Greeting from St Nicholas: A Florin d'or Duke Renatus II (1473–1508) from Lorraine
6 December has always been the feast day of Saint Nicholas, who acted as Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the early 4th century. Honoured as a patron saint by both the Eastern churches and the Latin church, legends and customs soon developed around his person. But what is the connection between the late antique bishop and Lorraine as well as a unique type of florin, Duke Renatus II?
The background to the veneration of St Nicholas, particularly in Lorraine, lies far in the past and takes us back to the 11th century. In 1087, the bones of the saint were stolen from his tomb in the Church of St Nicholas in Myra, where he had been venerated since the 6th century, by southern Italian merchants and sailors and brought to Bari - since then, the saint has also been known as Nicola di Bari in Italy. Coins with his image are known from the time of the Norman ruler Roger II (1105–1154).
Soon afterwards, the Lorraine knight Aubert de Varangéville is said to have stolen a phalanx of St Nicholas' finger from the basilica in San Nicola in Bari and brought it to what is now Saint-Nicolas-de-Port in France around 1090 - according to tradition. In any case, the village quickly developed into an important and much-visited pilgrimage site, so that the old church was replaced by a larger basilica. Various festivities have been held in honour of the saint as patron saint of the town and the entire region. They culminate in a large procession (Procession aux flambeaux de Saint-Nicolas).
However, today's basilica dates back to Duke Renatus II (1473–1508; also René II). After his victory over the Duke of Burgundy at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, he ordered the construction of a new church out of gratitude and declared St Nicholas as patron saint of Lorraine. Today, the basilica holds no fewer than seven pieces of the bones of the saint from Myra, although their provenance is uncertain. It remains uncertain which piece is the original relic from Bari.
Renatus II was also the duke who, at the end of the 15th century, had a florin type minted depicting St Nicholas with three children worshipping him from a barrel. The depiction alludes to a legend from the life of the bishop: According to this, a butcher killed three children and put them in brine to later sell them as pork during a famine. St Nicholas heard about this and saved the children by bringing them back to life. It is precisely this scene, in which the children emerge alive from the salt barrel, that is shown on the coin. The inscription ‘TVA IVET GRATIA’ (Your grace helps) emphasises his salvific work.
The side with the coat of arms, on the other hand, is to be seen in the context of Renatus II's ambitions for power. In 1488, as Duke of Calabria and titular King of Jerusalem, he laid claim to the crown of Naples. In the legend, he calls himself REX SICILIAE and even extends his claim to the whole of Sicily. The depiction of the saint on the other side of the coin expresses his strong veneration and importance, of which the duke was aware. To this day, St Nicholas is considered the protector of the poor, children and sailors.
Image: Lorraine, Renatus II (1473-1508), Florin d'or with depiction of St Nicholas with the three children in the salt cellar, mzst. Nancy, MK 14803aα
