Bronze seal-die of Inchaffray Abbey
Medieval, about AD 1260-1302
Perthshire, Scotland
This double sided seal-die was used by the Abbey of St John the
Evangelist at Inchaffray in Perthshire. The Abbey at Inchaffray was
a house of Austin Canons founded in 1200 by Gilbert, Earl of
Strathearn. Since the Abbey was dedicated to St John the
Evangelist, it is not surprising to find his symbol of the eagle
used on one side of the seal die. The eagle holds a scroll which
reads: I. PRINCIPIO. ERAT. VERBV ('In the beginning was the word'),
the opening line of St John's Gospel.
The other side shows a saint within an ecclesiastical building.
He holds a book and a large quill pen or perhaps a palm branch,
signifying martyrdom. Both would be appropriate for St John the
Evangelist who the figure undoubtedly represents. The surrounding
legend reads: + S' COMVNE: ECCE: SCI: IOh'IS: EWANGELISTE: DE:
INSVLA: MISSARVM, naming the abbey and describing it as a place of
frequent worship. Both inscriptions conform to the medieval system
of word abbreviation commonly used in seal-dies because of the
restrictions of space.
After the eleventh century the practice of affixing seals to
documents changed. The wax seal impression was no longer simply
applied directly to the face of the document but could be attached
by strips of parchment, leather or cords. Double-sided seals were a
consequence of this. The Inchaffray seal die is constructed in a
typical way, with the projecting pegs of one side designed to fit
into corresponding loops on the other. The backs of double-sided
seal dies are flat because the traditional method of securing an
impression by pressing the soft wax into the engraved surface of a
seal by hand was not adequate. Rollers resembling rolling pins had
to be used.
V. Glenn, 'Thirteenth-century seals - Tayside, Fife and the
wider world', Tayside and Fife Archaeological Journal, 5 (1999) pp.
146-162
A.B. Tonnochy, Catalogue of British seal dies (London, The British Museum Press, 1952)
J. Robinson, Masterpieces: Medieval Art (London, British Museum Press, 2008)