The Mint of Navarre and Béarn (French: Monnaie de Navarre et Béarn) was formed through the merger of the Mint of Navarre (French: Monnaie de Navarre) in Saint-Palais, whose construction was originally authorized by Charles the Bad in 1351, and placed under the authority of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre on 4 January 1527, with the two Mints of Béarn (French: Monnaies de Béarn) in Pau and Morlaàs, in Béarn, in 1562.
Mints
The physical buildings that housed the mints were typically called the "Hôtel de la Monnaie." In some cases they are called the "Château de la Monnaie". In both Morlaàs and Pau, the mints had their origins in the official residences of the Viscount of Béarn in Morlaàs and of the Kings of Navarre in Pau respectively. The tower of the Château de Pau in which the mint was located was called the "Tour de la Monnaie".
A mint itself, in addition to being called by its proper name, such as the Monnaie de Saint-Palais or Monnaie de Pau, is often referred to as a ferme de monnaie and an atelier de la monnaie, or collectively as ateliers monétaires,Blanchet (1893), p. 23 (in French) in older French literature and records. In Béarnese, one sees the name secque (also seque and socques), as well as moneda and monederie, to designate the mint or monetary workshop.Blanchet (1893), p. 24 (in French) The Béarnese secque has the same meaning as zecca in Italian, and is most likely directly derived from the Arabic word sekkah (English: a die used to strike coins), because of the proximity to Spain.
The three mints still functioning as of the 15th century were subcontracted out to third parties who ran them privately under licenses renewable every six years. They minted coins of differing values in the name of, and for the benefit of, the King of Navarre and Béarn, as well as medals and tokens.
Starting on 19 August 1494, the currency had one-to-one exchange rates with coins of the same value minted in the Kingdom of France.Blanchet (1893), p. 91, §5 (in French)Dumas (1959), p. 298 (in French)
Mints of Navarre
Saint-Palais
In Saint-Palais, the former Hôtel de la Monnaie is now called the "Maison des Têtes", located in the Rue du Palais de Justice.
At the time of its creation in 1351, Saint-Palais had a population of about 300 inhabitants, of which 100 worked at the mint (60 workers in the foundry to melt the metal into liquid and 40 striking silver écus bearing the effigies of Navarrese kings Henry III and of Louis II; the last écus struck bore the effigy of Louis III.
In 1386, Saint-Palais was one of four mints in the Kingdom of Navarre, the other three being Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Pamplona and Monreal.Blanchet (1893), pp. 45-46 (in French) At some point after 1402, the mint ceased activity. The Mint of Navarre in Saint-Palais was closed after 1527 for a period, but reopened in 1579. It ceased activity in 1672.
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
Records show the existence of a mint in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in 1386, one of four in the Kingdom of Navarre. Little else is known about this mint from records in French archives.
Mints of Béarn
Morlaàs
Coins, called "sols morlans", that were legal tender in all of Gascony as well as Béarn, were minted in MorlaàsSite de l'office de tourisme du pays de Morlaàs at the Château de la Hourquie (Béarnese: Forcas), the official residence of the Viscount of Béarn, since the 9th century. It was situated on a small plateau south of the Place du Marché. In 1096, in the letters of Pope Urban II, it is written that the church of Sainte-Foi of Morlaàs is situated in the County of Béarn, in a town called Furcas.Marca, Histoire de Béarn, p. 302
In the early years, these were simple coins made from copper and bronze, but Gaston Phoebus later ordered that the mint in Morlaàs strike écus in gold and silver. Coins minted in Morlaàs, engraved with the heraldic cows, the symbols of Béarn, were often referred to as "baquettes" (i.e. little cows).
The reputation of Morlaàs currency was great. For this reason, in 1366 Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, who was seeking to give his florins the perfection of those of Aragon and of Florence, called upon Jean d'Estèbe, who was the head of the Mint of Morlaàs. In 1434, Jean de Foix-Grailly, Viscount of Béarn, appointed Peyroten d'Arblade, from Mont-de-Marsan, as Maître Particulier of the Mint of Morlaàs for two years. To this end, he established the mint in the castle in Morlaàs. The new maître particulier contractually committed to mint "morlaàs blancs", which by definition included deniers, the "medalhes morlanes" (i.e. oboles and mailles), and lastly a coin called pogese which had the value of one-fourth of a denier. The viscount contractually committed to provide four hundred marks of silver, based on Cologne weight (French: poids de Cologne),Peuchet (1801), Vocablulaire des termes de commerce, banque, manufactures, navigation marchande, finance mercantile et statistique, p.202 "poids+de+cologne"&pg=PA202 (in French) that Peyroton d'Arblade had to mint during the first year of the contract.
In 1484, Jean de Gardey from the County of Pardiac, was removed from office as the maître of the Mint of Morlaàs on the pretext that he was not Béarnese and that he paid seigneurial duties of less than half of the real value of the mint. When Arnaud d'Abbadie was appointed maître of the Mint of Morlaàs, one sees that the mint was still located in the castle in 1484, because it is written that he will stamp coins in "our castle, house and mint in Morlaàs" (Béarnese: "nostre castet, mayson et monederie de Morlàas".)AD64, E 326
Before 1488, Morlaàs had the exclusive privilege of minting coins for Béarn, after which Jean d'Albret, then King of Navarre, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn, gave privileges to Pau and new letters patent for Saint-Palais.
