View source for Livre tournois

{{Short description|Medieval French currency}}
{{italic title}}
{{broader|French livre}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox currency
| obsolete = yes
| currency_name_in_local = 
| image_1 = FRA-A17b-La Banque Royale-100 livres Tournois (1720).jpg
| image_title_1 = {{lang|fr|La Banque Royale: 100 livres Tournois (1720)}}
| subunit_name_1 = [[French sol|sous]]
| subunit_name_2 = denier
| subunit_inline_note_1 = [[solidus (coin)|sol]] until 1714
| symbol = ₶
| symbol_comment = 
| frequently_used_coins = 
| rarely_used_coins = 
| unit = livre
| subunit_ratio_1 = {{frac|1|20}}
| subunit_ratio_2 = {{frac|1|240}}
| using_countries = France
| issuing_authority = 
}}

The '''{{lang|fr|livre tournois}}''' ({{IPA|fr|livʁ tuʁnwa}}; {{lit|[[Tours]] [[Pound (currency)|pound]]}}; abbreviation: '''₶''' or '''£'''<ref name="diderot"/>) was one of numerous currencies used in [[France in the Middle Ages|medieval France]],<ref name="robertson"/> and a [[unit of account]] (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in [[early modern France]].

The 1262 monetary reform established the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} as 20 {{lang|fr|sous tournois}}, or 80.88 [[gram]]s of [[Fineness|fine silver]]. The {{lang|fr|franc à cheval}} was a gold coin of one {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} minted in large numbers from 1360.
In 1549, the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} was decreed a unit of account, and in 1667 it officially replaced the {{lang|fr|[[livre parisis]]}}.<ref name="france"/> 
In 1720, the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} was redefined as 0.31 grams of pure gold, and in 1726, in a devaluation under [[Louis XV]], as 4.50516 grams of fine silver.
It was the basis of the revolutionary [[French franc]] of 1795, defined as 4.5 grams of fine silver exactly.

==Circulating currency==
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header = [[John II of France]]
| hbkg =  #abcdef
| image =Image:Franc à cheval 1360 73001139.jpg
| caption_left = John, armored, on horseback left, holding sword. Around IOHANNES DEI GRATIA – FRANCORV REX
| caption_right = Cross fleurée; lis in quarters; all within tressure; trefoils in angles; around + XP'C* VInCIT* XP'C* REGNAT* XP'C* INPERAT 
| width = 250
| footer = [[Franc à cheval]], 1360
| position = right
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header = [[Charles V of France]]
| hbkg = #abcdef
| image =Image:Charles V France franc pied 73001141.jpg
<!-- sintassi: immagine:nome.extention -->
| caption_left = Charles standing facing, holding sword, in Gothic arch flanked by lis; KAROLVS x DI x GR FRANCOR x REX ; there is an R at end of legend
([[La Rochelle]] mint)
| caption_right =  Ornate cross with trefoils at ends; lis and crowns in quarters; all within tressure; lis in angles. XPC* VINCIT x XRC REGNAT XRC* IMPERAT
| width = 250
| footer = [[Franc à pied]]
| position = right
| margin = 0
}}
In France, the {{lang|fr|livre}} was worth 240 [[French denier|deniers]] (the "Tours penny"). These deniers were first minted by the [[Basilica of Saint Martin, Tours|abbey of Saint Martin]], in the [[Provinces of France|province]] of [[Touraine]]. Soon after [[Philip II of France]] seized the counties of [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] and [[Touraine]] in 1203 and standardized the use of the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} there, the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} began to supersede the {{lang|fr|[[livre parisis]]}} (Paris pound) which had been up to that point the official currency of the [[Capetian dynasty]].

The {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} was, in common with the original [[French livre|livre of Charlemagne]], divided into 20 {{lang|fr|[[solidus (coin)|sols]]}} ({{lang|fr|sous}} after 1715), each of which was divided into 12 [[French denier|deniers]].<ref name="spooner"/>

Between 1360 and 1641, coins worth one {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} were minted, known as {{lang|fr|[[French franc|francs]]}} (the name coming from the inscription {{lang|la|Johannes Dei Gratia Francorum Rex}}, [{{Transliteration|la|Jean, by the grace of God, King of the French}}]).{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} Other francs were minted under [[Charles V of France|Charles V]], [[Henry III of France|Henry III]] and [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]]. The use of the name "franc" became a synonym for {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} in accounting.

