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

Descriptive Outline of the Coinages ofEurope 485
in the same manner as Germany, Italy, and Great Britain,
to found a monetary system. The too omnivorous amateur
is
apt to regret his universality when he discovers that it
involves accommodation for coins in silver and copper at
least, emanating from Paris, and dedicated to the service of St.
Domingo, French Guiana, Cambodia (Kan-pou-chi], Patagonia,
Madagascar, East Africa, Cochin China, and Tunis. These
currencies principally follow the French standard ;
but that
of Patagonia is in centavos and that of St. Domingo in
escalins.
Feudal Coinage of France
The feudal or seigniorial money of France, which owed
its rise and development to the same agencies as that of
Germany, the Low Countries, and Italy, cannot be compared
with the latter in any respect save its vast extent and its
multifarious character or personality. Its origin has been
usually traced to the decentralising influence of the enfeebled
imperial authority after the death of Charlemagne ;
but in fact the system and spirit had long acquired a definite
growth when the Frankish rule was extended over France
and the Marches of Spain, and merely waited for an opportunity
to consolidate itself. The government of Charlemagne,
alike in this and other parts of his wide dominions, was
strictly on a feudal basis, and was parallel with the subordinate
control of numerous minor sovereigns of graduated rank and
jurisdiction. The difference between a strong and a weak
hand really concerned the great feudatories rather than the
smaller ;
and the decline of the monarchy,
while it favoured
the aggrandisement of such states as Burgundy, Brittany,
Aquitaine, and ultimately Normandy, and indirectly opened
the way for the English occupation of parts of the kingdom
during more than a century, produced equally striking
fruits in the settlement on a permanent footing, as a distinct
political factor and a dominant social phenomenon, of a