oa Dalle Fiandre a Milano. Un gruzzolo di monete d’oro e d’argento da una fossa comune della prima metà del XVI secolo

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Dalle Fiandre a Milano. Un gruzzolo di monete d’oro e d’argento da una fossa comune della prima metà del XVI secolo, Page 1 of 1

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Between 2018 and 2019, an archaeological excavation near the early Christian Basilica of San Vittore al Corpo in Milan brought to light two mass graves in which more than 130 corpses were buried. One of the skeletons was discovered with a hoard alongside his body which comprised a gold florin of Philip I of Habsburg issued in Antwerpen (1500–1506) and thirteen silver coins, struck in the same period in numerous mints located between Flanders (Philip I and Charles V) and France (Charles VIII and Louis XII). These coins are either exceptional or else very rare in the context of money circulation in sixteenth-century Milan. The tombs probably housed the victims of an epidemic who were quickly buried, perhaps out of fear of contagion, as suggested by the fact that other skeletons were also found with small change struck by the mint of Milan or other nearby mints; these were identifiable as the content of people’s pockets at the time of their death, or else belonged to clothing or everyday items, such as belt buckles, brooches, and finger rings. The foreign nature of the Flanders and French coins makes it reasonable to hypothesize that their original owner probably came from these areas (was he a merchant? Or a soldier? A diplomat? Or perhaps a pilgrim?) and that he suddenly died in Milan due to the spread of a contagious illness that also affected the other people who were buried in the same mass graves.