1359–1364: Ransom, the 'Franc', and Governing in Crisis

After Poitiers, the state must finance both war, internal security, and the king’s ransom. Fiscal policy and currency become instruments of political survival: they can save the kingdom, but also trigger contestation.

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💰 Paying the Ransom: Expedients and Marriages

The payment of the ransom negotiated in 1360 exhausts the kingdom. Ordinary levies and fiscal expedients are insufficient. To raise immediate sums, the monarchy also mobilizes family diplomacy: a princess’s marriage can become a financial operation.

In this context, the marriage of Isabella of France to John Galeazzo Visconti (Milan) serves to obtain liquid funds and facilitate the first payments demanded for the king’s liberation.

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🪙 Currency and Confidence

Currency mutations fuel inflation and suspicion. Stabilizing the currency means stabilizing the king’s credit. In this context, the appearance of the franc (linked to the idea of the king’s liberation) fits into a reassurance strategy.

On December 5, 1360, on the return route, John II has the franc struck: a strong gold coin, conceived as a break from repeated devaluations. The choice of name and iconography is as political as economic: showing a king “frank” (liberated) and restoring confidence.

This demand for stable currency is also borne by the Estates and by learned reflections on monetary power, which denounce mutations as a disguised tax.

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🏰 Companies and Insecurity

Truce periods do not mean social peace: unpaid mercenaries form companies that live off the country. Securing roads and countryside becomes a matter of sovereignty as important as diplomacy.

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🏛️ Resuming Government After 1360

Upon his return, John II intends to govern without truly sharing power: he accommodates elites, but keeps his hand on the council. The royal party relies on men of trust, reduces or reorganizes certain offices, and puts pressure on financial personnel often unpopular.

This resumption also reconfigures the balance with the Dauphin, who withdraws to his territorial responsibilities while the center of power tightens around the king.

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🧠 To Remember

• The ransom and currency structure internal politics.
• The franc is a monetary reform and a gesture of legitimacy.
• The companies transform war into permanent insecurity.