Ein Vortrag von Dr. Fedir Androshchuk (Kyiv/Uppsala) / A lecture by Dr Fedir Androshchuk (Kyiv/Uppsala)
In its appearance, Viking Age coinage is largely imitative. Sources of inspiration can be found in Carolingian, Anglo-Saxon, Byzantine and even Islamic coins. A silver penny struck by an Anglo-Saxon moneyer in Swedish Sigtuna, looks very much like a penny struck in England for King Ethelred II, and only a circular inscription might make it clear that this is not an English but a Swedish king and that this is his coin. The coinage of Rus is entirely distinctive. Even though it bears some iconographic elements inspired by contemporary Byzantine coinage, its appearance is unique and it has distinctive visual and written messages. In my lecture, I would like to focus on the following questions. When and why did coins begin mint in Rus? What were the economic, political and ideological reasons for this phenomenon? Who was behind the design of the coins and how was the struggle for the princely power reflected in the variety of Rus coins?
Wolfgang Fritz Volbach-Fellow des Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus – Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident
