The Monetary System of Bearn During the Time of Queen Catherine

While searching for information about the coinage of the Navarrese kings Catherine and John in the Archives of Navarre, I found a passage that provides us with a wealth of information about the monetary structure of the Lordship of Bearn during this period.

This key extract, which I mentioned in the previous blog entry is included in the 28th Document of Box 164 stored at the General Archive of Navarre (AGN, Box 164, 28th Doc). It begins on the fifth page (3rd Recto) and extends over the next six pages.

Thanks to the content of this passage and the documents of the Department Archive of Pyrénées-Atlantiques , which are contained in the book “Histoire Monetaire du Bearn” written by the expert Adrien Blanchet in 1893, I believe I can shed some light on the Bearnese monetary system during the time of Queen Catherine of Navarre and Lady of Bearn.

My explanations may be incomplete, as I have not been able to examine, complete or verify the documents in the Pau archive, but they can be very helpful as a starting point. I have not found anything like this anywhere else. I am not an expert in Bearnese coinage, my views may also be flawed, but as I open a new perspective, they can become hypotheses for further study.

So let's get started.

During Catherine's reign, there was only one mint in the Lordship of Bearn, located in the town of Morlaas. According to documents C680 and E326 in the departmental archives, Catherine's reign was not an easy time for the mintmasters of the Morlaas mint.

The estates of Bearn requested the replacement of three mintmasters in a period of ten years, Jean de Gardey (1484), Martin de la Doe (1492) and Menauton de la Motte (1494). In addition to these three, Arnaud d'Abbadie (1484), Gaston de Saint-Johan (died 1497) and Johan de Candau (1497) also served as mintmasters. There was not much stability in this mint and complaints of poorly struck coins were frequent from the estates.

In this context, we should look at Document 28 contained in Box 164 of the Navarrese Archives. Initially, the document describes some orders issued by the estates of Lizarra-Estella held in 1492 and, although the mentioned report about the Bearnese Coinage is undated, we can date it around the same period. The author could be the chief mintmaster of the kingdom of Navarre, probably Belenguer d'Aoyz, given the technical details he provides about the coinage. Here is what this remarkable passage of the document says:

Courtesy of the General Archive of Navarre AGN, Box 164, Document 28, Page 5 (3 Recto)

Este es el parecer delos que han entendido e bisitado las frapturas que dela senorya de Bearne han embiado algunos personajes sobre el fecho de la moneda en las quales frapturas no fallamos por nenguna forma q sepueda bater moneda segunt el balor dela plata a la ley ny talla que ellos frapuen ny pensamos q nenguno se obligue a fazer segun es comenydo enellas ny segont ley peso e medida que es acostumbrada entodas las casas de moneda que hasta el dia de oy se han fecho segunt berdat e assi por mandado de los Rey e Reyna nuestros soberanos senores en su real consejo havemos fecho el present havys delo que se puede fazer segunt el balor que dan al marquo de plata de argent fin q son XII dineros de ley e segunt dchos e ntros conciencias havemos fecho el present havys como se sigue:

Et Primeramente nos parece sedeben fazer escudos de oro, los quales avran ley de beynte dos quirates tres quartos habran remedio un quarto de quirat e seran a beynte dos quirates y medio sin otro remedio sino como dicho es e se faran de talla a setenta dos piezas por marquo sin remedio enla talla, edara el maestro a los que traeran oro a ley delos dchos beynte dos quirates y tres quartos setenta escudos de oro monedado por marquo e de oro fino al equipolent.

Item havran el rey e Reyna ntros Senores por el Senoreaje por marquo de oro una pieza e los otros officiales como son obreros monederos el maestro y todos los otros la otra pieza demanera que se de a todos los que traeran como dicho es marquo doro de beyntedos quarats y tres quartos havran los dichos setenta escudos y el quarto del remedio sera del dicho maestro pues a la senorya da una pieza por marquo. E parecenos q no debe cessar en la casa deberan de bater del dcho oro ala sobredcha ley et talla, porque quede en la tierra aquel probecho tomando enjemplo en lo que se ha seguydo delas baquetas y dela moneda blanca.

This first passage is an introductory one; it reveals that the Bearnaise mint of Morlaas was having problems when it came to minting coins and as a result, the royal house sought advice from the Navarrese coiners. As explained in the first paragraph, the Navarrese expert believed that the weight and standard of the coins minted in the Bearnaise Lordship could no longer be maintained. He then gives us the proposed characteristics of the coins to be minted.

First, the gold coins are mentioned, the gold shields (Escudos) of Bearn. For these, he proposes the same specifications as the ducats or "Nabarro" coins minted in Navarre. Regarding the fineness, the nominal gold content is 22.75 carats but with a remedy of a quarter of a carat it would be 22.5 carats, equal to the Navarrese ducats. For the weight, 72 coins were minted in each mark, nominally about 3.4 grams per coin. Gold owner who brought it to the mint would be paid 70 coins, one coin would be going to the royal house as a seigniorage tax and the last one would be destined to minting costs; the exact same pattern as the Navarrese coins minted in Navarre.

Fortunately, Page 14 of Collection C680 in the aforementioned Departmental archive reflects the royal order issued in the Palace of Olite-Erriberri in 1493, which details the structure of the Bearnaise coins:

"Ordonnances feytas toquant la monede, lo XX jorns de Mars 1493, a Olit, servadores a Morlaas et autres Pars

Sur la mise de la monede

Primo lo maestre particular balhera de marc d'or fin, cent septante tres francs sincq soos VIII diners, paguementz de scutz a vint et cuatre soos II diners pesse.

Item fara diners d’aur; seran a XXII Kayratz et tres quoars de Kayrat et ung quart de kayrat de remedi et a VI soos de talhe"

The previous passage would indicate that the advice of the Navarrese expert was accepted and implemented, as it would indicate that 72 coins or six schillings/sous (6×12=72) had to be made from a rough mark.

Few of Catherine's gold shields have survived to our days, I have only found three at this stage, one in the National Library of France, another in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Pau and the last one was sold in an auction in 2005:

Gold shield minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 3.25 gr

Obverse: KTHERINA 8 DEI 8 GRA 8 DOMINA 8 BEARNI

Reverse: DOMINVS 8 ILLVMINATIO 8 MEA 8 ET 8 SALVS

Image from the National Library of France

Gold shield minted at Morlaas in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn 

Obverse: KTHERINA 8 DEI 8 GRA 8 DOMINA 8 BEARNI

Reverse: DOMINVS 8 ILLVMINATIO 8 MEA 8 ET 8 SALVS

Jean Vinchon Numismatique Vente du 29/10/2005 Lot 89

We do not have reliable data on the weight of the third coin. In the case of the coins at museums, the weight is around 3.25 grams, instead of the previously stated 3.40 grams. This could indicate that the Bearnaise gold coins minted before or after the 1493 ones were slightly below the weight of the Navarrese ones, slightly above in the gold content though. 

This would be confirmed by the ordinance regarding the value and circulation of coins, published in 1492 on the recommendation of the estates of Estella, as we saw in the previous blog entry .

But, in order to reflect the different sources, I have also extracted the equivalences shown in the Bearnaise documents. Here is a value table, where I have reflected the value of the different gold coins in its country:

Gold Coin Type	Nominal Weight	Fineness	Year 1492: Value according to the Navarrese System (AGN 164N28)	Year 1489: Value according to the Bearnaise System (ADPA C680 F11)	Year 1493: Value according to the Bearnaise System (ADPA C680 F14)	Year 1494: Value according to the Bearnaise System (ADPA C680 F15)	Value according to the French System
Old Ducat of Navarre – Francis Phebus	3.4 grams	958 mils	56 gros = 112 sous = 1344 deniers	25 sous = 300 deniers	25 sous = 300 deniers	25 sous = 300 deniers	???
New Ducat of Navarre/"Nabarro" – Catherine	3.4 grams	937.5 mils	53 gross = 106 sous = 1272 deniers	24 sous = 288 deniers	23 sous 8 deniers = 284 deniers	23 sous 4 deniers – 280 deniers	???
Shield/Ecu of Bearn – Catherine	3.25 grams??	??? – 937.5 mils??	52 gross = 104 sous = 1248 deniers	24 sous 2 deniers = 290 deniers	23 sous 2 deniers = 278 deniers	24 sous 3 deniers = 291 deniers	???
Shield/Ecu of the Sun of France – Charles VIII	3,496 grams	963 mils	52 gross = 104 sous = 1248 deniers	24 sous 2 deniers = 290 deniers	23 sous 2 deniers = 278 deniers	24 sous 3 deniers = 291 deniers	36 sous 3 deniers = 435 deniers

Equivalences between the gold coins of Navarre, Bearn and France, according to the monetary system of each territory – ADPA = Archives Départementales Pyrénées Atlantiques

All kingdoms of Navarre, Bearn and France had the same accounting system based on the pound/Livre, the shilling/Sou and the penny/Denier. One pound was worth twenty shillings and one shilling twelve deniers. But in each kingdom, the basis of its accounting system, the monetary unit of its currency system was different, the Denier Tournais in France, the half-cornado or negrete in Navarre and the monetary unit that we will see later in this entry for Bearn.

There was a 1.5-fold equivalence between the monetary unit of Bearn and France, while between Bearn and Navarre it was 4.3-fold.

This can be seen by reconstructing the table of the value of gold coins.

Gold Coin Type	Nominal Weight	Fineness	Year 1492: Value according to the Navarrese System (AGN 164N28)	Year 1489: Value according to the Bearnaise System (ADPA C680 F11)	Value according to the French System	Year 1489: Amount of deniers in Each System According to Equivalence of that year	Monetary System Equivalence Ratio
New Ducat of Navarre/"Nabarro" – Catherine	3.4 grams	937.5 mils	53 gros – 1272 deniers	24 sous = 288 deniers	???	1248	4.30
Shield of Bearn – Catherine	3.25 grams??	??? – 937.5 mils??	52 gros – 1248 deniers	24 sous 2 deniers = 290 deniers	???	24 sous 2 deniers = 290 deniers	1
Shield/Ecu of the Sun of France – Charles VIII	3,496 grams	963 mils	52 gros – 1248 deniers	24 sous 2 deniers = 290 deniers	36 sous 3 deniers = 435 deniers	36 sous 3 deniers = 435 deniers	1.5

Equivalence ratio between the monetary systems of France, Bearn and Navarre

Let's continue with the next page of the document from the Navarrese archive, as we will now discuss silver coinage:

Courtesy of the General Archive of Navarre AGN, Box 164, Document 28, Page 6 (3 Verso)

Et bien assi en un marquo d'argent fin acopella ay doze dineros fine argent y en el dinero assi bien ay beynte quatro granos. Esta es la ley delaqual todos los officiales delas casas de moneda en todo el mundo han acostumbrado y lo faran hasta la fin del mundo entanto q faran moneda.

Et bien assi un marquo d’argent de doze dineros de ley affinado que es un sueldo de fino bale doze francos de Rey en todas las casas de la moneda q fazen en el reyno de Francia, segun relatan delos que saben los quales acostumbran de dar atodos los que traen a la dcha moneda los dichos doze franquos por marquo del dcho argent de copela e delo q es marcado al equipolent segun la ley que compete.

Et bien assi baliendo el sueldo de ley de fin argent q son doze dineros a doze Franquos el marquo y el franquo ochenta ardits monta el marquo de fino de los dichos XII dineros a nebecientos sessenta ardites que son cient sessenta sueldos de a VI ardits por sueldo, monta seze franquos burdaleses a X sueldos por Franquo.

Et bien assi por quanto enhum marquo no se fara tan buena menta para no cargar sobre la moneda tanto y se faze menta de ocho marquos de argent fin de la sobre dcha ley de los doze dineros que bateran beyntequatro marqos de obra y por cargar sobrello han acordado de fazerlo assi q montan los ocho marquos de fino que son ocho sueldos deley a Razon de los dchos XVI franquos de cada diez sueldos, Cient y beynteocho franqos.—————–> CXXVIII franq

This first passage gives us the equivalent weights of each silver mark, which, instead of being subdivided into the usual eight ounces, is subdivided into twelve silver francs. From each of these silver francs, 80 hardi/ardits would have to be extracted (this would give us that each ardit contained about 0.25g of pure silver). A pure silver mark would give us 960 ardits in total, and since each ardit was worth two deniers, this would give us 160 sous (each sous was worth 12 deniers). Here, a new unit of account is introduced, the franc of Bordeaux, which was equivalent to half a pound/livre or ten sous. Consequently, from each pure silver mark, 16 francs of Bordeaux, 160 sous, 960 ardits or 1920 units of deniers were extracted.

