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Description: | Copper alloy badge. A devotional badge referring to the Crucifixion. A flat discoid plate with a further narrow trapezoid plate with coiled ends brazed to its back to permit sewn attachment. This is aligned so that its ends are at 6 and 12 O'clock on the 'obverse', permitting its meaningful display. The display face may have been gilded, though it is now darkened by treatment with oil by the finder. The badge is divided into two fields by a billeted inner circle, and with a similar outer border.The front bears a central motif incorporating the letters IHC, with schematic linear arrangements above and below, and a possibly die-struck circumferential legend. Unlike a seal matrix, the lettering is not reversed. The legend reads: +NAZAREN REX IVDEORVM. The letters IHC stand for IH[VS] C[HRISTVS], so the sense of a full reading is: Jesus Christ the Nazarene, King of the Jews. This follows the text of the 'charge sheet' nailed to the Cross at His crucifixion by order of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. The letter style may suggest a high medieval date by analogy with its use on contemporary coins, and implies literacy, obviously on the part of the maker, and possibly the wearer. The tripartite nature of the figure above the central lettering may be viewed as a stick figure with arms outstretched, perhaps a concession to the unlettered faithful. However, the inversion of the badge or its viewing by a downward glance on the part of the wearer could also produce the central reading DEI, possibly referring to the title [Son] of God, as a visual pun, either private or to be shared with the better educated. Suggested date: Medieval, 1250-1400.Diameter: 26.5mm, Thickness (clear of attachment loops): 1mm, Weight: 2.80gms.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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