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

458 The Coins of Europe
The House of Hohenstaufen . . .
1194-1266
Anjou
.
1266-1435
Arragon
.
1435-1501
.
Louis XII. of France . .
1501-1504
The Kings of Castile
. . .
|
c \ 1504-1708
.
Spain j
The Duke of . . )
Savoy
1
The House of Austria .... 3' I "35
f
The Spanish Bourbons . .
1735-1806
Joseph Bonaparte . i ,806-181 5
Joachim Murat . .
j
The Bourbons again .... 1815-1860
There were also short intervals of democratic rule under
Masaniello in 1648 and the Neapolitan Republic in 1798-99.
This island had its
separate political and monetary experiences
until it was united with Naples under the name of
the Two Sicilies by Ferdinand of Spain about I 504.
The Arabs and Normans held it from the ninth
to the twelfth century, and impressed on its coinage, as on
other parts of its history, their language, religion, and sentiment.
The metals employed alike by the Arabs and
Normans were gold and copper to a principal extent,
although concave pieces of Byzantine style in silver are
referred to the reign of Roger II. (1105-54). The latter
almost exactly resemble the posterior productions of the
Servian princes and some of those in the mediaeval Cypriot
series. The chief seat of Arabic coinage was at Palermo ;
but the Normans employed this in common with Messina
and several places on the Terra-firma: Salerno, Amalfi,
Miletus, Bari, Brindisi, Naples, Capua, and Gaeta. The
source, value, and even date of the coins are often noted :
the first in full, the value by words or dots, and the date by
the regnal year of the sovereign. The legends of the earlier
rulers of this line were bilingual, in probable deference to the
requirements of a mixed population and of trade with the
East. Attention has been drawn to the striking departure
from existing models manifested in the types put forth by
Frederic II. as King of Sicily, and by independent republican
administrators at Gaeta and Ragusa.
The intricate political relationships of this country and