Early Oxford Colleges

Yes, you're right - these aren't Augustinian seals, so this is a tangent.

I'm just looking at the histories of Merton, Univ and Balliol Colleges, all founded in the 1260s.  

The Merton seal (from their archives) is from the 14th century. It is the BVM and Babe, she with orb, and with the half-figure of Walter de Merton praying under an arch below. I'd like to draw your attention to the seals of Oseney Abbey and Merton Priory - Walter had associations with both (especially with Merton, whom he named himself after).  Both monasteries were, like so many Austin houses, dedicated to the BVM. Merton's chapel is dedicated jointly to the BVM and St John the Baptist.  Walter's own seal has similarities to Merton's, too.

A quick look on the internet has failed to provide Univ's seal, but here's Balliol's, from 1282.  Although John de Balliol is credited with founding the college, it was actually his wife Dervorguilla of Galloway.

This seal has again the BVM and Babe and is very like Oseney's or, with its canopy, Merton Priory's. But in addition, they BVM and Babe are sitting atop a building (the scholars' hall?), with John and Dervorguilla praying underneath.  Unlike Merton College's seal, this one is very heraldic, showing the secular, noble origin of the founders. John holds his shield (Gules, an orle Argent. By the BVM and Babe are, sinister, the arms of her mother Margaret of Huntingdon (Or, three piles Gules.  Margaret was great-granddaughter of David I, brother of Edith-Matilda - both of whom were responsible for several early Augustinian foundations. The other arms (per pale Gules and Azure, three garbs Or) are the de Lacy arms. Alan of Galloway married first and thirdly de Lacy women. (It's interesting she displays de Lacy rather than Galloway/ Scotland.)  Dervorguilla's own seal is here, for comparison.

Huntingdon

 This post lacks a picture, owing to the difficulty of getting into the BL, and there being no picture anywhere on the internet.  So for the moment, we'll just have to have de Gray's description.

This post also led to me editing the Wikipedia article on Huntingdon Priory.  Hopefully more people will add to it, amend it, etc.  Huntingdon was one of the original Augustinian priories, and is, like so many, dedicated to the BVM.

Its surviving seal is from the 14th century:

"the Coronation of the Virgin, in a circular panel, cusped and quatrefoiled. Over it the head of Our Lord with cruciform nimbus, between a crescent on the left and an estoile on the right over which are the sacred letters AO. At each side a four-winged seraph. In base, The Resurrection of the Dead at the Day of Judgment, two angels blowing long trumpets, three human figures rising from the ground, and a bishop or mitred Abbat rising from a sepulchre.

: * : S' : COMMVNE : RVM : . . MARIE : HVNTINGDONE.

R. The Priory Church, with central spire and crested roof. In the middle, under a trefoiled arch, St. Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury, seated, lifting up the right hand in benediction, in the left hand a crozier. At each side in a niche with trefoiled arch two canons praying. Over each niche in a circular panel window the head, on the left of St. Peter, on the right of St. Paul. In the field, on the left the keys of St. Peter, on the right the sword of St. Paul, each betw. two roses. In base, under an arcade, four busts in profile to the left Over the roof the words CLEM. V., in reference to Pope Clement V., A.D. 1305-1315."

The legend is a rhyming hexameter couplet: CANONICIS : LEGES : P’R : AVGVS / DE : H' PIA DONA TVIS.

I'll improve this post when I have a photo or two.

Holyrood

 Holyrood Abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland, brother of Edith-Matilda, one of the key figures in the establishment of the Augustinians in the British Isles.  David's founding canons were from Merton Priory, but unlike Merton and many other Austin houses, Holyrood is not dedicated to the BVM, but to, er, the Holy Rood (St Cross).  This could have been because David, about to be gored by a stag who'd already managed to unhorse him, saw the holy cross and was miraculously saved, or (/ and) because David brought there a fragment of the True Cross from Waltham, which had been given it by David's mother Margaret (the Queen of Queensferry and founder of Dunfermline Abbey).  After being a centre of spiritual and political importance for the next few centuries, Holyrood was trashed by the English in the 1540s and then by the Scottish reformers of the 1550s.  In 2006, Time Team dug up various bits of it.