The mintmaster of Navarre then discusses the characteristics that the coins we nowadays name as Bearnaise blancs should have. They were said to have a silver content of one third, since eight marks of fine silver were used in twenty-four marks of rough silver, which is a fineness of 4 deniers or 333 mils. The purchase cost of these eight marks would have been 128 francs of Bordeaux in total, sixteen francs per mark of fine silver.

The following pages list the expenses and costs of the minting process for these twenty-four rough marks. Although it is rather long, I have included all the pages below, along with my presumed reading. I find it very interesting as it gives us information about the techniques and procedures used in the mint, the costs related to the workers, raw materials and the description of the minting steps involved:

Courtesy of the General Archive of Navarre AGN, Box 164, Document 28, Page 7 (4 Recto)

Item a los sobredichos ocho marquos de argent fin se Reqiere ocho marquos dargent fin de XII dineros de ley seldran XXIIII marquos de obra a IIII dineros argent fin e porque no se puede bater moneda sin Remedio ny se fizo jamas ny se fara ha menester en cada marquo de obra un grano a lo menos de remedio como abaxo fara mennor.

Las despensas de VIII marquos de ley dargent fin de XII dineros como esta dicho:

Primo balen VIII marquos de plata fina de a XII dineros contando como de suso es dicho a XVI francos burdaleses de X sueldos el franco y el sueldo seys ardites monta —–> CXXVIII franquos

Item se requieren para liga XVI marcos de cuybre q balen a X ardits libra de doze onzas y media monta -> 1 Franquo VII Sueldos X dineros

Item palas mermas de fonder pa ligar la plata con el cuybre en XXIIII marquos mermara sin fallar dos onzas e por expensa se fallara q balen las dchas dos onzas ——> 1 Franco V sueldos

Item paralas mermas del forjar e decortar todas a peso ygual e de redonder yalonar se mermara por expensa buna onza en los dchos XXIIII marquos en especial q han de ser Rendidos recogida la dcha obra q monta la onza -> VII Sueldos VI Dineros

Suma plana CXXXII franquos IIII dineros

Courtesy of the General Archive of Navarre AGN, Box 164, Document 28, Page 8 (4 verso)

Item de mermas se requyere pa enblanqar despues q los obreros dan la obra fecha al maestro recozida como dcho es mermara por marquo de obra una pieza de tres ardits que monta en los XXIII marquos e V onzas XXIII piezas y media a tres ardites monta -> 1 Franquo I Sueldo VIIII Dineros

Item pa los obreros lo ques aconstumbrado dar por marquo de obra a VI ardits q monta XXIII sueldos VI dineros los quales dara la dicha obra al maestro pesadas pieza por pieza todas fuertes de talla yguales los quales seran pagados de lo que renderan het eno de la cizalla q monta —–> II Francos III Sueldos VI Diners

Item a los monederos por marquo demonedar a III ardits por obra monedada monta —–> I Franquo I Sueldo VIIII Dineros

Item a los officiales sedara lo ques acostumbrado todos tiempos q son a III ardits por marquo de obra estos son para los cunyos e pa el tallador e pa el ensayador e palaguarda e pa el general q monta en los XXIII marquos V onzas ——-> I Franquo I Sueldo VIIII Dineros

Item el carbon pa fonder el maestro y pa el obrar a los obreros pala sobre dcha obra —————–> V sueldos

Item pa crisuelos alvun decriba sal leyna pa emblanquir pa la dcha obra ———————> II sueldos

Item palas sellas de la libranza q toma la guarda y el ensayador por retener las muestras con el Report —–> II Sueldos

Item al maestro por sus trabajos pa la arcilha e cosas necessarias a la dcha moneda pala sobre dcha obra a IIII ardits por marq q monta ———————> 1 franquo 6 sueldos

Suma Plana VIII francos III Sueldos VIIII Dineros

Assi suma la despensa con el argent de la obra fecha como de suso parece de los XXIII marquos III onzas y media de obra emblanquyda e monedada monta en net —————–> CXXXX Franquos IIII Sueldos I diner

If we make a summary of these pages, we can see that the expenses involved in the process of minting these 24 rough marks into Quoarder, double or tarja coins were as follows:

• Purchase cost of eight silver marks: 128 Bordeaux Francs
• Purchase cost of sixteen copper marks: One franc, 7 sous, 10 deniers
• The payment for those who prepared the blanks (Planchets): 2 Francs, 3 Sous, 6 Deniers
• The payment for those who minted coins: One Franc, One Sou, 9 Deniers
• Payment for the piles, dies, engravers, guards, generals and assayers: One Franc, One Sou, 9 Deniers
• Coal: 5 Sous
• Tools, wood and implements: 2 Sous
• Coinage samples for the assayer's tests: 2 Sous
• Mintmaster's clay and other items: One Franc, 6 Sous

Of the twenty-four rough marks initially prepared, 23 marks and 3.5 ounces were eventually minted. A summary of the losses and costs incurred in the minting process would be as follows:

• When melting and mixing silver and copper: 2 ounces -> 1 franc, 5 sous
• In processing, cutting, equalizing and rounding: 1 ounce -> 7 Sous, 6 Deniers
• When re-smelting and whitening coins: One piece/work in a rough mark -> One franc, one sou, 9 Deniers

If we add all of these together, we get costs of 140 Francs, 4 Sous and one denier.

Courtesy of the General Archive of Navarre AGN, Box 164, Document 28, Page 9 (5 Recto)

Item contando los VIII Sueldos de ley de Argent fin a XII dineros a Razon de XVI Franquos burdaleses el marquo del sueldo deley e bien assi cargadas las despensas y mermas como de suso parece fallaran en neto beyntetres marquos tres onzas y media de obra limpia en neto q balen los dchos XXIII marquos III onzas y media de la obra fecha contando a CXX piezas por marcho a III ardits q faze LX Sueldos por marquo de obra ——> CXXXX Francos VI sueldos III dineros.

