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Research in Other Countries => Europe => Topic started by: goldie61 on Tuesday 23 September 25 11:56 BST (UK)
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Can anybody help with the words on this picture of a Baker's shop please?
I think it says
"Croyez(?) moy l'Argent
est bon dans le temps ou nous
sommes"
I'm guessing the little round items on the counter are coins.
If so, what does it mean? It certainly looks as if he has quite a lot of them.
Is it just saying that he makes quite a lot of money thank you very much, or do you think there's some political message being given - much like satirical cartoons in today's papers?
I read at this time the main unit of currency was the ecu d'or, and there were lower denominations of coins made of lesser metals.
She certainly looks a bit hot and flustered wiping her face with a kerchief!
Perhaps he's bragging to her about how much money he makes.
Perhaps it's just very hot inside the shop!
Thanks for any insights.
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My friend suggested 'Believe that my money is good in the times where we are.'
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I think it says
"Croyez moy l'Argent
est bon dans le temps ou nous
sommes"
That's what I read too.
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Is it just saying that he makes quite a lot of money thank you very much, or do you think there's some political message being given - much like satirical cartoons in today's papers?
My thoughts
I think his goods are expensive. The lady seems to be well-off and has to pay a large amount of money. She nearly fainted hearing how much coins she had to give him. Her handkerchief helped her recover.
Maybe this cartoon is about how greedy bakers were.
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Ha! That's an interesting interpretation Zefiro!
Thanks for the interest everyone.
Added:
Somewhat more colloquially:
"I think its a fair price for nowadays". :)
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Hi,
It would be interesting to know more precisely when in the 16th century was carved this piece of wood, and where you found it ( more context please).
I think that the word Argent is to be understood as " Silver " , not as "Money", because in 1575 Henry III , king of France , created a new coin made of silver called the franc blanc ( white franc).
See here :
https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/societe/economie/b5ea6c1b-57ed-4d55-b6ea-cad52a6938a9-franc/article/50e30975-cc9f-421a-981d-c8ffd5abdd27-franc-louis-or-1360-1640
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I think it's early 18th century, judging from the woman's clothes. Could it be a comment on the practice of governments of debasing silver coinage, or had that stopped by then?
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I too was wondering about the lady's dress but goldie61 seemed to be sure about 16th century.
See here this article:
https://www.persee.fr/doc/rhmc_0048-8003_1996_num_43_2_1816
Many financial crisis called "disette d'argent" during the 18th century.
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Well I finally tracked down a source for this.
(The image I found had dated it to just ’16 Century’.)
I was going to say ‘the original source’, but it must have been gleaned from somewhere else before it was used in this book.
We would never have guessed the actual meaning behind it!
It comes from a German book;
“Illustrierte Sittengeschichte: Vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart”
by Eduard Fuchs.
Illustrated moral history; from the middle ages to the present
Found on Internet Archive, free to view, so I guess no copywright.
https://archive.org/details/illustriertesitt0002fuch/page/226/mode/2up
‘Histoire d’un jeune Boulanger et d'une Meusniere lequel a mieux aime donner cent escus et prendre son enfant que de l'espouse; et s'estant marie d'une fille qui estoit grosse a ete trois enfants le lendermain de ses noches’.
The story of a young baker and a miller? who preferred to give a hundred escus and take his child rather than marry her; and having married a daughter who was pregnant, he had three children the day after his wedding”.
The image I had is the second one out of four telling this sorry tale.
He’s giving the lady a hundred ecus to buy her baby - no wonder she seems a little distraught!
Although this is written in French - the author of the book must have found it from somewhere else, the book is written in German, and I don’t know German to see if he mentions it in the text to say any more about it.
At the bottom of the images is written a title of sorts, a precis saying the same thing in German, and in very tiny writing ‘Um 1700’, which I take to mean ‘around 1700’, so not 16th Century at all if I’m correct.
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Wonderful ! Context lightens everything.
It seems that in those days there were a lot of kind of " moral tales" carved and printed .One of the best carvers of the 17 th century was Jacques Lagniet .
https://www.giquelloetassocies.fr/lot/17245/3439675