In 1180 the relics of St Frideswide were translated to a shrine built for pilgrims by the Augustinian canons of the Priory of St Frideswide. At this time, according to T. A. Heslop, the Priory acquired this rather fine seal.
Frideswide is enthroned, holding a fleur-de-lys and a book or wax tablet, with a canopy of three domes, bearing remarkable similarity to the seal of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, 1185 (perhaps suggesting parallels between the shrine to St F and the shrine of the Sepulchre. Cute!). She isn’t crowned or mitred, as you might expect from a saint, but looks much more like Grammar on Chartres Cathedral. Heslop also finds similarities between the figure of Frideswide and those of Geoffrey, bishop-elect of Lincoln, and Constance, duchess of Brittany and countess of Richmond, both from the 1180s; stylistically, therefore, the seal can be fairly confidently dated to the 1180s.
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