Assi sobra de la obra fecha a las costas e por principal dela dcha moneda en los XXIII marqos y III onzas y media II sueldos y II dineros q son XIII ardits q biene a cada marco de obra un dinero e mas en toda la dcha obra dos ardits y medio. —–> II sueldos II dineros

The monetary mass created was 140 Francs, 6 Sous and three deniers. A surplus of two sous and one ardit was created.

If we compare it with the ordinances in force in the Kingdom of Navarre, the previous passages show us different taxation scheme for coinage production. What surprised me first was the lack of mention of the seigniorage tax. The costs of the piles/dies and the salaries of the assayer, guard, general and engraver were paid from the coins produced from each rough mark. And the remuneration received (three ardit per rough mark) was the same as that received by the coiners, half of that received by those who prepared the blanks (six ardit per rough mark). Of course, the number of coiners would have been higher than that of the officials and the numbers of those who prepared the blanks even higher, but this payment model of the officials seemed quite interesting to me.

This last passage also gives us a lot of information about the medium value coins. If 23 marks and 3.5 ounces with a fineness of 333 mils were minted, the coins produced should have a nominal weight of 2.04 grams (244.740gr/120=2.04gr out of a rough mark -> 120 pieces). Although the names of these coins are not given, it is indicated that they should have been worth three ardits. Since these ardits were worth two deniers, these coins would have been worth six bearnaise deniers.

These proposed medium value coins were probably not minted with these characteristics. In fact, the structure of the medium value coins turned out to be quite complex in these times. On the one hand, Bearn wanted to follow the structure in force in the Kingdom of France, but at the same time they were trying to get closer to the structure of Navarre.

The medium value coin of this period in the French kingdom was called "blanc". At the beginning of the reign of Charles VIII (1483-1498), two different types of blancs were minted, the sun blank and the crown blank, each worth twelve Tournai deniers. Their silver content was above four deniers (4 deniers = 333 thousandths) and, although their nominal weight decreased, they were close to 3 grams.

But from the end of 1488, King Charles VIII began to mint new blanks of the K crown, worth ten Tournai deniers. Their silver content was already below 4 fineness deniers (3 deniers and 20 grains) and their weight was around 2.6 grams.

Blank of the sun coin minted in the name of Charles VIII (1483-1498) King of France – from 1483 onwards – Coin: 2.91gr, 25.9mm – Troyes Mint

Nominally 359 mils silver content (4 deniers and 7 grains), 3.117 gr, 12 Tournai Deniers

Obverse: KAROLVS: FRANCORVM: REX

Reverse: SIT: NOMEN: DNI: BENEDICTVM:

iNumis, Mail Bid Sale 45, Lot 2068 05.03.2019

Blank of the Crown coin minted in the name of Charles VIII (1483-1498) King of France – from 1488 Onwards – Coin: 2.38gr 27mm – Bourges Mint

Nominally 359 mils silver content (4 deniers and 7 grains), 2,846gr, 12 Tournai deniers

Obverse: + KAROLVS* FRANCORVM* REX* B (Bourges)

Reverse: + SIT* NOME* DNI* BENEDICTV* B (Bourges)

CGB.fr, Internet Auction July 2023, Lot 853307 25.07.2023

Blanc of the crowned K coin minted in the name of Charles VIII (1483-1498), King of France – from the end of 1488 Onwards – Coin: 2.42gr – Paris Mint

Nominally 319 mils silver content (3 deniers and 20 grains), 2,646gr, 10 Tournai deniers

Obverse: + KAROLVS* FRANCORVM* REX*

Reverse: + SIT* NOMEN* DNI* BENEDICTV*

Myntkompaniet/AB Philea, Coin Auction 20, Lot 626 08.05.2021

The medium value coins of Bearn followed the same pattern of devaluation; although we know them today as blancs, the medium-sized coins of Bearn were called "quoarder" or "double" (as we shall see, they were later also called "tarja"). The name quoarder somehow reminds us of the notion of the number four; and this was the case, since these quoarders were worth four ardits at the beginning of the reign. Four ardits were worth eight Bearnaise coins.

There was a 1.5-times equivalence between the Bearnaise and French monetary systems, as we have seen in the gold section.

Using this equivalence ratio, we can see that 8 Bearnaise deniers worth of a quoarder were 12 Tournai deniers of the French system (8 Bearnaise deniers x 1.5 = 12 Tournai deniers).

Catherine's quoarders, which mirrored the 12 denier blancs of the French kingdom, are very scarce. The following photograph of this coin type, taken from the forum website of the expert Serge Salles, shows us the stylistic similarities these quoarders had with the French ones:

Silver quoarder minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 2.10 gr

Obverse: + KATALINA : DEI : G : DOMINA : BEAR

Reverse: PAX*ET*HONOR*FORQVIE*MORLA

Serge Salles' Forum content

Silver quoarder minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 1.91 gr – 24.5 mm diameter

Obverse: + KTHERINA : DEI : G : DOMINA : BEARN

Reverse: PAX*ET*HONOR*FORQVIE*MORLA

Inumis store archive

But when the usage of blancs worth ten Tournai deniers spread throughout the kingdom of France, the value of these quoarders also had to be adjusted in Bearn and therefore given a new value of 3.33 ardits or Morlaas (10 Tournai deniers/ 1.5 ratio = 6.66 Bearnaise deniers – > 3.33 ardits or Morlaas). We must remember that; although Bearn was a sovereign territory, the royal house of Foix had many feudal territories within France (Foix and Bigorre among others); they preferred easy equivalence with the French monetary system.

I was able to find a couple of documents that confirm this. The C680 F11 documents, located in the departmental archives that we mentioned earlier when we looked at the gold coins, which were issued in Pau on November 30th 1489 give us the following equivalences for silver coins:

• “Dobles de Bearn a quoate arditz pesse.
• Dobles de France e deu sorelh a IIII arditz ung diner pesse.
• Dobles de France de la Corone a IIII arditz pesse.
• Dobles de France deu K las tres X arditz
• Gros de France, XII arditz pesse.
• Testoos de Milan trente sept arditz ung diner.
• ….
• Gros de Navarra bielhs a XII arditz pesse.”

