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Description: | A lead bull of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitallers), produced under Amaury* d'Amboise**, Master of the order between 1503-1512.The discoid artefact is slightly damaged and corroded. A double perforation, through which the now-missing cord would have been threaded, extends from top to bottom. The relief-moulded image on the obverse shows the Master, wearing a cloak, facing left and kneeling left before a patriarchal cross, the base of which is flanked by the letters 'A' and 'W', with the Greek letter Omega below. A wavy branch fills the right field behind the kneeling figure and a circular line border surrounds the image. The obverse legend reads (clockwise from 12 o'clock): '[+ F.E]MERICVS.DAMBOYSE.MAGISTER' ('Father Emericus Damboyse Master').The reverse image is executed in high relief, the details crisp and clear. At the base of the circular design is the image of the body of a dead man lying on a bier, his arms folded across his chest as if in prayer, his legs bent upwards at the knee, his head at the right hand end. The upper third of the image is occupied by a depiction of a church***, at the centre of which is an arch with a pinnacle above. Flanking this arch are two wings, the right of which has two floors, the lengths of both punctuated by a series of rounded arches; the left hand wing appears to have no upper floor and there is a suggestion of a pellet design above. At the inner end of each wing is a tower with pointed spire, depicted as if set behind the central pinnacle. A lamp hangs from beneath the central arch, supported by a triple-stranded chain. Such a chain also supports a censer, located above the feet of the dead man, emanating from the outer end of the left hand wing. To the right, above the man's head, is a Maltese-style cross. A circular ridge separates the image from the legend, which reads: '+.hOSPITAL[I]S.IhERUSALEM'.The artefact measures 37.9mm in diameter, 6.7mm thick and weighs 48.94g. A casting flash extends around the perimeter, a sprue also protruding from 3 o'clock on the obverse.According to Colonel E. J. King, the Master's bull, or 'Great Seal', produced for the sealing of official documents, was probably in use from at least 1113, when Pope Pascal II confirmed the foundation of The Order of St. John. They continued to be produced until the 19th century, their design altering little over this period (King 1932: 8-9).The Order was a European organisation, based in Rhodes at the time this bulla was issued. It had some 50 estates in England and several hundred members of English origin until it was dissolved in 1540 by Act of Parliament (Butler and Given-Wilson 1979, 60-63, 74 and 119).Seals of The Order of St. John are rare finds in Britain. The recorder knows of no other examples on the PAS database.
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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