Alexander, count of Gravina (mid 12th century), bust of Saint Catherine facing, nimbate, holding a cross in her right hand, in field to left and right **, rev. Latin inscription in three lines **, 17.43g. (for similar examples see IFEB 184; and another from a Romanian collection ed. Ion Barnea, Sceaux indits de Dobroudja, SBS 3, pp.65-67), very fine

Details

Alexander, count of Gravina (mid 12th century), bust of Saint Catherine facing, nimbate, holding a cross in her right hand, in field to left and right **, rev. Latin inscription in three lines **, 17.43g. (for similar examples see IFEB 184; and another from a Romanian collection ed. Ion Barnea, Sceaux indits de Dobroudja, SBS 3, pp.65-67), very fine

Lot Essay

A Norman baron hostile to Roger II, Alexander of Gravina took refuge in the service of the German emperor Conrad III, and later in the service of the Byzantine emperors. He first went to Constantinople as ambassador to take part in the negotiations for the marriage of the emperor Manuel Comnenus to Elizabeth of Sulzbach. He remained in the east as commander of the Norman troops in the empire's service, or as ambassador, until the end of Manuel's reign.