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Twenty tenth-century Anglo-Saxon coins found beneath the walled garden of Rome’s Palazzo della Rovere are the first material evidence identified for the Schola Saxonum, an early medieval community associated with English pilgrims and residents. The coins, alongside evidence of local crafts, suggest that the quarter was not only a place of pilgrimage but also a setting for work and exchange. They do not prove that a pope formally granted its residents special permission to use English currency.
What archaeologists found
The excavation recovered 20 Anglo-Saxon coins: 19 silver pennies and one halfpenny. They are associated with the tenth-century reigns of Edward the Elder, Æthelstan and Eadred. The finds came from beneath the walled garden of the Palazzo della Rovere, in the area linked to the Schola Saxonum.
Fourteen coins were deposited in two clusters of rubbish pits; the rest were scattered nearby. The same excavation uncovered ten Roman-period or tenth-century Italian coins and evidence of leather-, bone- and metalworking. These are separate strands of evidence: the coins show money circulating or being deposited at the site, while the craft remains point to practical work there.
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What the coins suggest about life in the quarter
A community with economic activity
The English coins came from several regions, including East Anglia, Kent, London and the West Midlands. Their presence in Rome is consistent with connections between the city and people or goods arriving from England. The nearby craft evidence adds support for a community engaged in work, not solely religious travel.
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Why the halfpenny matters
Researchers regard the low-denomination halfpenny as consistent with small-value trade. They associate halfpennies with trading hubs and frequent modest payments, so its recovery fits an interpretation of local exchange. It cannot, by itself, identify what was bought, who made a payment, or how often transactions occurred.
The 20 coins are recovered objects, not a measure of the quarter’s population or the scale of its economy. The available evidence does not provide a reliable population count or quantify economic activity.
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Did the Schola Saxonum have special permission to use English money?
The coins have prompted discussion of a possible special currency arrangement for the English community in Rome. Their presence is compatible with trade and with the possibility that residents enjoyed particular currency privileges. But archaeological finds do not establish the legal reason English coins were used at the site.
In particular, the finds do not prove that Alfred secured a currency deal with the pope. That remains a possibility raised in the historical interpretation, not a demonstrated agreement; the evidence does not identify a ruler who obtained such an arrangement, or establish that one existed.
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What “Little England” means here
“Little Englanders” is a modern shorthand, not a description of a modern-style national enclave. The Schola Saxonum was an early medieval community associated with English pilgrims and residents in Rome. The new material evidence helps show that the quarter had a physical presence and may have supported everyday economic and craft activity alongside pilgrimage.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where the findings were published
The excavation findings appear in “Ricerche nell’area della schola Saxonum,” a chapter by Marzia Di Mento, Rory Naismith, Valentina Pica, Filippo Salamone and Francesca Tinti in the 2026 volume Rome and the Others (300-1000): Foreigners in the City Between Conflicts and Integration, pages 489–505. The book is in Italian.
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For the excavation context and researchers’ comments, see the University of Cambridge account. A Cambridge-issued release hosted by EurekAlert gives the rulers associated with the coins, their English regional origins and the qualification about a possible currency arrangement.
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