The Lombard coinage of Benevento, part of the more general Lombard coinage, is the set of coins minted between about 680 and the end of the ninth century in the duchy and principality of Benevento. Solidi and tremisses, both gold coins that imitated those of the Eastern Roman Empire, were first minted; later followed the issuance of coins in the names first of the dukes and then of the Benevento princes. Toward the end of the 8th century alongside the gold coins were minted silver coins, which gradually took the place of the earlier ones, as moreover happened in the rest of Western Europe. Silver became the prevalent coinage metal only from the mid-9th century.
The coins of the Lombard dukes of Benevento have their own characters that distinguish them from those of the Lombards settled in northern Italy (Langobardia Maior): in the north the coinage was directed almost exclusively to tremisses, in Benevento solidi were also minted, and inspiration was drawn from Byzantine models even when in Langobardia Maior, towards the end of the seventh century from the reign of Cunipert, royal titles were inserted on the coins and new types adopted. After the fall of the Lombard kingdom, for about another century, the coins retained their characteristics.
Alongside the coinage of Benevento is also studied that of the principality of Salerno, which originated in about 839 following the fragmentation of the principality of Benevento.
Cataloging and sources
Benevento coins For coins minted by the Lombards in Benevento, the most recent text is the one published by Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn, the first volume of the Medieval European Coinage series. In the catalogs one finds references such as "MEC I, 1085," where MEC indicates the initials of the series, I indicates the first volume, and 1085 the 1085th coin in the catalog. The coins pertaining to the Lombard mint of Benevento, all in the first volume, are catalogued from 1085 to 1119. The individual coins analyzed in the volume and used in the illustrations are those in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Another cataloging source, equally used, is the Catalogue of the coins of the Vandals, Ostrogoths and Lombards, and of the empires of Thessalonica, Nicaea and Trebizond in the British museum edited by Warwick William Wroth and published in London in 1911.
Less internationally used but more detailed are the studies published in Italy by Giulio Sambon in 1912, by Memmo Cagiati in 1916-17 and those contained in vol. XVIII of the Corpus Nummorum Italicorum (CNI). In particular, Cagiati's text lists all the specimens then known with their descriptions, using drawings by Andrea Russo, a 19th-century Neapolitan illustrator, for representation. More recent is Enrico Catemario di Quadri's 1953 work analyzing Benevento coins belonging to a private collection and published in the Bollettino del Circolo numismatico Napoletano. Also published in Numismatic Chronicle in 1974 was an analysis by W. Andrew Oddy of the gold coinage of Benevento, again based on the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Imperial coins In the first half of the 8th century coins minted in Benevento had legends with the names of emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The names used are those of Constantine IV (668-685) and Justinian II (685-695 and 704-711). Two relatively recent publications are used in cataloging the coins of these emperors: the Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, abbreviated DOC, and Wolfgang Hahn's text Moneta Imperii Byzantini, abbreviated MIB. The imitated coins are listed in the second volume of DOC and the third volume of MIB.
Historical context
The Lombards conquered southern Italy (Langobardia Minor) after 570 and in time formed a state extending over most of the peninsular south of Italy, with the exceptions of present-day Calabria, part of Apulia (almost the entire Salentine peninsula) and the city of Naples with its hinterland, territories that remained under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The Roman Duchy, under papal control, and the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto separated the Duchy of Benevento from the Lombard territories in northern Italy, and as a result the Duchy enjoyed between the 6th and 7th centuries considerable autonomy within the Lombard kingdom of Italy. Its destinies were closely linked to the royal crown only during the reign of King Grimoald (662-671), formerly duke of Benevento, and in the 8th century, from the reign of Liutprand (712-744) to the fall of the kingdom (774). After the annexation of the Lombard kingdom to the Carolingian empire, however, the Benevento domain remained the only one of the Lombard territories to maintain its de facto independence for still nearly three hundred years, despite the fragmentation of its territories that occurred around 840.
Coinage
Benevento was the only one of the great Lombard duchies to have its own coinage, clearly distinct from that of the Lombard kingdom.BMC Vand, p. lxi The prevailing type featured on the obverse a bust in front and on the reverse a cross potent resting on a base (simple for the tremissis, of three or four steps for the solidus). The difference between the two reverses was the same as that in use in imperial coinage of the time, which allows easy identification of the coin's value. The types used for the reverse remained constant throughout the period of gold coinage, with one exception during the principality of Sico.
The earliest coinage of the duchy, like that of all coeval Germanic peoples, consisted of the so-called pseudo-imperial coins, that is, more or less faithful imitations of the coins of the Roman Empire. These coins copied those that were already in circulation in the conquered area. Later coins were differentiated by the addition of letters, monograms or other symbols that indicated in some way the name of the ruling duke. Only in a third phase were new legends used, different from the imperial ones.
