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

500 The Coins of Europe
and continued to be a royal appanage even after the
accession of the family, in the person of Philip VI., to the
throne. It comprised in 1285 the historical domains of
Ferte-Milon and Pierrefonds (of which the chateau was
restored by Viollet-le-Duc for Napoleon III.). Bourbon or
the Bourbonnais had been formed out of the ancient margraviat
of Burgundy by Charles the Simple, and comprised
domains in Bern, Nevers, Autun, and Auvergne. The
Sires, subsequently Dues, de Bourbon struck money from the
thirteenth century, and we find them involved in altercations
with the Priors of Souvigny upon this subject. But the
coinage associated with this great family in its feudal stages
of development owes its repute to the branch of Bourbon-
Montpensier, on which we have dwelt in the account of
the numismatic products of Dombes. The latest researches
do not seem to have brought to light any monuments of the
Bourbons themselves beyond a few insignificant deniers
struck independently or in alliance with Souvigny.
This group of names which is here presented is primarily
of personal interest, and is a connecting link between
the numismatic department and those of history
Coucy. ....
L
,
Chateaumeillant. and biography. We do not ordinarily identify
e
with such a
Ch t meuf.
question as that before us celebrated
Turenne. characters of past times, whose renown or
repute seems to rest on literary, political, or
military grounds. We seldom think of Raoul de Coucy, of
the Courtenays, of Mazarin, of Sully, of Turenne, and lastly,
of the overbearing and rapacious Minister of Louis XIII.,
the Marechal d'Encre, as owners of seigniorial possessions
which conferred the right of striking money, and of the
favourite of Henri IV. as the employer of a numismatic staff
modelled on that of his royal master. The Seigneurs of
Chateaumeillant had exercised the privilege from the eleventh
century but Sully himself carried out the operations on a
;
more extended and systematic scale ;
and his descendants
continued to enjoy the power till the reign of Louis XV.
Of Mazarin, in respect of his acquisitions of property in the
Nivernais and elsewhere, and of the Marechal d'Encre indi-