with the pendants, is set to resemble the crux gemmata
Crux Gemmata
A crux gemmata is a form of cross typical of Early Christian and Early Medieval art, where the cross, or at least its front side, is principally decorated with jewels...
, or jeweled cross, set up in the 4th or 5th century at what was believed to be the site of Golgotha inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
in Jerusalem. Werner further speculates that the base of the cross on the medalet is meant to symbolize the hill at Golgotha. The circle crossing over the cross on the reverse is an early form of a cross that later appears in conjunction with the hetoimasia
Hetoimasia
The Hetoimasia, Etimasia , prepared throne, Preparation of the Throne, ready throne or Throne of the Second Coming is the Christian version of the symbolic subject of the empty throne found in the art of the ancient world, whose meaning has changed over the centuries...
or "empty throne" motif in Byzantine art
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
.
The medalet is the first northern European artistic work to display a patriarchal cross, and it is also the first securely datable item to use the circle crossing a cross.