The livre was the currency of France until 1795. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of both units of account and coins.

History

Origin

The livre was established by Charlemagne as a unit of account equal to one pound of silver. Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his It was subdivided into 20 sous (also sols), each of 12 deniers. The denier was a French Coin created by Charlemagne in the Early Middle Ages. The word livre came from the Latin word libra, a Roman unit of weight. This division is also seen in the old English pound sterling, which was divided into 20 shillings, each divided into 12 pence. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency The shilling is a unit of Currency used in current and former Commonwealth countries and was continued to be used in countries that left the commonwealth

This first livre is known as the livre carolienne. Only deniers were initially minted but debasement led to larger denominations being issued. Different mints in different regions used different weights for the denier leading to several distinct livres of different values.

Medieval Period

In medieval France, the standard livre used in the area under the direct control of the Kings of France was known as the livre parisis (livre of Paris). The livre parisis ( Paris livre ( pound) was a standard for minting French coins and a unit of account Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city A second standard, used in the essentially independent County of Anjou, was the livre tournois (livre of Tours). Anjou is a former County (c 880) Duchy ( 1360) and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower The livre tournois (" Tours pound " was one of numerous currencies used in France in the Middle Ages; and a money of Tours is a city in France the Préfecture (capital city of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river In 1203, the County of Anjou came under the control of the Kings and the livre tournois and livre parisis circulated alongside one another.

The two livres were related to one another by the relationship of 4 livres parisis = 5 livres tournois. Both were subdivided into 20 sous, with the sous parisis worth 15 deniers and the sous tournois worth 12 deniers.

The livre tournois became the predominant money of account (i. e. , the monetary unit used in accounting) in France in the 13th century and this continued to be the general case (with some exceptions, see below) until the Revolution , even when the livre tournois ceased to exist as an actual circulating money. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an

Late Medieval and Early Modern Period

Upon his return from the crusades, Louis IX instigated a royal monopoly on the minting of coinage in France and minted the first gold écu d'or and silver gros d'argent, whose weights (and thus monetary divisions) were roughly equivalent to the livre tournois and the denier. This article is about the medieval and early modern French currency not the European Currency Unit (ECU or an Electronic control unit (ECU

Between 1360 and 1641, coins worth 1 livre tournois were minted known as francs. The franc (represented by the franc sign ₣ or more commonly just F) is a former Currency of France. This name persisted in common parlance for 1 livre tournois but was not used on coins or paper money.

The official use of the livre tournois accounting unit in all contracts in France was legislated in 1549. However, in 1577, the livre tournois accounting unit was officially abolished and replaced by the écu, which was at that time the major French gold coin in actual circulation. This article is about the medieval and early modern French currency not the European Currency Unit (ECU or an Electronic control unit (ECU In 1602, the livre tournois accounting unit was brought back.

Seventeenth Century

Louis XIII of France stopped minting the franc in 1641, replacing it with coins based on the silver écu and gold Louis d'or. For the cognac see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin. Louis XIII ( September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) This article is about the medieval and early modern French currency not the European Currency Unit (ECU or an Electronic control unit (ECU The Louis d'or is any number of French Coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640 The écu and Louis d'or fluctuated in value, with the écu varying between five and six livres tournois until 1726 when it was fixed at six livres.

In 1667, the livre parisis was officially abolished. However, the sole remaining livre was still frequently referred to as the livre tournois until its demise.

Eighteenth Century

The first French paper money was issued in 1701 and was denominated in livres tournois. However, the notes did not hold their value relative to silver due to massive over–production. The Banque Royale (the last issuer of these early notes) crashed in 1720, rendering the banknotes worthless (see John Law for more on this system). John Law (usually pronounced Jean Lass by contemporary French ( bap

In 1726, under Louis XV's minister Cardinal Fleury, a system of monetary stability was put in place. Year 1726 ( MDCCXXVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Louis XV (15 February 1710 &ndash 10 May 1774 ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774 André-Hercule de Fleury Bishop of Fréjus WikipediaNaming conventions (Clergy. Eight ounces (a mark) of gold was worth 740 livres, 9 sols; 8 ounces of silver was worth 51 livres, 2 sols, 3 deniers. This led to a strict conversion rate between gold and silver (14. 487 to 1) and established the values of the coins in circulation in France at:

• Louis d'or (gold coin) = 24 livres, along with a half-Louis coin (the demi-louis d'or) and a two-Louis coin (the double louis d'or) (12 and 48 livres). The Louis d'or is any number of French Coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640
• écu (silver coin) = 6 livres, along with ½, ¼ and ⅛ écu denominations (60, 30 and 15 sols)
• copper coins of 1 and 2 sols and 6 and 3 deniers (the latter also called a liard) were also issued. This article is about the medieval and early modern French currency not the European Currency Unit (ECU or an Electronic control unit (ECU The solidus (the Latin word for solid) was originally a Gold coin issued by the Romans. The denier was a French Coin created by Charlemagne in the Early Middle Ages.

A coin of value 1 livre was not, however, minted.

Paper money was reintroduced by the Caisse d'Escompte in 1776, denominated in livres. These were issued until 1793, alongside assignats from 1789. Assignats were paper money issued by the National Constituent Assembly in France during the French Revolution. Assignats were backed (in theory) by government-held land. Like the issues of the Banque Royale, their value plummeted.

The last coins and notes of the livre currency system were issued in the Year II of the Republic (1794). In 1795, the franc was introduced, worth 1 livres 3 deniers. The franc (represented by the franc sign ₣ or more commonly just F) is a former Currency of France.

Later History

The livre had also been used as the legal currency of the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands ( Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are a group of Islands The Jersey livre remained legal currency in Jersey until 1834 when dwindling supplies of no-longer minted coins obliged the adoption of the pound as legal tender. The livre was currency of Jersey until 1834 It consisted entirely of French coins The Bailiwick of Jersey ( Jèrriais: Jèrri) is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. Year 1834 ( MDCCCXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common The pound is the currency of Jersey. Jersey is in Currency union with the United Kingdom and the Jersey pound is not a separate currency but is an issue of banknotes Legal tender or forced tender is Payment that by Law, cannot be refused in settlement of a Debt ( Debtor cannot successfully be sued

Today, the Basque language calls the French franc the libera. Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain

The livre at the time of its replacement by the franc was worth, in today's money, about £2. 5 or $4 per livre.

References