Sale: CNG 63, Lot: 1802. Estimate $4000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2003.  Sold For $3100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Gotha. Ludwig III, Landgraf of Thüringen. 1172-1190. AR Bracteate Pfennig (0.93 gm). Landgraf on horseback right / Incuse of obverse. Bonhoff 1308; Löbbecke 752. Toned EF. Rare completely intact. ($4000)

An issue from the height of Romanesque art, the first major artistic style to blossom in Europe, before the high Middle Ages and the onset of the Renaissance.

Ludwig III was a powerful count in Thüringia, his office falling almost exclusively in the reign of his uncle, the emperor Friedrich I. Ludwig is given the epithet "the mild" or "the pious" for his religious convictions and friendly demeanor towards all people. Nevertheless, his authority did not go unchallenged, and a series of battles ensued between other ruling families in Thüringia and the landgraf. During this period of endemic warfare the fate of Erfurt, a regional capital in contention between the archbishop of Mainz and Ludwig, was to be decided by a meeting of nobility. Heinrich, the emperor’s son, hosted this meeting in 1184. The conference was held in a large public building that also served as a restaurant. The large attendance grew to be excessive for the building in which the meeting was held, and most of its attendees fell through the floor and suffocated in a meter deep pool of excrement that had accumulated beneath the building. This mishap claimed the lives of 60 men, including two counts, but Heinrich and Ludwig III were sitting in the windows and both survived. The counts who perished were attached to the archbishop’s party, and the Reinhardsbrunner Chronist regarded their mortality and the Ludowingern’s survival as a judgement by God, apparently punishing the less peaceable parties.

The final conflicts in which Ludwig took part were his battles in Palestine against Sultan Saladin, who had conquered the county of Acre in 1187, prompting a call for a new crusade that was launched in 1188. Although the Imperial army chose to take an overland route through the Balkans, Ludwig prudently chose a sea route. This provided the advantage of transporting a greater number of supplies than could be carried on horseback, and also negated the factor of dealing with hostile kings and rulers of uncertain alliances. Upon arrival, he immediately began to aid in the unsuccessful siege of Acre. Eventually, nationalistic fervor caused the crusader forces fight amongst themselves, and poor health conditions caused disease to spread, so Ludwig left the campaign. As he was journeying home, he succumbed to disease and perished on October 16, 1190. Ludwig III was known for his skill as a writer, and art flourished during this period, as attested by this bracteate. Evocative of a Crusader prepared for battle, it may well depict Ludwig’s ceremonious departure to do battle with the Muslim conquerors of the Holy Land.