The Theodul Pass, at an altitude of 3295 meters, is on the border of Switzerland and Italy, to the south of Zermatt. Just above the pass is the Rifugio Teodulo.
View of the pass and the Rifugio, ca. 1890-1900. Photo: Library of Congress.At the end of the 17th century the pass was named after Saint Theodorus, also known as Theodulus, who was bishop of Octodurus (Martigny) at the end of the fourth century. The pass has its own Oetzi, a young man who has been called the "Mercenary of Theodul". Around 1600 AD he fell into a crevasse on the Theodul glacier. His remains emerged in the 1980's. In 1688 a fortification was built on the summit. There was also a wooden statue of the saint, mentioned in 1691. The Italian mountaineer and photographer Guido Rey found two pieces of the statue, a hand and a staff, as related by him in 1907 in a book about the Matterhorn.
View of the pass and the fortification around 1800. Photo: Wikimedia, Gac.Three groups of Roman coins originate from the pass. A group of 25 coins was in the possession of Joseph Seiler, a hotel owner and collector of antiquities in Brig. Their precise place of discovery on the pass, on one or more occasions, is not known. The collection included a Celtic coin, a Republican coin from the period 169-158 BC, and Imperial coins from Nerva to the late fourth century (the current whereabouts of these coins are unknown). In 1891 some 20 bronze and silver coins were discovered near the Rifugio by Matteo Fasani. The Italian mountaineer and photographer Vittorio Sella sent 12 of these to the archaeologist Felice Barnabei in Rome. He established that the earliest coin was of Trajan, the latest of Valentinianus (without specifying which Valentinianus; the coins have disappeared). However, one of the coins was not Roman, but Mediaeval, from Milan. The third group, of 54 coins, was discovered in 1895 by Josephine Pelissier, a young woman working in the Rifugio. This time the discovery sparked the interest of a British mountaineer, Edward Whymper, best known for his participation in the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. In 1896 Pelissier had already sold 11 coins. She showed Whymper 43 coins, one of silver, the others of bronze. She told him that she had found the coins about 50 meters away from the refuge, below a thin flat stone, on top of which was a big square stone. The coins were lying close together on a space that was 17.5-20 cm. wide. They were mixed with rotted cloth, presumably the remains of a bag which had held the coins. Whymper bought the coins and sent them to Sir John Evans, president of the Royal Numismatic Society in London. He established that the earliest coin was of Aurelianus, while the latest coins belonged to the years 352-355 AD. However, again one coin was later: a small silver coin from the 17th century, from Constance. In 1898 Whymper gave most of the coins to Joseph Seiler, in a red cardboard box with gold-coloured ornaments and letters. It is today in the Matterhorn Museum in Zermatt (some of the coins have disappeared).
The box with coins given by Edward Whymper to Joseph Seiler. Photo: Thüry 2011, Abb. 6.Günther Thüry has rejected the idea that we are dealing with coin hoards, hidden in times of crisis. It makes no sense to do this on a mountain pass, at such a great altitude, with extremely variable weather conditions. He suggests that the coins were votive objects. The concentration of coins in one place, in a bag, would mean that an entire purse had been dedicated. The presence of a 17th century coin would be a coincidence. However, we can also imagine that in the 17th century someone who was in charge of the statue of Theodulus found the Roman coins and understood that they were ancient votive gifts. He may have collected them, put them in a bag, and then added a coin from his own time. To prevent theft, he may have placed them under some stones.
Literature
Vaccarone 1884, 116; Whymper 1897; Rey 1907, 88-89; Thüry 2011; Thüry 2012.
For the "Mercenary of Theodul" see 400 Jahre im Gletschereis. Der Theodulpass bei Zermatt und sein 'Söldner' (S. Providoli - P. Curdy - P. Elsig eds.), Baden 2015.
[12-Feb-2024]
