Medieval Scribes, Tools, & Practices A collection of authentic medieval tools used in all aspects of the scribe's work. This collection, originally organized by Alan Cole, belongs to the Museum of Writing Research Collection, Institute of English Studies, University of London, and is housed in the Senate House Library.

Title Seals

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Brief description There are two seals in this collection: one from the 12th to 13th century, with the inscription “Robert son of Robert,” which is made of lead. The second is made of silver, dates to the 16th century, and is unusual in that the handle unscrews and is also a holder for tapers, either for melting wax for seals or to light candles, the commonest form of illumination. The end is a seal with the initials K M. Seals are not tools of manuscript production directly, but are, for the purposes of this exhibit, tools of literacy and writing. Seals have a long history, dating back to the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt, among others. Seals were used primarily as a “way to proclaim the authenticity of a document,” particularly documents of legal import or letters patent. In Europe in the Middle Ages, seals were mostly “pendant seals,” or seals attached to a ribbon or cord, which were then tied or sewn to the document. The seals in this collection are examples of “applied seals,” which were used to keep documents closed, like letters or sometimes parcels. Different colored waxes had different uses and/or meanings. The practice of sealing in wax gradually moved down the social hierarchy from monarchs and bishops to great magnates, to petty knights by the end of the 12th century, and to ordinary freemen by the middle of the 13th century. Additionally, one of the seals also would have functioned as a taper holder. The taper would have been used to ignite other light sources, such as the oil lamp featured in this collection, which would burn longer than the small taper candle and would have been a better source of light. The taper in this case was probably also used to melt the sealing wax used with the seal. This paragraph composed of rephrased material provided by Alan Cole. “Medieval Seals: A Collection of Facsimiles at the Medieval Institute.” Medieval Institute Library, Hesburgh Libraries, Notre Dame. Accessed March 15, 2014, http://library.nd.edu/medieval/seals/index.shtml “The Western Tradition.”Wikipedia page for “seals (emblem)”, last modified on 3 February 2014, accessed March 15, 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_%28emblem%29

Contributor: Courtney Killian, from notes by Alan Cole

Contribution date: Winter 2014