Besalú was absorbed into the County of Barcelona in 1111 when Count Bernat III died without an heir, ending one of the more stubbornly independent of the Catalan counties. These obols were struck under Guillem II, whose tenure coincided with the consolidation of Gregorian reform across Catalonia — the "saint" type reflecting ecclesiastical influence on comital coinage at a moment when church and regional lordship were in active negotiation over authority.
At 0.3g, surviving examples were always fragile in circulation. Most extant pieces show considerable die wear from the outset, a known characteristic of the Besalú workshop.
Besalú was absorbed into the County of Barcelona in 1111 when Count Bernat III died without an heir, ending one of the more stubbornly independent of the Catalan counties. These obols were struck under Guillem II, whose tenure coincided with the consolidation of Gregorian reform across Catalonia — the "saint" type reflecting ecclesiastical influence on comital coinage at a moment when church and regional lordship were in active negotiation over authority.
At 0.3g, surviving examples were always fragile in circulation. Most extant pieces show considerable die wear from the outset, a known characteristic of the Besalú workshop.