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 383
further attribution. Those of Cnut have Rex Anglorum ;
but two or three exhibit Rex Nar. or Nor., or Dvx Norwegie.
Of Magnus L, the Good (1035-46), who ruled in Denmark,
there is an unusually interesting denarius with the reverse
legend lule. me. Fecit. On the coinage of Magnus IV.,
about 1260, we first encounter the lion holding the axe or
hatchet in its claws. Of that of the archbishops of
Throndhjem or Nidaros we speak above. This monetary
system lasted till the sixteenth century and survived the
independent regal currency, which seems to have ceased on
the annexation of Norway to Denmark by the Pomeranian
dynasty about 1389.
XI.
THE LOW COUNTRIES
1. BELGIUM
Although the geographical idea conveyed by
this heading
may tend at first sight to misguide, it is not very easy
to substitute for it
any other more appropriate, unless we
classify the region intended as the Southern Netherlands.
The numerous independent sovereignties coexistent during
a very lengthened period on this soil rendered the country
as different in its aspect, boundaries, political and social
conditions, and military relationships, from the present
kingdom of Belgium as England under the Heptarchy from
England under Queen Victoria. In the same manner as all
the divisions of the continent, which we survey in turn, the
Southern Netherlands, as we may term this extensive area,
comprehended at the time when their numismatic history
acquired and possessed the largest share of interest, as well
as the maximum amplitude, a group of contiguous states,
each of which enjoyed an autonomy limited only by the
suzerainty of the emperor for the time being or (in the case
of minor fiefs) by that of the superior lord.