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Description: | Incomplete Medieval lead pilgrim badge, missing one corner and two stitching rings. There is a hole at the centre where the badge appears to have been folded in half on itself. It measures 27.87x33.75x2.05mm and weighs 11.55g.The pilgrim badge depicts St Peter and St Paul, haloed. The faces are extremely worn but that on the right appears to have curly hair and so is probably St Peter. The haloes are an inverted tear-drop shape with oblique lines creating a rim.The bodies are loaf-shaped, rounded at the shoulders extending into a vertical line. They each display one arm, that on the inside, which crosses the body to hold a huge key with the bit facing inwards. Between the figures is a staff, some of which has been lost towards the top, which would have terminated in a cross, the remains of which are five pellets in cross formation at the top of the badge.Two stiching rings survive, albeit squashed.This pilgrim badge relates to Medieval pilgrimage to Rome. It belongs to a group of badges that were in use during the 13th and into the 14th century following Pope Innocent III's regulation of pilgrim badge production in 1199, due to the decline of pilgrimage to Rome after the rise of Compostela in the 12th century (Spencer, 1998: pp. 248). This confined production of badges bearing the images of Saints Peter and Paul to Rome itself and through the increase in pilgrimage in the 14th century in particular depictions of the two saints became increasingly popular, with examples reported from numerous museum collections (see Spencer, 1998: pp. 248-249). The examples published by Spencer from Medieval London provide good parallels, particularly nos. 252 and 252a, although these do not have haloes. This example is probably 13th century in date (see Spencer 1998 p.251).
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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