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France (Feudal): Duchy of Brittany. John I, “the Red” (1237-1286)
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Roberts 4611 var., Poey d'Avant 356 var. (plate 11, no. 14), Boudeau 36-37 var. , Duplessy 73 var. (apparently no pellet on obverse after the X in the sources)
AR denier, Vannes mint [?], ca. 1250 [?], 19 mm.
Obv: + IOhANNES•DVX•, central cross.
Rev: + B-RIT-ANI-E, triangular shield of the house of Dreux in Brittany consisting of three spots and field of ermine.
John I (c. 1217/18–1286), known as John the Red due to the color of his beard, was the son of Duke Peter I, Duke of Brittany jure uxoris and Alix of Thouars, hereditary Duchess of Brittany. He was hereditary duke from 1221, upon his mother’s death, but his father ruled as regent until he reached adulthood. He experienced a number of conflicts with the Bishop of Nantes and the Breton clergy. In 1240, he issued an edict expelling Jews from the duchy and cancelling all debts to them. He joined Louis IX of France in the Eighth Crusade (1270), and survived the plague that killed the king. The duchy of Brittany experienced a century of peace, beginning with John I and ending with Duke John III's reign in 1341.
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