GRATIA DEI SVM ID QVOD SVM

We will now explain the origin of the new motto or image text used by the coinage of the royal house of Navarre during the reign of Henry II “the Wise”, namely GRATIA DEI SVM ID QVOD SVM. This Latin image text can be translated as “By the grace of God I am what I am”, but where do its roots come from and why did Henry establish it?

Henry's parents, John and Catherine, and Catherine's brother, King Francis Phoebus, issued money in Béarn, with symbols and mottos belonging to Béarn. These coins did not have any symbols or references to Navarre and were minted at the Morlaas mint. Among the coins of the villeins, we would find the whites (blanc or blanca), the deniers (denier or dinero) and the Béarn peaces.

Katerina's White (Blanca) Bearna

Front: + KTHERINAsDEIsGsDNAsBEAR Back: +PAXsETsHONORsFORQVIEsMOR

At the same time, these kings and queens minted Navarrese coins with Navarrese symbols and mottos at the Pamplona mint of the Kingdom of Navarre. Historically, the motto or pictorial text of Navarrese coins was SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM (blessed be the name of God), which originated in the French coinage tradition.

Juan and Katerina's Navarrese Tarja

Front:+ IOHANES.I.KATARINA.REGES.NA Back:+SIT:NOMEN:DOMINI:BENEDICTUM

At the beginning of his reign, Henry continued to issue Béarn coins. We can find numerous white or “blanca” coins in Henry’s name, with the following mottos originating from previous reigns:

Henrike's White of Morlaas or Blanca of Bearn

Front: + HEnRICVS: DEI: G: DNS: B(E) Back: + PAX: ET: HONOR: FORQVIE

In these early royal coins, Henry appears only as Lord of Béarn. Since Navarre and its mint were under the control of Charles I, he was unable to issue any Navarrese coins, following the example of his father and mother.

However, starting in 1524, with the reorganization of the territories of the Kingdom of Navarre and Béarn that remained in his hands and the opening (or reopening) of the mint of Pau, the coinage of the kingdom received new models and mottos. It was probably in the second half of that decade that Henry, after escaping from the prison of Pavia, returned to the French court and married Margaret. From this moment on, Henry will be presented on his coins as Lord of Béarn, but at the same time King of Navarre. He will also begin to use the motto GRATIA DEI SVM ID QVOD SVM on the reverse of these coins.

Henry's Golden Shield – after 1541

Henry's Silver Dozen – after 1541

Front: + HENRICVS:DEI:G:REX:NAVAR:D:B Back: +GRATIA:DEI:SVM:ID:QVOD:SVM

From now on, this motto would appear on all coins issued in Béarn and Lower Navarre, until Louis XIV reinstated the motto SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM in the early years of his reign in 1652. This change coincided with the use of new flywheel coin machines.

Silver Quarter Shield of Navarre of Louis XIV – 1650 – Donapaleu (still with Henry's Motto)

Silver Shield of Navarre of Louis XIV – 1652 – Donapaleu (SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTVM)

After this reform, Henry II unified the typology of the coins of Béarn and Navarre (Behenafarroa), and from then on they would continue to operate together until, in 1579, his nephew Henry III reopened the mint of Donapaleu and separated the typologies again. This unification or reorganization was the result of the new reality of the kingdom; the center of gravity shifted towards Béarn, with Pau becoming the capital, after the permanent loss of the territories of Navarre in 1521.

In the last months of Henry's life, at the beginning of 1555, the first dated Navarrese coins were minted at the renovated Pau mill. Until then, the Navarrese-Béarn coins of the North had no dates (nor, as we will see, those of the South, until 1608). Consequently, and in the absence of other documents from the time, we do not know the date of the creation and introduction of the new motto.

