Continental influence on English coinage, 1154-1216

This project will examine the continental influence on English coinage during the reigns of the Angevin kings of England (1154-1216). Whilst the study of coinage has been integrated fairly successfully into mainstream Anglo-Saxon and early Norman history, this is not the case for the twelfth-century. This project will address this lacuna by studying the evidence of the coinage in parallel with the existing historical narrative, an interdisciplinary approach which will incorporate numismatic evidence in a new way.
This new approach will challenge the current historical understanding of changes to coinage during this period by placing them in a more continental setting. Currently the coinage during the reigns of Henry II, Richard I and John (1154-1216) are viewed by historians in the context of English monetary developments, supporting the view that England was exceptional in the context of wider European developments. However, as Angevin kings of England all three of these rulers held continental lands whilst on the English throne, therefore by not studying the influence of the continent on England during this period you are only looking at half the picture.
By studying twelfth century English coinage and incorporating it into the historical narrative, this project will challenge the view that English monetary developments during this period were exceptional. Consequently, this project will also contribute to the historical question of whether or not the lands of the Angevins constituted an 'Empire'.