W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

Descriptive Outline of the Coinages of Europe 309
on reverse those of Ferdinand II. with his titles. The more
recent money down to 1770, among which we find small
square gold pieces, sometimes presents a view of the city.
We have to refer to the present group or circle the coinage
of the Princes of Schwarzenberg, among which the amateur
will meet with a few highly attractive pieces. We may cite
a thaler of 1696 with the accollated busts of the prince and
his consort and two crowned shields. The legend on obverse
is Ferdinand' Et Maria Anna and on reverse
, Princeps
A Schwarzenberg Hcercs Landgravia! in Sulz.
We now find ourselves entering on the threshold of a
vast network and honeycomb,
of which the central feature
constitutes a comparatively insignificant portion.
Saxony : . . A . . . ,
Margraviat, as in this case there is in a larger measure than
Duchy, and jn ^g other divisions of Germany, at which we
Kingdom. ...
have been looking, tmperium, or rather imperia, in
imperio, and the reigning house bore to the minor constituents
a relationship purely feudal. Moreover, both here and
in the remainder of the Saxon circle, the principle of partition
among the more or less numerous members of the ducal
family was carried into operation at certain intervals to an
extent which tended still farther to decentralise authority ;
and altogether, throughout the Middle Ages down to the
last century, the Elector of Saxony, like that of Bavaria,
was little more than the superior lord and representative
before the Diet of the numerous virtually independent subsections
of the extensive region over which he presided.
But the division which is most generally quoted and understood
is that of 1485 into the Albertine and Ernestine
branches.
The most ancient possessors of the title of Margraf or