Drawing of the Douzain trial of Henry II – 1555 – Pau mill mint – first dated coin of Navarre

The new motto also reflected the political evolution of the Navarrese monarchy. Henry's first objectives at the beginning of his reign were to overcome the civil war between the Agramontes and the Beaumontes within the kingdom and to secure his authority. As had happened in neighboring kingdoms, such as France or Castile, the monarchy left the Middle Ages behind and immersed itself in the new political models of the 16th century; these models involved the consolidation and concentration of royal power. With this new motto, Henry, although respectful of the laws and traditions of the territories, tried to strengthen the idea of the divine origin of his authority as a means of guaranteeing the authority of the monarchy. It should be taken into account that the nobility of Behenafarroa had been quite rebellious in the previous decades, and also in the future, as his daughter Juana would later note.

The chosen motto is also very significant in another respect. It seems that “Gratia Dei Svm Id Qvod Svm” was a phrase used by Gaston Phoebus III, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn, before the French kings, and especially Charles VI. With this phrase, he wanted to indicate that he would pay homage to him in the county of Foix but that he would not accept any vassalage for the viscounty of Béarn.

Gaston, from 1347, proclaimed Béarn as a sovereign territory, refusing to accept any allegiance to the French monarchy. In this way, he abandoned the name of viscount and declared Béarn a lordship. Due to the ups and downs of the Hundred Years' War, Gaston and his successors, with the support of the Estates General of Béarn, managed to consolidate and defend Béarn's independence against the French and English crowns.

Under constant pressure from the French and Spanish crowns, Henry used this motto to proclaim and affirm the independence of the territories of Béarn and Navarre (at this time only Lower Navarre), as his ancestors had historically had to do.

A couple of interesting facts before we end.

At the same time, Ferdinand the Catholic and Charles I issued numerous coins in Pamplona, with the motto sit nomen Domini BENEDICTUM, which is closely linked to the French royal coinage.

The golden quadruple real of Ferdinand the Catholic

Silver real of Charles I

When Henry II's daughter, Joanna of Labritja, became queen in 1555, she succeeded in making her husband, Antonio de Borbón, "Juri Uxoris" King of Navarre. The new coins of the royal couple had to change the motto, GRATIA DEI SVMVS QD SVMVS, until Antonio's death (in fact, as we will see, Antonio died in 1562 but many coins still bear their names throughout the decade).

Silver Coin of Antonio and Juana – 1555 – Mint of Pau – Through the Mill

Bibliography:

THE COIN IN NAVARRA – NAVARRA MUSEUM – EXPOSITION FROM MAY 31 TO NOV 25 2001. Miguel Ibáñez Artica link

MINT OF NAVARRE AND BEARN – WIKIPEDIA – link

Histoire monétaire du Béarn – Jules Adrien Blanchet – 1893 – link

THE PROTESTANT COURT OF NAVARRE (1527-1563) - Victor Manuel Arbeloa Muru

HENRY II – KING OF NAVARRE – Wikipedia link

HENRY II OF NAVARRE – Wikipedia – link

BIOGRAPHIES - ENRIQUE II de ALBRET - Royal Academy of History - link

ENRIQUE II de ALBRET – Gran Enciclopedia de Navarre – link

MARGUERITE OF NAVARRE – Wikipedia – link

MARGARITA OF NAVARRA – Gran Enciclopedia de Navarre – link

LOS REYES DE LA BAJA NAVARRA AND SUS DOMINIOS – Blog de Antonio Leon – link

THE CONQUISTA DE NAVARRA – TERCER CONTRAATAQUE NAVARRO (1521) – Wikipedia – link

PRISON AND ESCAPE OF THE KING OF NAVARRA – Joseba Asiron -Nabarralde – link

33° KING OF NAVARRA: ENRIQUE II EL SANGÜESINO- casarealnavarra.com – link

THE FIGURE OF THE BLOOD ENRIQUE II OF LABRIT AND MARGARITA OF NAVARRA, IN THE CONGRESS OF HISTORIADORS OF NAVARRA. VIANA. SEPTEMBER 18-19, 2010. – Dr. Jon Oria Osés – link

GASTON III DE FOIX-BEARNE - WIKIPEDIA - link

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