The First Crusade
The face cards of the Minor Arcana suits are all based on historical and mythological characters, and the suit of Coins deals with the First Crusade in Jerusalem. In the 11th century, Pope Urban II urged Christians to retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land from muslim rule. The response was overwhelmingly popular, and those that didn't make the armed pilgramage themselves at least donated to the Christians' elite army called the Knights Templar. The series of wars that made up the Holy Crusades lasted well over a century.
Godfrey of Boullion, the defender of the Holy Sepulcrhe and the first King of Jerusalem. He refused to be referred to as "King," and in deference to Jesus Christ, he wore a crown of thorns instead of a crown of gold.
Heavily armored knights on warhorses were the Templars' main battle component - this was in stark contrast to how they were portrayed to those donating to the Templars.
Godehilde of Tosny, whose father was a proven companion of William the Conqueror, would marry Baldwin I to become the first Queen of Jerusalem.
Symbolizes the Crusades, the clash of religious beliefs, and the Christian desire to recover the Holy Land from Islamic Rule.
Baldwin I, who would abandon his studies to become a knight and become one of the First Crusade's leading commanders. He would eventually succeed Godfrey as King of Jerusalem with Godehild as his wife.
The Templars were known as the "Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Christ," and a widely-circulated coin that depicted two knights having to share one horse went a long way in convincing people to donate to the church in the name of "saving" Jerusalem. In a stark contrast to being portrayed as meager and poor, the Knights Templar were tax exempt in many places, and they actually had access to an enormous amount of money and land.