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 487
readjustment and it is not till we reach the eleventh or
; twelfth century that we find it easy to reduce to an intelligible
form the complex monetary system. Under the
generic designation of Prankish coins a vast body of numismatic
remains is
commonly grouped together and even at
;
a more advanced epoch such agencies as disputed pretensions,
temporary partition of territory among representatives,
and coeval contrefa^ons or imitations, contribute to perplex
students. To a large extent the foregoing Catalogues will
assist in facilitating an acquaintance with this branch of the
French monetary economy by indicating, as far as possible,
every locality throughout the kingdom which at any date
struck coins, and when and for whom it struck them. In
the present place
it must suffice to furnish a synopsis of the
subject, and to specify the feudatories under the Crown who
have been instrumental in forming a series at least equal to
that of Germany in its range and diversity.
The provinces of France which long constituted virtually
sovereign states were
Aquitaine Lorraine La Marche
Poitou Normandy Provence
Burgundy Gascony Dauphine
Brittany Navarre Champagne
Alsace or Elsas Anjou
In a secondary rank, yet not less self-governing, and in all
executive details autocratic, may be classed the baronial or
princely houses of
Bayonne Nivernais Perpignan
Beam Bourbon and Bour- Toulouse
Artois bon-Montpensier Narbonne
Boulogne Dombes Orange
Perigord Auvergne Vienne
Dreux Limoges Nevers
Penthievre Chalon Soissons
Maine Turenne Vermandois
Chartres Thouars Ponthieu
Blois Angouleme Ligny
Valois Saintonge Bar
Franche-Cornte Armagnac Valentinois
Vendome
Roussillon