The Gold Noble of Edward III

Abstract

Early in his reign, King Edward III issued a gold noble (a coin worth six shillings and eightpence) on which he showed himself enthroned on a ship. Historians and numismatists have assumed that this image commemorates the king’s victory in the sea battle at Sluys in 1340, but have lacked documentary confirmation of this supposition. However a monastic history (the “Chronicon de Mesla” of 1396) held in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, explicitly confirms this connection in a passage linked to an account of the battle itself.

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Filed under: High Middle Ages | Other (location)
Subjects include: Art & Music | Battles & Tactics | Miscellaneous