I have realized that this last equivalence is of immense importance, not only for the history of the coins of Bearn, but also for the coinage of Navarre (Gros de Navarra bielhs a XII arditz pesse). I'll have to write a whole section about this.

As we can see, the double or quoarder maintained its value of four ardits in 1489, on par with the sun-crowned blanc of the French kingdom. The blanc of the crowned K, on the other hand, already had a value of three and a third ardits, as we had anticipated in the previous passage.

But the document C680 F14 in the archives details the following dated on April 11, 1494:

“Cors d’argent:

Primo baquetes: VI baquetes per I morlaas (At this time, the baquettes contained less silver than they should, and a ardit was worth 6 instead of 4 baquettes for a short time.)

Quoarders: Los tres per X Morlaas”…

The quoarder was already worth 3.33 ardits or Morlaas.

On July 8, 1494, the estates of Bearn held in Lescar, called for the guaranteeing the value of coinage, as recorded in document C680 F17:

“…et au regard deus Morlaas, quoaderns, et autes monedes, es adviis aus dictz deputatz que deben aver cors et coardens aixi que es acostumat…”

And afterwards, on August 19, 1494, document C680 F15, issued in Pamplona, reflects the royal court's response:

"...Et au Regard de las targes de quoate morlaas et deus medixs morlaas batutz en nostre dicte secque et monede de Morlaas; considerant lo cors et mise de las autres susdictes monedes tant d’aur que d’argent se reforme en mendre pretz en mise que no ere acostumat en los dicts pays de Bearn combien es rasonable que las dictes targes batudes a Morlaas et los medixs morlaas conveniencie et correspondencie mise a las pesses d’aur, car autrement si se meten en la prumere mise et qui a present se meten sens impossible agossen correspondancie a la mise de las autres susdictes pesses et redondere totz jorns en mayor interesse et dampnadge deu dict pays.

Per so, volem, statuim et ordenam que las dictes targes de Morlaas ayen cors et mise dessi en avant las tres per detz morlaas et los tres morlaas la valor de dus bons morlaas de forte monede".

The hypothesis presented is confirmed by the previous passages, which reduced the value of the quoader to 3.33 ardits. They also began to be called tarja, derived from the name of the coins of Brittany. The last passage also tells us about two different Morlaas or ardits, where three older Morlaas coins should have been equivalent to two new ardits. We will talk about this later.

But the AGN164 N28 document in the Navarrese archive which we mentioned at the beginning of this section was refering to coins with a value of three morlaas, instead of 3.33 ones. This could be an abreviation made at the time of writing the document. In fact, the fact that coins of three morlaas or ardits (or three and a third) began to be minted from 1493 onwards is confirmed by document C680 F14 in the departmental archive. This was issued in Erriberri-Olite on March 20, 1493.

"... Item fara diners de tres morlaas; seran a tres diners XVIII graas de fin ab dus de remedi et a nau soos de talhe, ab dues pesses de remedi..."

Instead of the coins of 333 mils and 2.04 grams proposed by the Navarrese experts, the minting of tarjas with a nominal fineness of 312.5 mils and 2.26 grams was ordered. These tarjas must have had the value of the aforementioned three ardits and were probably similar to the following ones.

Silver blanc struck at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 2.24 gr, 23.5mm diameter

Obverse: KTHERINA : DEI : G : DNA : BEARN

Reverse: PAX : ET : HONOR : FORQVIE : MORLA

CGB.FR, INTERNET AUCTION JANUARY 2023, LOT 801806 24.01.2023

These tarja, quoarder or double, of three ardits or three ardits and a third, show a ring on the reverse, and this ring faces the letters M or MO:

Silver double or quoarder minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 2.35 gr

Obverse: KTHERINA $ DEI $ G $ DNA $ BEAR

Reverse: PAX $ ET $ HONOR $ FORQVIE $ MORL

Aureo & Calicó, Auction 396, Lot 3407 18.10.2022

Quoarders that show this ring tend to weigh around the aforementioned 2.26 grams. These specimens could have been minted by Menauton de la Motte, who was the chief mintmaster of Morlaas between 1492 and 1494. Mo for Morlaassignalling the letters that the ring is pointing at, would give us a characteristic that indicated the mintmasters surname.

But there are also specimens that show the ring in a different location. The quoarder/double specimens that show the ring under the cross or the P on the reverse side tend to be above the previously indicated weight of 2.26 grams:

Silver double or quoarder minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 2.63 gr 26 mm diameter

Obverse: KTHERINA X DEI XGX DNA X BEARNI

Reverse: PAX X ET X HONOR X FORQVIE X MORLA

iNumis, Mail Bid Sale 34, Lot 440 11.10.2016

If we consider the ring as a mark of the mintmaster's identity, and since we can assume that the heavier coins were minted before the time of Menauton, we can suspect that this second set of ringed coins could be minted by the mintmaster Arnaud d'Abbadie. However, this hypothesis has no solid basis.

Some readers may have already come up with a second possibility for the meaning of the ring. If the letters MO are emphasized in one case and PA in the other, is it possible that the ring could have represented the mint location instead of the mintmaster? Mo for Morlaasand Pau in this case?

All the documents that have survived till our days would speak against this hypothesis. In all these documents, there is no mention of coins minted at the Pau mint until the first quarter or more possibly the middle of the 16th century. Therefore, for now, we would say that the ring is the hallmark of the mintmaster.

A third group would be made up of coins that do not show a ring. Since these quoarder, double or tarjas were used so widely, they often suffered a lot of wear. This lack of the ring could be the result of wear, or it could also be a reflection of coins produced at another mint or under a different mintmaster/coinage period:

Silver double or quoarder struck at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – No ring

Obverse: KATHERINA X DEI X G X DNA X BEARN

Reverse: PAX X ET X HONOR X FORQVIE X MORL

Au Papier Monnaie

So far we have learned a couple of interesting facts about these quoarder billon specimens. They were named quoarder, double and tarja in various Bearnaise documents, and these documents never used the name blanc. We should use the historical factual name of these coin specimens in the future.

Probably, the first ones to be minted were the lobed quoarders and were at least initially valued at 4 ardids. I believe that the unlobed ones were minted at a later stage and although in some documents they were valued at three ardits, I believe that they were worth three ardits and one third, on a par with the French ten Tournai deniers blancs. This would be confirmed by another reference I found in the book of the expert Adrien Blanchet (Page 100 of the book, Chapter 5, „Cours de la monnaie de Bearn“):

„Double: On en frappait en 1503 et nous voyons que 42 doubles valaient 23 sous et 2 ardits (ADPA C680 F48). Toutefois je ne peux preciser a quelle monnaie on avait donné ce nom.“

The expert Adrien Blanchet was unable to match this double coin in 1893. If we multiply forty-two doubles by 6.66 deniers (each double is worth 3.33 ardits or morlaases, and each ardit is worth two deniers) we get 23 sous and a third of a sou. Since a sou contained 6 ardits, here we have that the 23 sous and 2 ardits mentioned, are exact. We therefore know that in 1503 doubles or quoarders were still being struck and that in the year mentioned they were worth 3 and a third ardits.

If we analyze the data we have on the silver content of these coins and compare them with similar coins from neighboring kingdoms, we can create the following table:

Silver Coin Type	Nominal Weight	Fineness	Silver content
Quoarder – Navarrese proposal from 1492	120 pieces in rough mark – 2.04 gr	4 fineness deniers – 333 mils	0.68 grams
Quoarder – Coinage law of 1493	108 pieces in mark – 2.27 gr	3 deniers and 18 grains – 312.5 mils	0.7081 grams
French crowned K Blanc – Karolus	2.646 grams	3 deniers and 20 grains – 319 mils	0.8440 grams
Navarrese Tarjas originated in the law of 1495	100 pieces in mark – 2.45gr	3 deniers and 16 grains – 305.5 mils	0.7478 grams

Silver content and weight peculiarities of the Bearnaise quoarder/double and similar coins from surrounding area

As we can see, the Navarrese tarjas and the Bearnaise quoarders were quite similar in terms of silver content, with the Navarrese coins having slightly higher content, around %6.5. But the French Carolus were considerably higher regarding silver content than the Navarrese or Bearnaise equivalent coins. Given that these Bearnaise coins were intended to be paired with the Carolus, it is not surprising that the French institutions and the royal court presented complaints in the upcoming years.

So far we have talked about coins that were worth three or three and a third Morlaas or ardits.

But what did these so-called Molaas or ardit coins look like and where were they located within the Bearnaise monetary system?

The first Morlaas coins, made during Catherine's reign, looked like this:

Morlaas coin of billon minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 0.65gr

Obverse: + K DEI GRA DNA BEARN

Reverse: + ET HONOR FORQVIE MORL (PAX in the center of the coin)

Aureo & Calicó, Auction 296, Lot 1943 21.09.2017

I do not dare to call this first model of Catherine "ardit", because the stylistic model is that of the ancient deniers Morlaas and we do not know at what moment the coin called ardit, worth two denniers, was introduced. During Catherine's reign, in 1489, there was already a mention of the ardit. So, until which year and with which value was this first Morlaas model of Catherine struck?

These Morlaas coins of Catherine followed the pattern of her grandfather Gaston's coins of the same type. Her brother Francis Phoebus (1472-1483) did not strike any similar coins.

Billon coin minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Gaston IV (1436-1472), Lord of Bearn – 0.59gr

Obverse: + GASTO: LO CONS 

Reverse: + ONOR FORCAS (PAX in the center of the coin)

CGB.fr, Internet Auction June 2022, Lot 741093 07.06.2022

I have no information about the names and values of Gaston's coins. But during the time of his predecessor Jean de Grailly (1412-1436), we have a coinage agreement signed in 1434 between the mintmaster of Morlaas, Peyreton d'Arblade, and Lord Jean de Grailly (ADPA E322), in which the three types of coins to be minted were described as denier, medaille and pujesa; these three coins were equivalent to a penny/denier, a half penny/denier and a quarter penny /denier(Histoire Monetaire du Bearn, Adrien Blanchet, page 140, Pieces Justificatives):

„Item, lodit Peyreton es tengut de bater et far en ladite monede Morlaas blancs a sieys diners de ley fii et a vint et sieys soos de talhe, marc de Colonhe (today it would be around 0.75gr); medalhes morlanes que las dues agen de cors ung diner morla a sieys diners de ley fii et sinquoante et dus soos de talhe (today it would be around 0.375gr), ab dus graas de remedi de la ley per marc dobre, et tres diners de remedi per marc de la talhe. Et aixi ben es tengut de bater monede aperade pogese que sera blanque et aura de cors quoatre per ung diner morlaas a ung diner et dotze graas de ley et a trente soos et sieys diners de talhe (today it would be about 0.64 gr).

There was still no trace of Ardit coins in this year 1434.

These pujesa coins would later be called baquette and four of them would have the value of the monetary unit of the time, the denier, ardit or liard in each period.

These Morlaas coins from the time of Lord Jean de Grailly looked like this:

Billon coin struck at the Morlaas mint in the name of Jean de Grailly (1412-1436) Lord of Bearn – 0.58gr – 17 mm diameter – (0.7480 nominal weight, 500 mils silver)

Obverse: + IOAN: LO CONS

Reverse: + ONOR FORCAS (PAX in the center of the coin)

iNumis, Mail Bid Sale 20, Lot 866 12.03.2013

What is clear is that the coins of Gaston and his predecessor Jean Grailly were the heirs of the Morlaas deniers which were the monetary reference in Gascony for many years:

Silver denier of Bearn and Bigorre minted in the name of Count Centulo (11th-14th century) – approx. 1.25gr

Obverse: CENTULLO COM (Broad-Legged Cross, two besants in the first and second quarters)

Reverse: ONOR FORCAS PAX (The word PAX on two lines)

AUKTIONSHAUS HD RAUCH GMBH, AUCTION 114, LOT 549 16.06.2022

These Morlaas coins were structured into the Carolingian system of pounds, shillings and deniers, being the monetary unit of this system in Bearn. The obol was also minted, which was a half of the monetary unit. These coins became very widespread in Gascony during the 13th century, and had a greater weight and silver content than their counterparts in Navarre and France.

