bezant, byzant
(ˈbɛzənt, bɪˈzɑːnt, -æ-)
Forms: 3 (Orm.) beȝȝsannt, 3–7 besand(e, 4 (pl.) besaunce, 4–5 besaund(e, -unt(e, -wnt, bessant, -aun, 4–9 besant(e, bezaunde, -nt, 6 beasaunte, beisand, 6–7 (pl.) basence, beazance, 7–9 bi-, byzant, 7– bezant.
[a. OF. besan (pl. besanz):—L. byzantius (sc. nummus) Byzantine (coin), from Byzantium, where it was first struck; cf. Byzantine. Poems c1400 show the accentuation ˈbezant.]
1. A gold coin first struck at Byzantium or Constantinople, and seemingly identical with the Roman solidus or aureus, but afterwards varying in value between the English sovereign and half-sovereign, or less. It was current in Europe from the 9th century, and in England, till superseded by the noble, a coin of Edw. III. There were also silver bezants worth from a florin to a shilling. Used by Wyclif to translate both the Latin words talentum and drachma.
| c 1200 Ormin 8102 He ȝaff hise cnihhtess þa Fifftiȝ beȝȝsannz to mede. 1297 R. Glouc. 409 Vyfty þousend besans, he sende hem. a 1300 Cursor M. 4194 Þar was ioseph in seruage sald, For tuenti besands [v.r. besaundes, besauntis]. c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 2474 An hundred bessauns gif Y the. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxv. 15 To oone he ȝaue fyue talentis or besauntis. 1388 ― Luke xv. 8 What womman hauynge ten besauntis. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3253 Bruches and besauntez and oþer bryghte stonys. c 1400 Roland 411 Tok of the hethyn broche or bessant. 1494 Fabyan vii. 374 One is called a bezaunde imperiall, & y⊇ other a bezaunt ducall. c 1500 Kennedy Agst. Mouth-thankl. iii, Brotches, beisands, robbis, & rings. 1577 Test. 12 Patriarchs (1604) 144 They ask two basences of gold. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. vii. 32 They should pay twentie thousand Bizants. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxxi, A thousand besans of gold. 1820 Scott Ivanhoe vii, Here, Isaac, lend me a handful of byzants. 1875 Jevons Money ix. 97 In Anglo-Saxon times gold byzants from Byzantium were used in England. |
2. The offering made by the kings of England at the sacrament, or at festivals.
| 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. ii. xii. (1743) 98 The gold offered by the King at the Altar, when he receives the Sacrament..is still called the Byzant. 1762 Gentl. Mag. 599 The King's [offering] is a byzant, or wedge of gold, value 30l. |
3. Her. A gold roundel representing the above coin plain and unstamped: according to Littré, originally signifying that the bearer had been in the Holy Land. Also attrib.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. C iij b, This is calde a besant cros for it is made all of besanttis..He berith gowles a cros besauntid. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 79 Plates are of dignitie nexte vnto the besauntes..whiche are alwayes of a golden colour. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iv. xix. (1660) 352 If they [Roundles] be Or, then we call them Besants. 1864 Boutell Her. Hist. & Pop. v. 25 In the instances of the Bezant and the Plate. |