Saint Columba of Sens
exchange was difficult in the early Middle Ages. Such
coinage, then and later, could, however, be a somewhat
reliable measure of all forms of wealth. The basic unit
from the late seventh century was the silver penny or
denier, later standardized and produced by the govern-
ment of CHARLEMAGNE. They were counted by the dozen,
as shillings, and then by the scores of dozens, as pounds.
Gold was difficult to obtain in western Europe and gold
coins were rarely produced until the appearance of the
gold florin and coins of the mercantile cities of FLORENCE
and GENOAin the mid-13th century. In the meantime
gold coins were used in the BYZANTINEEMPIREand in
Islam in the form of bezants and dinars. By the later Mid-
dle Ages, Europe was a highly monetized economy; that
was not the case until the 13th century.
Everywhere, minting was usually supposed to be the
prerogative of a monarch, but what coinage there was in
circulation was made by local powers and was not espe-
cially reliable in its real value as determined by its silver
content. This pattern produced a market for exchange
rates for coinage that lasted through the Middle Ages.
This problem was compounded by manipulation of the
currency by several late-medieval kings and princes who
lowered the amount of bullion in their coinage. The qual-
ity and reliability of all coinage during this period have to
be viewed in their local context and role in particular
regional agricultural, industrial, and commercial activity.
See also ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND JUSTICE; METAL-
SMITHS AND METALWORK, METALLURGY.
Further reading:Philip Grierson and Mark Black-
burn, Medieval European Coinage,Vol. 1; The Early Middle
Ages(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986);
Peter Spufford, Money and Its Use in Medieval Europe
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988); Peter
Spufford, Handbook of Medieval Exchange(London: The
Royal Historical Society, 1986).
Cologne(Köln) Cologne, a prosperous medieval
Rhineland city, was founded in 49 C.E. by the Romans.
During the Middle Ages its bishops enjoyed political
importance and it benefited from its location at the cross-
roads of trade in northern Europe, especially between
Saxony and Flanders. An episcopal see from the fourth
century, Cologne was an important center of Frankish
kingship.
CHARLEMAGNE elevated Cologne to the status of
archiepiscopal see in 794–95. Under the rule of Bishop
BRUNO (953–65), the son of the emperor OTTOI, the
archbishop of Cologne became one of the major princes
of the realm, with full rights over the town. The CATHE-
DRAL, built from 1245 in a GOTHICstyle close to that of
AMIENS cathedral, became an international pilgrimage
center from 1164 because of the presence there of the
relics of the Three Wise Men. Attempts by the town’s
business class to gain autonomy from the archbishop
began in 1074, but it was only in the 12th century that
they had much success. By the later Middle Ages the
town’s patricians dominated the city and its local and
imperial politics. They remained wealthy and the city
became a free imperial city in 1475. The archbishop of
Cologne had been an elector of the HOLYROMANEMPIRE
from the 13th century and head of a principality called
the Electorate of Cologne, but its capital was at Bonn.
The Electorate declined in political importance through-
out the 15th century.
See alsoALBERTUSMAGNUS.
Further reading:Benjamin Arnold, Princes and Terri-
tories in Medieval Germany(Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1991); Benjamin Arnold, Count and Bishop
in Medieval Germany: A Study of Regional Power,
1100–1350 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1991); F. R. H. Du Boulay, Germany in the Later
Middle Ages(London: The Athlone Press, 1983); Paul
Strait, Cologne in the Twelfth Century(Gainesville: Univer-
sity Presses of Florida, 1974).colonialism and colonization SeeCRUSADES.Columba of Iona, Saint(Colm Cille [Dove of the
Church])(ca. 521–597) abbot of Iona, Irish monk,
preacher, missionary
The son of a tribal chieftain of the Uì Néill born about
521, Columba was given the name Crimthann when he
was baptized shortly after his birth in Gartan, county
Donegal, in IRELAND. According to legend, he was so
often found praying as a boy in the town church that his
friends called him Colm Cille or the Dove of the Church.
It was as Colm, or in its Latin form Columba, that he was
known for the rest of his life.
In the 540s while in his early 20s, Columba, strongly
influenced by one of his teachers, Finnian of Clonard the
abbot (d. 549), was ordained a priest. When a rich cousin
gave him land at Derry, he founded a monastery. His
foundation of another monastery at Durrow a few years
later was the beginning of an extraordinary decade dur-
ing which he traveled through northern Ireland teaching
about Christianity and establishing monasteries: He
founded at least 30 monasteries in 10 years.MOVE TO IONA
Columba was accused in 563 of starting a war and was
sentenced by the high king never to see Ireland again and
spend the rest of his life in exile. With 12 companions he
left Ireland and settled on a bleak island called IONAoff
the coast of SCOTLAND. The monks made occasional visits
to the Scottish mainland, where they preached. Soon
their community had 150 members.
Columba spent the rest of his life on Iona, praying,
fasting, and teaching monks to read and copy Scriptures.
He provided inspiration for their missionary efforts