Template:Wp-Melle, Deux-Sèvres-History

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During the early Middle Ages, Melle was an active center of minting, thanks to important silver mines located under and around the city. These were mined from 602 to at least 995. The mined ore was galena: lead containing silver. The lead served first of all to pay a tribute to the Frankish kings: under Dagobert I, eight thousand pounds were sent to Paris every year, where he served for the cover of the Basilica of St Denis.

Under the reign of Charlemagne it was a mining centre and was, for a time, the home of the French mint: the Aachen penny of Charlemagne, the first coin of Charlemagne to be found at his capital of Aachen/Aix, was minted at Metullo. The silver mines which supplied the mint continued to function off and on before being forgotten altogether in the 18th century, not to be discovered again until the 20th century. The mine is now a tourist attraction and can be visited most days of the year.

In the Middle Ages, Melle flourished as a town, as we can see from its surviving medieval houses and the three churches, built in the Romanesque style during the 11th and 12th centuries.