E-auction 33-11764 - bmv_290249 - SANCTI DIONYSII - SAINT-DENIS (Seine-Saint-Denis) Denier fragmentaire

SANCTI DIONYSII - SAINT-DENIS (Seine-Saint-Denis)

(7th - 8th century)

It was there, around 250, that Denis, the first bishop of Paris and martyr, was buried. Around 475, Saint Geneviève enlarged the mausoleum which stood above the tomb of Denis. In the 7th century, under the reign of Dagobert I, the sanctuary was endowed with numerous privileges which would encourage the development of an abbey. The basilica is chosen as a burial place by Dagobert and his family. It thus became an important Merovingian center which Queen Bathilde made a monastery in 650. We also know that the first fairs were created in 634 with the Saint-Denis fair by Dagobert I. Most of these fairs are wine fairs. Wine is sold to foreign merchants in exchange for their manufactured products. About 400 meters south-west of the basilica, there was a Merovingian cemetery dependent on the church of Saint-Marcel; a burial in the ground contained coins.