Bezant (Noun)
Meaning
A gold coin of the Byzantine Empire; widely circulated in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Classification
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession.
Examples
- During the Crusades, many knights and merchants earned wealth in the form of a bezant, which they brought back to Europe.
- Merchants often accepted a bezant as currency, even far from the Byzantine Empire where it originated.
- The discovery of a single bezant in an archaeological site confirmed the existence of trade routes with the Byzantine Empire.
- To secure an alliance with a powerful nobleman, the king offered him a chest filled with glittering bezants.
- The Byzantine Empire's influence was visible in the use of the bezant as a standard unit of exchange in medieval trade.