A chasut lo patac

[muckefuck]

Here's an interesting tidbit from a presentation I attended to day on a 14th-century register of toll charges from the South of France. The manuscript is prefaced with a couple paragraphs from the beginning of the gospel of John in Latin. My first thought was, "Did someone start an illuminated gospel before realising they needed some place to record the bridge tolls?" But a scholar from the religion department pointed out that this passage was very common in the Middle Ages as a talisman, particularly to ensure auspicious beginnings. Then a penny dropped: This is the passage which my mom read out at the baptism of my newest nephew. She explained that her father read it at every baptism in her family, but no one really understood why. Now this has me wondering just how far back in the family this tradition might go.

Another completely unexpected connexion: The manuscript contains a section on currency, indicating that the local standard is the denier tournois and giving equivalents in other common currencies, such as the florin. There's also apparently a mention of a local coin called the patac, which shares a name with the Iberian pataca or patacón. Does that last word look familiar? If so, it's because it's Crazy Jungle Spanish for tostón--a twice-fried plantain slice which is roughly the size and shape of an old-fashioned coin.