What Are Medieval English Coins Doing in Rome? They Could Be Rare Evidence of a 'Little England' Enclave That Received Special Papal Privileges

A hoard of medieval coins unearthed in Rome could be the first physical evidence of an English neighborhood that once thrived near the Vatican. Researchers working in the walled garden of Rome’s Palazzo della Rovere discovered 19 silver pennies and one halfpenny minted in East Anglia, Kent, London and the West Midlands. Dating to the tenth century, the coins bear the names of the kings Edward the Elder, Athelstan and Eadred—all descendants of Alfred the Great.

Fourteen were found clumped in two groups, while the others were scattered nearby. In 2023, archaeologists working in the Palazzo della Rovere announced that they had discovered the ruins of an ancient building. They think the structure may have been the Roman emperor Nero’s theater, built in the first century C.E.

This sounds bizarre, but it’s telling us that a very large amount of money was flowing in from England at this time.” In a chapter published in a new book, Rome and the Others (300-1000): Foreigners in the City Between Conflicts and Integration, Naismith and his co-authors argue that the coinage is material evidence of Rome’s Schola Saxonum, an English enclave that historians had previously known about based on references in surviving medieval texts. Though its exact size remains unknown, the neighborhood was located within the walled-in district between the Vatican and the Tiber River known as the Leonine City. Founded in the eighth century, the Schola Saxonum was a hub for English pilgrims traveling to Rome.

The researchers also unearthed evidence of leather-, bone- and metal-working at the site, suggesting that hundreds of full-time residents may have once lived there. The halfpenny discovery is especially significant, researchers say, as the small denomination is typically associated with the everyday transactions that took place in trading hubs. The researchers found no evidence of melted-down silver bullion, which would have suggested that English travelers were converting their money into local currency.

Though other foreigners—including the Lombards, Franks and Frisians—also made pilgrimages to Rome and built institutions near the Vatican, they don’t seem to have received the same privileges as the English. Their journey was really dangerous, and many people died on the way. But once in Rome, they were special.

We knew they had the privilege of being able to bury their dead in this area and now, it seems, they were permitted to use their own currency.” Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer and photographer from Chicago. His work, which often centers on freshwater issues, climate change and subsistence, has appeared in Circle of Blue, Sierra magazine, Discover magazine and Alaska Sporting Journal.