The franc, the currency in circulation until 2002, was born out of a battle against the English that went badly for the French. Nouaillé 1356. History has cost the country dear. In tons of gold.
France-England. No, it is not the Six Nations tournament that is being played there but a battle that dates back over six centuries. We are on September 19, 1356, in the midst of the Hundred Years War. In Nouaillé-Maupertuis (1). We were 20,000, they were 8,000, men-at-arms, archers and brigands, on the English side.
Tactical errors, uneven terrain conducive to ambush, not suited to the king’s cavalry, more at ease on flat expanses, put a strain on the troops and the many eminent members of the French knighthood.
Among the faults, that of the king of France, Jean Le Bon, left for the front to fight the English army, particularly mobile and light. There were there, this day of September 19, all the heirs with him (his sons) to defend the territory. The latter (except the youngest Philippe, 14 years old) withdrew to avoid the worst, but their retirement demobilized the men.
Ransom
of 12.5 tonnes
d’or
Result: the King of France is taken prisoner and led to the Tower of London. By the Black Prince, the son of his cousin, King of England, Edward III. Even as a family we discuss big bucks. The ransom amounts to 3 million ecus of gold (equivalent to 12.5 tonnes of gold). France initially pays 400,000 ecus. The account is not there. The King of France was released – he was in Calais from the beginning of July to the end of October 1360 – but with a heavy debt of some 2.6 million ecus. On December 5 of the same year, Jean Le Bon decided in Compiègne to raise taxes and create the franc. A strong currency to financially stabilize the country. Which will be put into circulation the following year, in 1361. It is a franc, in gold, represented by the King of France, Jean Le Bon, on his horse. Struck with an inscription, a play on words, rex francorum which means king of the Franks.
The little joke of this end of summer 1356 will cost a few years of famine, France will come out of its debt at the end of the reign of Charles V, around 1380. Not to mention that, in the negotiations, the territory changes sides. Understand that Poitou is becoming English. In 1372, this one finds its origins.
This enormous ransom could not have existed if the King of France had not been taken prisoner and the franc would not have been created. “A strong currency was necessary”, ensure the two agents in the Heritage department of the town hall of Nouaillé-Maupertuis. The mayor, Michel Bugnet, is convinced of this: “It is thanks or because of this battle that the franc was born. We speak of the Battle of Poitiers but it is in fact the Battle of Nouaillé. ” A historical precision that the first magistrate of the city cannot let slip. Let us give back to Caesar what belongs to the Nobilians.
(1) Maupertuis was added to Nouaillé from 1938 to become Nouaillé-Maupertuis. Maupertuis means bad passage. A metaphor for the battle where the king’s army was trapped by English archers.
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