Minting, State, and Economy in the Visigothic Kingdom

From Settlement in Aquitaine through the First Decade of the Muslim Conquest of Spain
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-94-6298-164-5
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 8, 422 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia

This study of the Visigothic kingdom's monetary system in southern Gaul and Hispania from the fifth century through the Muslim invasion of Spain fills a major gap in the scholarship of late antiquity. Examining all aspects of the making of currency, it sets minting in relation to questions of state, monarchical power, administration and apparatus, motives for money production, and economy. In the context of the later Roman Empire and its successor states in the West, the minting and currency of the Visigoths reveal shared patterns as well as originality. The analysis brings both economic life and the needs of the state into sharper focus, with significant implications for the study of an essential element in daily life and government. This study combines an appreciation for the surprising level of sophistication in the Visigothic minting system with an accessible approach to a subject which can seem complex and abstruse.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kurt, Andrew

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Mittelalterliche, neuzeitliche Archäologie (Europa)
• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Antiquitäten, Sammelobjekte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements List of Figures Introduction I - Pre-Regal Visigothic Coinage The Fifth-century Kingdom in Gaul The Kingdom in Spain, 507-c. 573 II - The King's Coinage: The Beginning and Development of the Regal Coinage (c. 573-c. 720) Transition to a Regal Coinage Regal Coin Types A Trimetallic System? III - The Activities of the Mints From c. 573 to c. 720 The Operation of the Mints The Record of Mint Output The Organization of the Mints Metrological and Metallurgical Standards IV - Why Were Gold Coins Struck in the Visigothic Kingdom? The Late Roman Context Other Reasons for Minting The Addition of Bronze to the Corpus Visigothic Minting in the Context of Contemporary Monetary Systems V - Royal Control of Visigothic Minting The Evidence The Significance of Centralized Monetary Authority VI - Coinage in Spain in the Aftermath of the Islamic Conquest VII - Visigothic Currency in the Early Medieval Economy The Other Side of the Coin Use and Circulation of Currency in the Kingdom Bronze Currency in Spain and its Mediterranean Context Conclusion Appendix I Appendix II Bibliography Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kurt, Andrew
Andrew Kurt (Ph.D., University of Toronto) is Associate Professor of History at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia.