Preface:
England developed a system of periodic currency recasting in the late Anglo-Saxon period, which lasted for nearly two hundred years. By the reign of King Stephen (reigned 1135-1154), the system of regular currency recasting was broken, and currency minting was chaotic. It was also "the only time in the monetary history of England that the royal right to mintage was usurped by local nobles".
First, the struggle for the throne led to political turmoil
The question of succession to the throne of King Henry I of England (reigned 1100-1135) became the trigger for the civil war. Henry I died on 1 December 1135 and his daughter Mathilda became the sole legal heir of England and Normandy.
Matilda was the widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, and later married Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. When Henry I died, Matilda was far away in Anjou and was not informed in time. There had never been a female monarch in England or Normandy, and as a result, the nobility of these places had a deep prejudice against Matilda's succession to the throne.
The nobility of England elected the eldest son of Henry I's sister Adele, Boulder of Western Europe from Blois, as king. However, his brother Stephen, after hearing of his uncle's death, quickly crossed the Dover Strait and elected himself heir to the throne, which was supported by the citizens of London, the Archbishop of Canterbury and most of the nobility.
Stephen succeeded to the throne on 22 December three weeks after his uncle's death, officially becoming King of England and Normandy. With the outbreak of the Civil War, England fell into political division.
In order to fight for the throne, Matilda led an army into England in 1138, and a large-scale civil war broke out. With the help of Robert, Earl of Gloucester and King David I of Scotland, Matilda gradually took control of western England centered on Bristol and Gloucester.
At the same time, with the help of Henry Bishop of Winchester, Stephen was supported by the church, occupied the eastern part of LinkedIn Gran, and also controlled most of the kingdom's wealth.
While Stephen and Matilda were fighting, numerous local nobles formed their own armies, not only robbing their neighbors for personal gain, but often supporting the side of Stephen and Matilda that might win.
The entire Civil War was most famous for the Battle of Lincoln in February 1141. During the battle, Stephen was captured and Matilda was officially elected Queen of England and would be crowned in Westminster.
With the help of William of Ypres, Stephen's queen gathered armies in East Anglia and Kent to march on London in June of that year, and later besieged Winchester, capturing Robert alive. At the same time, the citizens of London rioted and demanded the king's release.
Based on the situation at the time, Matilda found that her position was not precarious, and not only was she not crowned, but she also released Stephen in November. In the years that followed, Stephen's status improved, but the kingdom remained in a scuffle.
With the death of Earl Robert in 1147 and Matilda losing important supporters, she decided not to take further military action against Stephen and left England the following year.
Henry of Anjou came to England and forced Stephen to sign the Waringford Agreement. Matilda's son Henry of Anjou came to England in 1149 and launched a massive military offensive against Stephen in 1153, forcing Stephen to sign the Wallingford Accord, which provided for the succession to the throne by the sons of Matilda and the Earls of Anjou.
This marked the end of more than a decade of civil war. On October 25, 1154, Stephen died, and Henry succeeded to the throne of England, known as "Henry II".
During the 20 years of Stephen's reign, civil wars over the throne were continuing, which later scholars called the "Great Turmoil" period. In this battle for the throne, England was in chaos, the people were destitute, and the economy was in ruins.
The nobles of the time turned to Stephen or Matilda and made covenants with each other, resulting in anarchy and chaos. Political disorder led to chaos in currency minting, and the monarch's previously highly controlled power to mint money no longer existed.
Second, the manifestation of currency minting chaos
During the reign of Henry I, currency minting in England was in good condition. However, by the time of Stephen, civil wars were constant, the political situation was turbulent, and currency minting was chaotic. Stephen and Matilda issued currency within their control, and the local nobles also took the opportunity to mint and issue their own currency.
1. Currency minting by Stephen and his supporters in the Eastern and Southern regions
Scholars generally agree that Stephen issued seven types of money during his reign. The first type was published in 1135–1141, the second to sixth from 1141–1153 to the last two years of Stephen's reign.
These currencies were minted primarily in the southern and eastern regions under Stephen's direct control, with the casting provided by the London uniform. The eastern and southern mints were mainly located in London and in Ipswich, Norridy, Sudbury and Berry St Edmunds.
But from the second type of currency, the coins issued by these coinage were minted almost independently, because from the time Stephen was arrested in 1141 to his release in 1143, the minting was not effectively organized. The casting molds were not entirely available centrally in London, and there were many variations of the currency issued by Stephen.
For example, in Norri, Berry St. Edmunds, Thetford, Ipswich, Sudbury and other minting houses issued the first variant of the currency type. The issuers of these irregular currencies recognized Stephen's dominance, and the currency also had Stephen's portrait and name, but the portrait was more vague and the name changed greatly.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE CORRECT EXPRESSION OF THE KING'S NAME SHOULD BE "STEPHANUSREX", BUT IN IRREGULAR CURRENCY IT BECOMES "STIEFNE" OR "STEFNE".
The great nobles who supported Stephen in the east and south also minted money. In order to gain the support of the city and the local nobility, Stephen issued several city charters, stipulating that each city have a mint. In the political chaos of the time, the minting of money in these local mints was no longer under the rule of the king.
At the same time, in order to make a profit, local nobles often issued currency with local characteristics. "The lords of every city in England, like kings, issue their own currency and encroach on the jurisdiction of the royal family." In addition to issuing local currency, imitation of Stephen's currency is also an important part of the minting of these coins.
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth types of money issued by Stephen were all counterfeited. In addition, Bishop Henry of Winchester was Stephen's brother, and he actively supported Stephen in the struggle for the throne, but began to mint irregular currency from 1141.
The currency issued by these coinage is seriously devalued, and the weight of the currency is 5-6 grains lower than the normal standard. This further led to confusion in the circulation of money in the area controlled by Stephen.
2. Matilda and Henry and their supporters minted money in the western and northern regions
During the Civil War, Matilda and her sons occupied the west and north of England, and the local royal mint offices were also controlled by him, such as Carlisle, Chester, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Leicester, Cardiff, Bristol and Launceston.
These mints were thus removed from the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Department and made their own molds. Matilda began minting her own currency in 1139, and Stephen's name was replaced by Matilda's name on the currency.
Between 1139 and 1143, Matilda issued three currencies, which were mainly distinguished by the three expressions of Matilda's name on the obverse of the currency, namely "IMPERATRIX", "MATILDISIMPER" and "MATILDICOM". At the same time, due to the poor production of the casting, it is difficult to distinguish between men and women in the portrait of Matilda on the currency).
Matilda's son issued Dukes's Money. In 1149, Henry of Anjou, son of Matilda, came to England with an army and took control of many cities, issuing a new currency, known as the "ducal currency".
Local secular feudal lords such as the counts and bishops who originally controlled the area in Matilda minted their own currency, but Henry suppressed these nobles and abolished the currency they minted; In 1150, Henry officially became duke of Normandy, so the currency he issued was called "ducal currency".
There were three main types of money issued by Henry, mainly imitations of the last type of currency issued by Henry I and the first type of money issued by Stephen, but the name of the king on the obverse of the currency was changed to "HEN-RICVS".
The various "ducal coins" issued by Henry were still based on the poor minting techniques of his mother Matilda, and the appearance of the currency changed little, and the depreciation was severe, and most pennies remained at 15-17 grains, or even less than 15 grains.
This directly leads to the inability to distinguish the name of the mint and the mint on the currency. All these objectively aggravated the chaotic situation of currency minting at that time.
3. Currency minting of the feudal nobility elsewhere
After the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, Stephen lost control of most of England's territory. In addition to Matilda's occupation of the western counties, the nobility of the central Midlands was also independent or semi-independent.
Against this background, in order to make a profit, local nobles began to mint and issue devalued currency in their own areas. Some chroniclers believe that the lords of each city at that time issued their own currency, and even six or seven counts believed that they were powerful enough to surpass royal privileges, and engraved their names on the coins minted.
First, in the Midlands, the semi-independent nobility issued a large number of currencies, most of which belonged to the local type, or a variant of the Stephen currency). These currencies are lightweight, rough in appearance and heavily devalued.
At the local Mint offices such as Northampton, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Derby, Lincoln and Leicester, in addition to imitating the currency issued by Stephen, the currency belonging to each city was minted. For example, Robert, Earl of Leicester, in addition to imitating the 2nd and 6th currencies issued by Stephen, also minted his own characteristic currency.
It can be seen from the above that during the battle between Stephen and Matilda for the throne of England, local feudal nobles took the opportunity to issue currency in their own jurisdictions. In addition to counterfeit and clearly marked currency, in order to escape responsibility, the currency issued by the great nobility of the time was usually unmarked. It was also the only time in the monetary history of medieval England that a fiefdom currency appeared.
Third, the impact of currency minting chaos
The chaos of currency minting during Stephen's reign not only disrupted the system of regular currency recasting that had been formed since the late Anglo-Saxon period, but also led to a serious devaluation of the currency, which in turn affected economic and social development.
1. The system of periodic currency reforging is broken
Until the end of the reign of Henry I, currency minting continued the system of regular recasting formed in the late Anglo-Saxon period, that is, a large-scale currency recasting every 3 years, with the casting uniformity provided by London.
However, due to the political disorder of the Stephen period, the highly centralized system of money minting and management collapsed, and the system of regular currency recasting was also broken. Normally, the molds were made and distributed by someone appointed by the Crown, but this was disrupted by the arrival of Mathil in 1138.
With the outbreak of the war for the throne, local nobles took the opportunity to issue currency in the jurisdictions under their control, encroaching on the king's right to coinage; At the same time, political chaos led to poor traffic and affected the distribution and delivery of molds. In this case, the monetary system, which previously had a uniform issuance of casting molds in London and periodically carried out large-scale recasting, has become no longer possible.
In the case of currency issuance in Stephen's territory, the first currency was issued in 1135-1141, which lasted for 6 years, while the second to sixth currency types were issued in 12 years from 1141 to 1153, and the latter was issued for an average of less than 3 years each. This shows that the system of regular currency reforging, which has lasted for more than a century, has been completely broken.
2. Serious currency depreciation
The immediate consequence of the confusion of currency minting was the lowering of monetary standards. The issuers of the currency were different, and the local aristocracy of the time reduced the weight of the currency in order to make a profit. When the currency is reminted regularly, the British king has the supreme authority over the minting of the currency, the value of the currency is also determined by the king, and the weight and condition of the currency are relatively stable.
However, by the time of Stephen, the authority of the royal family was declining due to political anarchy, and the tradition of the royal family dictating penny values was broken.
After the outbreak of the Civil War, Stephen needed more currency to support his war expenses, and Matilda and his son Henry in the west, as well as other local nobles, issued a large number of devalued currencies in order to make a profit. Therefore, at that time, the previous rules and regulations on the minting and issuance of money were not followed at all, and adulteration in currency minting was rampant.
The weight of the currency has fallen sharply, and the currency has depreciated significantly. The weight of the last type of currency issued by King Henry I was 22 grains, and this standard was maintained only in the early days of the first type of currency issued by Stephen, and from 1140 onwards the weight of the currency issued decreased , especially those issued by counterfeit money, Matilda and local nobles.
For example, the weight of various counterfeit currencies remained at 15-18 grains, while Matilda and her son issued coins at 13-17 grains, and the central Midlands issued coins at 15-19 grains. It can be seen that the currency of England during the Stephen period was seriously devalued, and some scholars even believed that the monetary standard at that time was not higher than the previous counterfeit currency.
The depreciation of the currency is not conducive to economic development. When these depreciating currencies circulate in the market, they are bound to affect economic development and thus the king's financial revenue.
epilogue
To sum up, after the death of Henry I, a large-scale civil war broke out in England in order to fight for the throne. Stephen controlled the eastern and southern regions, and Matilda and his son Henry occupied the western regions. England at that time was under the rule of a double monarch, and political disorder led to chaos in currency minting.
Since Stephen issued the first type of money, the system of regular currency recasting has been completely broken. At the same time, the currency has depreciated sharply, adversely affecting the development of industry and commerce. In order to re-strengthen the control of the right to mint money and improve the chaotic situation in the circulation of money, King Henry II of England carried out currency reform after his accession to the throne.