During the reign of Gaston IV or probably Queen Catherine, these Morlaas coins were increased into the value of two deniers. As a result, they would receive the name of ardits and the pugesas (or, as we know them today, the baquettes), which were worth a quarter of a denier, were increased to the value of a quarter of a ardit.

During Catherine's reign, her first unitary coinage model, presented earlier, developed into a new model. This may have been a stylistic development that reflected the value upgrade from the denier unit to the double denier, the ardit. If so, this development occurred before 1489, as the ardit is already mentioned in documents in this year (ADPA C680 F11).

Likewise, this development is again confirmed by document C680 F15, dated August 19, 1494, in Pamplona:

"...Per so, volem, statuim et ordenam que las dictes targes de Morlaas ayen cors et mise dessi en avant las tres per detz morlaas et los tres morlaas la valor de dus bons morlaas de forte monede".

In this passage, two different morlaas coins were mentioned, where it seems that in return of three older morlaas, the exchange of two new, more valuable morlaas or ardits was established.

The second Morlaas model developed during Catherine's reign would be the following:

Morlaas or ardit of billon minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 0.73gr

Obverse: + KATE : DEI : G : DNA : B :

Reverse: + PAX : HONOR : FORQ…

Serge Salles' Forum content

Where we can see that this stylistic second model continued at the beginning of the reign of Henry of Albret (Catherine's son):

Morlaas or ardit of billon minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Henry of Albret (1517-1555), Lord of Bearn – 0.89gr

Obverse: + HENRICVS: [DEI]: G:

Reverse: + PA[X ET :] hOnOR: FO

CGB.fr, Live Auction June 2019, Lot 533458 04.06.2019

Although we do not have data on the weight and nominal silver content of these Bearnaise ardits, if we look at the 1.5 times equivalence with the French coins we have observed above, we can conclude that a Bearnaise ardit or Morlaas must have had a similar silver content of a French hardi or liard. At least that was the model used as a reference. Here is a hardi specimen from the French kingdom minted in Bordeaux, where these specimens were worth three Tournai deniers:

A hardi bullion coin minted at the Bordeaux mint in the name of Charles VIII (1483-1498), King of France with value of 3 tournai deniers – 0.99gr 17mm diameter – Nominal weight 1.133 gr, nominal silver content 239 mils

Obverse: + KAROLVS FRANCORVM REX

REVERSE: + SIT NOMEN DOMINI

Monnaies d'Antan, Auction 28, Lot 587 28.11.2020

The last type of coin that made up the monetary system of Bearn during the reign of Catherine would be the previously mentioned baquette. These pujesa or quarter coins of Lord Jean de Grailly would later be called baquettes and four of these coins would always have the value of the monetary unit of the time, one ardit at this time.

It is quite clear where the name Baquette came from:

Billon Baquette coin minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Jean de Grailly (1412-1436) Lord of Bearn – 0.63gr – (nominal weight 0.64gr, 125 mils silver)

Obverse: + ONOR FORCAS (Cow of Bearn in the middle)

Reverse: +  IOAN: LO CONS

Tauler & Fau Auctions, Auction 144, Lot 1399 24.06.2024

Billon baquette coin minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Gaston IV (1436-1472), Lord of Bearn – 0.46gr

Obverse: + ONOR FORCAS (Cow of Bearn in the middle)

Reverse: +  GASTO: LO CONS

Tauler & Fau Auctions, Auction 83, Lot 5182 04.05.2021

A billon baquette coin minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Francis Phoebus, Lord of Bearn (1472-1483) – 0.80gr 15mm diameter

Obverse: + F * F * D * G * DNS * BEARNI (Cow of Bearn in the middle)

Reverse: + PAX HONOR FORQVIE

Tichat40 Collector's Edition

Billon baquette coin minted at the Morlaas mint in the name of Catherine (1483-1517) Lady of Bearn – 0.67gr 15.5 mm diameter

Obverse: K° D° G° DNA° BEARN (Cow of Bearn in the middle)

Reverse: PAX s HONOR s FORQVI

iNumis, Mail Bid Sale 22, Lot 639 04.06.2013

Although Document 28, Box 164 of the Navarrese Archives, does not contain any information on the specifics of ardit minting, it does contain information on baquette minting, similar to the one previously described for double/quoarders. Here is what the Navarrese expert who wrote the document around 1492 proposed:

"Baquetas que las cuatro balgan bun ardit

Primo hun marquo dargent fin de XII dineros bale seze (*franquos) saldra de baquetas rebatidas las menguas como parece abajo beinte marquos neto e sepuede fazer a ley de XIIII granos e seran de talla a beyntecuatro sueldos en marquo de obra que montara la obra fecha net beyntequatro francos e hauran remedio en la talla por marquo de obra ocho baquetas y en la ley no haura remedio salbo que han de ser a quartorze granos.” (AGN Box 164, 28th Document)

According to the above, the baquette should have a nominal weight of 0.85 grams and a silver content of 14 grains (49 mils). Let us recall that the value equivalence decree of April 1494 (ADPA C680 F14), which we have shown earlier, increased the value of a morlaas into six baquettes; the silver content of those baquete was lower than required.

We have also already mentioned the meeting of the Estates of Bearn held in Lescar on 8th July 1494. At that meeting, the estates complained that the coins previously minted by Menauton de la Mota had a silver content of twelve grains or less (ADPA C680 F17). They claimed that the coins should have a silver content of eighteen grains (62.5 mils) and demanded the minting of 3000 or 4000 marks of new coins with the right silver content. Likewise, as the new coins were distributed on the market, they demanded the recollection, casting and restricking of the previous ones.

