258 MINING IN THE CHAP. x. 



the chief object of which was said to have been 

 to promote the working of mines in the Ma- 

 connois and in the Lyonnois. 



It appears, however, by letters patent which 

 Charlemagne granted in 7&6 to his two sons, 

 Charles and Louis, that gold and silver were the 

 chief objects whose search engaged the atten- 

 tion of that monarch. The grant referred to 

 was of certain districts with the royalties of the 

 crown. " Plus tractum regionis in saltu nostro 

 Thuringiaco, ad 20 milliaria in longitudine et 

 10 in latitudine, jure hereditario possedendum ; 

 et facultatem damns in territorio districts ittius 

 dominationis qucerere et fodere aurum argen- 

 tumque, atque omnia metalla" In Goldasti. 

 It appears that the right of coining money 

 was a privilege conveyed with the grant of the 

 mining-district, from the expressions in it, " in- 

 super ut debeatis et possitis aureos, grossos, et 



denarios monetare ut bona moneta tan- 



quam nostra" &c. 



The archives of Lorraine contain some in- 

 timations of mines. It is there recorded that 

 Gerrard, the 34th Bishop ofToul, in the year 

 975, granted several estates to the church of 

 Diez, but reserved to himself decimas mince ar- 

 genti, the tithes of the silver mines. 



It is related in the Chronicle of Lenones, that 

 in the year 997 two very distinguished men 

 arrived at Belmont, and opened mines j " quo- 



