At the end of the 8th century, Western Europe saw its most powerful kings to date. That included Charlemagne in Francia and Offa in Britain. Those kings shared a close relationship which extended to their currency. The establishment of an official currency in both kingdoms spurred trade in northern Europe. And the remote beneficiaries of that trade were the Scandinavians. Meanwhile, Charlemagne’s reforms in Francia led to the emergence of the Carolingian Renaissance. In this episode, we explore the impact of these events on the English language.
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Hello, Kevin!
So what is the origin of the word Theodish? Wikipedia seems to think it’s a religion of sorts, not an early name for Dutch.
Thank you! : ^}
Oops — just got my answer in the next episode.
Glad you found the answer! 🙂
1 pound = 20.shillings = 240 pence continued until decimilisation of the British currency in 1971.
Listeners may find this discussion of Alcuin interesting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dqy8
I believe that from Offa onwards 1 sciling = 4 penningas in Mercia and 1 sciling = 5 penningas in Wessex. It appears that in the very late Anglo-Saxon period we get 1 sciling = 12 penningas and that is how the Normans standardised it.