On August 19th of the same year, the order signed by the Queen in Pamplona (ADPA C680 F15) clarified the conditions of the baquette minting, in accordance with the request of the estates:

“…Et, en oltre, a supplication deus dictz statz, volem et ordenam que tot incontinent, sien batutz en nostre dicte secque et monede de Morlaas aqued nombre de baquetes et ad aquere ley et talhe, lasquoaus auran cors et mise las quoete per ung bon morlan, aixi que per los dictz statz nos es stat supplicat. – Item volem et ordenam que totes et sengles las baquetes batudes en nostre dicte secque et monede de Morlaas entro au jorn present sien metudes a vilhon et desi en avant no ayen cors ni misse. (…)”

Since four of these new coins were equivalent to one Bearnaise ardit (=two Bearnaise deniers) and one Hardi or Liard from Bordeaux (=three Tournai deniers), one Bearnaise baquette would be equivalent to three quarters of a Tournai denier. According to the silver content data that we are aware of, these coins should have around three quarters of the silver content of the following Tournai denier:

Tournai denier billon coin minted at the Troyes mint in the name of Charles VIII (1483-1498) King of France – specimen 0.81gr 18mm diameter –1.019gr nominal weight, 79 mils nominal silver content

Obverse: + KAROLVS FRACORVM REX

Reverse: + SIT NOMEN DNI BENE

Monnaies d'Antan, Auction 33, Lot 594 28.05.2023

Three quarters of the silver content of the Tournai denier shown above can be calculated at around 60 milligrams. With the features of the baquette minting proposed by the Navarrese expert, the baquettes would have had around 40 milligrams of silver. With the silver content proposed by the estates of Bearn, and taking the weight proposed by the Navarrese experts as a reference, we would be close to 58 milligrams.

Let us recall that a Navarrese cornado had a silver content of 36 milligrams. Since a cornado was worth two deniers of the navarrese system, and a baquette was half of its monetary system unit, if we calculate the silver content of each monetary system unit, we would get 79 mgr for the Bearnaise (according to the proposal of the Navarrese expert in 1492) and 18 mgr for the one from Navarre. The ratio between these two would be 4.3 times…. The same ratio we saw in the case of gold!

After what has been described in this section, we can create the following summary table of the monetary structure during Catherines reign. It does not answer all the unknowns and gaps, as we have a clear lack of documents of the period. We will have to wait for new data and studies that may appear at some point, with the aim of filling in these gaps:

Name	Nominal Weight (gr)	Nominal Law (Fineness)	Number of Coins / Rough Mark	Weight Remedy/Tolerance	Fineness Remedy/Tolerance	Value
Golden Shield of Bearn, coinage law of 1493	3.4 grams	948 mils /22.75 Carat	72	–	Quarter Carat	24 sous 2 deniers = 290 deniers
Quoarder/double – around 1489	???	???	???	???	???	4 ardit – 8 denier
Quoarder/double – Coinage law of 1493	108 pieces in rough mark – 2.27gr	3 deniers and 18 grains – 312.5 mils	108	2 units in a mark	Two grains	3.33 ardits – 6.66 deniers
Ardit (at least after 1489)	??? – 1.13gr French equivalent	??? – 239 mils French Equivalents	???- 18 sous, 216 units French equivalent	???	???	Two deniers
Baquette	0.85 grams??	18 grains – 62.5 mils	24 sous – 288??	8 baquettes in one rough mark??	???	Quarter of ardit, half denier

* AGN 164. Box 28. Additional data on the minting of the baquettes contained in the document will be included after the Bibliography.

Bibliography:

HISTOIRE MONETAIRE DU BEARN – Jules Adrien Blanchet – 1893 – link

MONNAIES FEODALES BEARN ET NAVARRE – Serge Salles – 2022

Le livre des monnaies feudales de Béarn et de Navarre – Serge Salles

Moneda medieval navarra –Manual de Numismatica – Miguel Ibañez Artica – 2021

LA MONEDA EN NAVARRA – MUSEO DE NAVARRA – EXPOSICION DEL 31 DE MAYO AL 25 DE NOV 2001. Miguel Ibáñez Artica – link

CATÁLOGO GENERAL DE LA MONEDA DE NAVARRA – Ricardo Ros Arrogante – 2013 – Altaffaylla argitaretxea

LES MONNAIES FRANCAISES ROYALES – Tome 1 et 2 – 2° Edition -1999 -Jean Duplessy (In Memoriam 1929- 2020)

LA MONETAZIONE MEDIEVALE DELLA VISCONTEA DEL BEARN 1080-1436 – Simone RiccI -2015

*AGN 164. Box 28. Document: Additional data on the minting of the baquettes:

Baquetas que las cuatro balgan bun ardit

Primo hun marquo dargent fin de XII dineros bale seze sallra de baquetas rebatidas las menguas como parece abajo beinte marquos neto e sepuede fazer a ley de XIIII granos e seran de talla a beyntecuatro sueldos en marquo de obra que montara la obra fecha net beyntequatro francos e hauran remedio en la talla por marquo de obra ocho baquetas y en la ley no haura remedio salbo que han de ser a quartorze granos.

Espensas al facer baquetas

Primo por hun marquo dargent fin por XII dineros que fazen un sueldo de ley balen ——> XVI franq

Item se Requiere para un sueldo de ley XVIIII marquos y medio de cuybre q balen a X ardits la libra de XII onzas que faze marquo y medio balen q son XIII libras a los dchos X ardits ——> II Franquos 1 Sueldo VIII d

Item se fara por las mermas del fundir de XX marcos dos onzas para la primera fundicion de aligar —-> III Sueldos

Item pa las mermas de los obreros por los beynte marcos una onza —-> I sueldo VI dineros

Item pa las mermas del enblanque una onza por Beynte Marcos ———-> I Sueldo VI dineros

Item para los obreros de XX marcos de obra a VI ardites por marquuo —–> II franquos

Item para los monederos la meatat de los obreros como es de costumbre —–> I francquos

Item para los oficialeas como son laguarda, ensayador, tallador, pillas, trosseles y el general por todos por obra de XX marquos a III ardits por marco para todos ——–> I franquos

Item pa carbon fonder obrar a los dchos XX marquos de obra ————> V sueldos

Item pa crisuelas alvum decriba sal lenya pa enblanque para la dcha obra ——> II sueldos

Item pa las pellas del ensay por los XX marquos IIII ardits ——–> VIII dineros

Item pa el maestros por sus trabajos y pala arcillerya y por las cosas necessarias dela dch moneda —-> I franquo III sueldos IIII dineros

Suma todo XXIIII Franquos VIII sueldos VIII dineros