Bascle de Lagrèze wrote that the Mint of Morlaàs was closed and that the molds, forges and other equipment were transferred to Pau about 1554, but this appears incorrect, because there is evidence that coins continued to be minted in Morlaàs well into the 1660s, if not later.Blanchet (1893), p. 25, §2 (in French)
In 1562, Auger de Lagarde promised to mint coins in "the monetary workshop and castle of the Mint of Morlàas" (Béarnese: "la secque et castet de la moneda de Morlàas".)AD64, B 925
Blanchet suspected that production was suspended at the Mint of Morlaàs was around 1619, due to the lack of evidence of any deliveries or shipments after this date.Blanchet (1893), p. 26 (in French) If production was suspended, it was short-lived, because a written decree dated 6 May 1637, issued on the advice of the officers of the mint, ordered that "baquettes" be produced in the Mint of Morlaàs "...up to a maximum value and quantity of 1,000 livres within a period of two weeks, explicitly requiring the officers, laborers and moneyers of the mint, to give the said "baquettes" in this vintage a distinct form, diameter and roundness so that they could be easily distinguished from counterfeits, and that to further ensure this, Messieurs Dupont, First President of the Chambre des Comptes, de Cachalon, Maître des Comptes, and the Prosecutor General, are required to be present during the new production, unless a bigger production run is otherwise ordered by the Chambre to meet to public needs."SSLAP (1887), p. 206 (in French)
The workshop was apparently closed again for an unknown period of time, because in 1662, the moneyers of Morlaàs presented a request to reopen the workshop for the production of gold and silver coins to the Estates of Béarn.AD64, C 829 Their request was apparently not granted, because at the Assembly of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn in Nay on 10 September 1663, a new request was made that the Estates intercede with His Majesty, "...to obtain his decree that the Mint of Morlaàs be reopened, at least for the production of pieces of five and ten ardit (one ardit was one-sixth of a sol, meaning 15 and 30 denier coins), that are necessary for usage by the public."AD64, C 1232
The molds, forges and other equipment of the Mint of Morlaàs were finally transferred to Pau about 1690 and the mint ceased operations, after no less than 600 years of operation. The references that can be found concerning the Mint of Morlaàs in 1690 lead to the conclusion that the workshop was no longer functioning.Blanchet (1893), pp. 26–27 (in French) In the registers of the Mint of Pau, there is mention of the payment of 37 livres for "the days employed to assemble the 'presse de la monoje' from Morlaàs and the one of Pau by Mathieu, Moulat and la Galère, carpenters from Jurançon." In the same register, in an entry dated May 11th of the same year, there is mention of a payment of 3 livres paid "...to the blacksmith of the 'monoje' for his time and the use of his horse to go and load a scale at the 'Monoje de Morlaas' (sic)."Archives nationales, Z1B 934Blanchet (1893), p. 27 (in French) It seems evident that if the workshop in Morlaàs still existed, it no longer was functioning and its equipment was being transported to Pau.
After having rented the old Hôtel de la Monnaie of Morlaàs, the land on which it previously stood was sold at the end of the 18th century.AD64, DD 6AD64, BB 26 The Château de la Hourquie that housed the Hôtel de la Monnaie is said to have been destroyed in 1708.
Pau
In Pau, a Château de la Monnaie, rebuilt in the 14th century during the reign of Gaston Phoebus, was situated in the "Borc Nau" (French: "le Bourg neuf"), between the Hôtel de la Baque and the Motte de la Couète de la Molère, not far from the Moulin de la Dona. The Hôtel de la Baque evidently took its name from the coins of Morlaàs, engraved with the heraldic cows, the symbols of Béarn, commonly referred to as "baquettes" (i.e. "vachettes") at the time.
A Hôtel de la Monnaie was then constructed in the Tour de la Monnaie of the Château de Pau in 1524. When this became too small, a larger Hôtel de la Monnaie was built in 1554 to the east of, but adjoining, the original Tour de la Monnaie.Saget (1838), p. 28 (in French)Plans and Elevation of the Hôtel de la Monnaie in Pau (manuscript in French) It served as a mint from 1554 until the French Revolution. The equipment and tools of the mint were transferred to Monnaie de Bayonne during the Revolution, and in 1807 the Tour de la Monnaie, Hôtel de la Monnaie, and all their outbuildings were legally separated from the Château de Pau and sold by the government.Blanchet (1893), p. 38, §3 (in French)
In 1617, the Cours des Monnaies de France demanded that the three mints of Saint-Palais, Pau and Morlaàs be placed under its jurisdiction, but this reform was never carried out. A judgement issued by the Parliament of Bordeaux in 1642, specifically mentions the Parliament of Navarre and Béarn and the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, but does not mention at all the Cours des Monnaies de France.Blanchet (1893), p. 2 (in French)
Blanchet concluded from the lack of documents he was able to find that the Mint of Pau was closed by 1622, at least for some time.Blanchet (1893), p. 35, §2 (in French)
In 1662, Genisseau incorporated the Mint of Pau into the general contract of the Mint of France by surprise, which provoked objections in Pau, and which were finally ruled as valid.Blanchet (1893), p. 3 (in French)
As of 1763, the Mint of Pau was still not under the authority of the Cour des Monnaies de Paris, the reason for which a majority of coins struck in Béarn under the reigns of Louis XIII of France and Louis XIV of France were a special type.
With article 2 of the Edict of October 1775, the King finally placed all of the responsibilities that the Court of Parliament of Pau had had jurisdiction for under the auspices of the Cour des Monnaies, under the authority of the Cour des Monnaies de Paris.
Mint Officers