The first French paper money, issued between 1701 and 1720, was denominated in {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} (see "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money", Albert Pick). This was the last time the name was used officially, as later notes and coins were denominated simply in {{lang|fr|livres}}, the {{lang|fr|livre parisis}} having finally been abolished in 1667.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

==Accounting currency==
With many forms of domestic and international money (with different weights, purities and quality) circulating throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, the use of an ''accounting currency'' became a financial necessity. In the world of international banking of the 13th century, it was the [[Italian coin florin|florin]] and [[ducat]] that were often used. In France, the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} and the currency system based on it became a standard monetary unit of accounting and continued to be used even when the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} ceased to exist as an actual coin. For example, the [[Louisiana Purchase]] treaty of 1803 specified the relative ratios of the [[franc]], [[dollar]] and {{lang|fr|livre tournois}}.

The official use of the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} accounting unit in all contracts in France was legislated in 1549, but it had been one of the standard units of accounting in France since the 13th century. In 1577 the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} accounting unit was officially abolished and accountants switched to the [[écu]], which was at that time the major French gold coin in actual circulation, but in 1602 the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} accounting unit was brought back.<ref name="spooner"/> (A monetary unit of accounting based on the {{lang|fr|livre parisis}} continued to be used for minor uses in and around Paris and was not officially abolished until 1667 by [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]]).

Since coins in Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period (the French [[écu (coin)|écu]], [[Louis (coin)|Louis]], [[teston d'argent]], [[French denier|denier]], double, [[franc]]; the Spanish [[doubloon]], [[pistole]], [[Spanish real|real]]; the Italian [[Florin (Italian coin)|florin]], [[ducat]] or [[sequin (coin)|sequin]]; the German and Austrian [[thaler]]; the [[Dutch gulden]], etc.) did not have any indication of their value, their official value was determined by royal edicts. In cases of financial need, French kings could use the official value for [[currency devaluation]]. This could be done in two ways: (1) the amount of precious metal in a newly minted French coin could be reduced while nevertheless maintaining the old value in {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} or (2) the official value of a domestic or foreign coin in circulation could be increased. By reversing these techniques, currencies could be reinforced.

For example: 
* the worth of an écu d'or, a French gold coin, was changed from 60 to 57 sols in 1573.
* to curb increasing use of the [[Spanish real]], its official worth was decreased to 4 sols 2 deniers in the 1570s.

Royal finance officers faced many difficulties. In addition to currency speculation, forgery and the [[coin clipping|intentional shaving of precious metal from coins]] (which was harshly punished), they had the difficult problem of setting values for gold, silver, copper and [[Billon (alloy)|billon]] coins, responding to the often large influx of foreign coin and the appearance of inferior foreign coins of intentionally similar design. For more on these issues, see [[Monetary policy]] and [[Gresham's law]].

==Unicode symbol==
{{Infobox symbol
|mark=₶
|name = {{lang|fr|livre tournois}}
|unicode = {{unichar|20B6|Livre tournois sign}}
}}
A glyph for the {{lang|fr|livre tournois}} was added to Unicode 5.2, in the [[Currency Symbols (Unicode block)|Currency Symbols]] block at code point U+20B6.<ref name="unicode"/>

==See also==
*{{section link|French franc|History}}
*[[Louis (coin)]]
*[[Luxembourgish livre]]
*[[Écu (coin)]]
*[[Roman currency]]

==References==
<references>

<ref name="robertson">{{cite book |last1=Robertson |first1=E. William |title=Historical Essays in Connexion with the Land, the Church &c |date=1872 |publisher=Edmonston and Douglas |language=en |chapter=Currency of the Early Franks}}</ref>
<ref name="france">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=France |editor1-first=Peter | encyclopedia =The new Oxford companion to literature in French |date=1995 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |title=Currency}}</ref>
<ref name="diderot">{{cite book |editor1-last=Diderot |editor1-first=Denis |editor2-last=d'Alembert |editor2-first=Jean le Rond |editor1-link=Denis Diderot |editor2-link=Jean le Rond d'Alembert |title=Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers |date=1772 |language=fr| chapter=Abréviations| title-link= Encyclopédie}}</ref>
<ref name="spooner">{{cite book |last1=Spooner |first1=Frank C. |title=The International Economy and Monetary Movements in France, 1493-1725 |date=1972 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-45840-6 |language=en}}</ref>
<ref name="unicode">{{cite web |title=Character Properties |url=https://util.unicode.org/UnicodeJsps/character.jsp?a=20B6 |website=util.unicode.org |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref>

</references>

{{Pound (currency)}}
{{Portal bar|France|Money|Numismatics}}

[[Category:Coins of France]]
[[Category:Economic history of the Ancien Régime]]
[[Category:Pound (currency)]]