Fulco of Basacers (''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

'' 1083–1120) was an

Italo-Norman The Italo-Normans ( it, Italo-Normanni), or Siculo-Normans (''Siculo-Normanni'') when referring to Sicily and Southern Italy, are the Italian-born descendants of the first Norman conquerors to travel to southern Italy in the first half of the ...

knight and landholder with considerable possessions in the Val di Crati in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. The seat of his lordship was "Brahalla", a place or castle that no longer exists.''Medieval European Coinage'', III, 94–95. His first appearance in the historical record is in a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

charter of 1083, where he is named Βαλσωχερεζ (Balsocherez). His name in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

charters commonly appears as ''Fulco de Basagerio'', but the identification of Basagerio remains elusive. It could be

Bazoches Bazoches () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. Population Personalities * The Marquis de Vauban, Marshal of France and famous military engineer, bought the Château de Bazoches in 1675.Château de BazocheOfficial webs ...

in the

Nivernais Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers, which forms the modern department of Nièvre. It roughly coincides with the former Duchy of Nevers.Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, perhaps Bazoches-au-Houlme or Bazoches-sur-Hoëne. He was powerful enough to mint copper coins ('' follari'') of his own, bearing the inscription FVLCVI DE BASACERS beneath a cross on one side, and two outward-facing busts with a cross between them and the letters RVC on the other. The busts probably represent Fulco and his lord,

Roger Borsa Roger Borsa (1060/1061 – 22 February 1111) was the Norman Duke of Apulia and Calabria and effective ruler of southern Italy from 1085 until his death. Life Roger was the son of Robert Guiscard and Sikelgaita, a Lombard noblewoman. His ambiti ...

, who is probably referenced by RVC. Some of Fulco's coins are overstruck on Salernitan and Amalfitan coins known to date from the 1090s.These Salernitan ones bear the insciprtion DUX ITA SALERNO. The Amalfitan coins are those of the ''vicedux'' (vice-duke) Manso, also a client of Roger Borsa. Probably these coins were minted with Roger's approval. It has been suggested that they were minted at

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

as late as 1134, after Fulco is recorded in that vicinity with

Roger II Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in ...

, but such a late date is unlikely. Nor were the coins minted at Salerno, as once suggested.

Notes

Bibliography

*Philip Grierson, Mark A. S. Blackburn, and Lucia Travaini, edd. ''Medieval European Coinage: Italy'', III (South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. *Libero Mangieri, Giuseppe. "I follari salernitani a nome di Fulco de Basacers." ''Actes du XIe congrès international de numismatique. Brussels, 1991''. Vol. 3 (1993), pp. 133–39. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fulco Of Basacers 11th-century births 12th-century deaths Italo-Normans Norman warriors Italian nobility