The first to affix his own name was Grimoald III (787-806), already in the period when the duchy had been elevated to a principality; the types, however, were still imitations of those of imperial coins. Under Grimoald III silver coinage also began, following a practice that had already become widespread in Western Europe. Under Sicard the minting of gold ended for good, and the Duchy of Benevento, like much of coeval Western Europe, also used denier as its main currency.
Pseudo-imperial coinage The beginning of Benevento's coinage is in the late 7th century,MEC I, pp. 69-70 with the minting of solidi and pseudo-imperial tremisses.The term "pseudo-imperial" denotes coins imitating those issued by Roman emperors whose names and attributes they bear, but minted by various kingdoms, mostly of Germanic peoples (Romano-Barbarian kingdoms).
The earliest coinsMEC I, 1085; BMC Vand, pp. 189-192 cannot be precisely attributed to a specific duke. The coins were imitations of those issued by the Eastern Roman Empire under the names of Constans II and Constantine IV.
Ducal coinage The earliest coins that can definitely be attributed are those of Gisulf I, who was duke from 689 to 706. These coins were also imitations of imperial coins, copies of those of Tiberius III (698-704) and Justinian II (second reign, 704-711). Under Gisulf the types used were two. In the firstMEC I, 1085 the obverse depicted the emperor with armor, spear and shield, the reverse a cross potent on a base; this coin was copied from a coin of Tiberius III.MIB III, 1; DOC II, 1The original of Tiberius In the second typeMEC I, 1086 the emperor's bust is depicted with the loros;The loros (Greek λῶρος - lōros -, Latin lorum) was a kind of cloak, richly decorated. in one hand he holds a cross potent and in the other a globus cruciger, the cross of which is also enhanced; on the globe is the legend PAX. The reverse of this coin depicted the bust of Christ from the front. The model was a solidus of Justinian II, issued during his second reign.DOC II, 1; MIB III, 1The original of Justinian II These two types were used exclusively under Gisulf I.
Beginning with the rise of Romuald II a third type was introduced, with the bust of the emperor holding the globus cruciger on the obverse.MEC I, 1087-1091 This type imitated coins issued under the early reign of Justinian IIThe original of Justinian II and was used in the coinage of Benevento until the middle of the reign of Godescalc (c. 740). The inscriptions used were those of Justinian's coins. According to Grierson and Blackburn the type was probably chosen because of the familiarity of the Benevento Lombards with this type, which was used by many emperors during the 7th century.
Under Godescalc a new type was introduced, with the imperial bust holding the akakia in his left hand,Silk roller containing dust, a symbol of mortality. in addition to the globus cruciger that was in his right hand. According to Grierson and Blackburn, the type imitates the solidi of Leo III (717-741),The original of Leo III although it had been introduced earlier by Anastasius II (713-715). In particular, the legends in these coins are of the type DN LEOPP or DNL - EOPPAGVS.Cagiati, p. 35 These types are also seen in the coins of Liutprand and those of the early years of Arechis II.BMC Vand, pl. XXII, 1-9
With Arechis II the type was again changed. The theme returned that of the bust with the globus cruciger, but the obverse no longer had the pseudo-imperial legend, instead reading DNS VICTORIA.MEC I, 1094-1097; BMC Vand, pl. XXII, 10ff.; BMC Vand, pl. XXIII. 1-11 The date of this new type is placed around 770BMC Vand, p. 168MEC I, p. 70 and, according to Grierson and Blackburn, the legend probably alludes to the victory, achieved in 765 over the Neapolitans.
Coinage of the principality In 774, still under Arechis, the duchy was transformed into a principality and the new legend "PRINPI" appeared on the reverse of the coins. The type, with some minor variations in the tunic, was also used under Grimoald III and until the end of the gold coinage of Benevento. With Grimoald III the legend with the prince's name written in full was used for the first time: previously there was only the initial of the duke's name on the reverse, with or without the indication of the title, expressed either with the letter D or with a monogram (ɵV for dvx). Grimoald's coinage is divided into two periods that testify to changes in the foreign policy of the principality.BMC Vand, p. lxviBMC Vand, pp. 170-173Cagiati, pp. 74-75 Grimoald obtained permission from Charlemagne, who had become rex Francorum et Langobardorum, to reenter the principality and assume its crown, though he undertook to mint coinage and issue documents exclusively in Charlemagne's name and to require the Lombards to wear their chins shaved in accordance with Frankish custom.Erchempert, Historia Langobardorum Beneventanorum, §. 4.
In the first period (788-792) coins were thus minted in the joint name of Grimoald and Charles: they bore the obverse legend GRIM- + -VAL and the monogram DX (dux), while on the reverse the legend read DOMS CAR - with the monogram , for rex. "CAR" is Charlemagne. At this time, Grimoald thus had to give up the title of prince and use only that of duke, with the exergue VIC (or VICΔ) in the position usually occupied by CONOB. For this legend Wroth speculates that it is an abbreviation of VICTORIA previously used by Arechis. In this period deniers were minted for the first time, again in the names of Grimoald and Charles.