The first seal of Holyrood is a church (compare St Andrews, for example).  It's lovely.  Look at the tiles; the dome is beautifully Romanesque, and the arcade also classic Romanesque.  The ground below it is interesting - a forecourt?  De Gray Birch gives this a date of c.1141.  The legend is SIGILLVM S[ANC[TE] [I can't make the next bit out] EDINBURGENSIS ECCLE[SI]E

©National Museums Scotland

From a century or so later is Abbot Adam's seal.  This shows Adam kneeling in prayer, with his crozier, to the Holy Rood, and there are crosses aplenty.  Legend:  S' ABBATIS SANCTE CRVCIS DE EDINGBORG.

 

 

 

The final seal, at least on this page, is the Abbey's seal from much later - de Gray Birch's example from 1559.  It's definitely Late Mediaeval, though could be 15th- or 16th-century.  It is busy, with Christ crucified in the middle (St Cross, again) and the BVM and John (I presume) either side - these two centuries loved the Passion story, as you can hear from the numerous Eton Choirbook examples (like this one).   Beneath is the BVM and Babe, and the arms of Scotland.  Lovely elegant Perp columns and canopies.  (Again, I can't quite make out the legend from this picture.)

 

Southwark's First Seal

The Priory of St Mary Overy, or Southwark Priory, was founded in 1106 by Williams Pont de l'Arche and Dauncey.  They were two curiales in the court of Henry I. Henry had quite a lot of curiales. The word means courtier; these were the royal men-of-business. Typically, they came from lesser families and owed their good positions and fortunes to the king - and queen. These two Bills were indeed Henry's men, but they also acted for his wife, Edith-Matilda, whose importance can be overlooked because she was queen-consort, but it must be remembered that she was of royal descent and could argue a position of queen in her own right. Edith-Matilda was fundamental to the establishment of the Augustinian order in England, Wales and (through her brothers) Scotland.

Walter de Gray Birch puts the first seal in the 11th century, but it can't predate the priory, so it must be first quarter of the 12th. Here's his description of Southwark Priory's seal:

Pointed oval: a king, standing, with crown having loose straps terminating in trefoils, as in the great seal of William II; with long open sleeves, in the hands an inscribed ribbon. The inscription is illegible.

+ SIGILLUM SCE MARIE SVDWERKENSIS ECCL'IE

Why it should be a king when the priory was dedicated to Mary, I'm not sure. Kings are also usually depicted seated on a throne. William Rufus' crown type might be similar (it's of the right period), but otherwise, he's, ahem, a red herring. Here are the seals of the Norman kings:

• William the Conqueror
• William Rufus
• Henry I
• Stephen
• The Empress Maud also sits enthroned, stating her legitimacy to rule.
  

Kings, as you can see, don't stand. But queens do. If we compare the Southwark seal to that of Edith-Matilda, we see certain similarities (and some differences).

Here she is. (There's another, better, picture on the Durham seals site.)

I don't know on what grounds WdeGB thought Southwark's figure was a king, but a wide-sleeved standing figure is surely more likely to be female. From this photo, it looks like the figure has a beard, but that might be a bad impression. One day, I'll go and have a look at the seal itself.

I've not come across another seal (yet) with the ribbon or banner. The pattern on the vestment is interesting - and a bit unclear. Perhaps it's the Lamb of God? Some things seem to be projecting from behind the figure's head. A possibility is that this figure isn't royal, but episcopal. Bishops also stood and had wide sleeves. The bishop of Winchester was closely connected to Southwark (indeed, the prostitutes of Southwark were called the Winchester Geese).

Two possible models for this seal exist: Edith-Matilda, patron of the two curalis-founders, and William Giffard, bishop of Winchester (or St Augustine, via him). This seal needs more investigation!

The second seal, also from the 12th century, is the BVM seated, and once I've located a picture of it, it'll be here.

Nostell

Almost as much remains of Nostell as it does of Merton; Merton is covered by a big supermarket, and Nostell by a big Georgian stately home - both signalling the change from religion to consumerism.  Nostell was, like Merton, one of the big founding priories, sending canons all over the place to establish other Austin houses. Nostell grew from a hermitage in St Oswald's Wood, near Pontefract, becoming an Austin house by 1120.  It was patronised by the de Lacy lords of Pontefract, and then Henry I; his archbishop of York, Thurstan, was quite possibly responsible for turning it into an Austin priory.  (The Borthwick Institute says J. A. Frost's useful booklet on Nostell is out of print; you can find the first 9 pages here.)  Nostell soon grew to be one of the top three northern Austin priories.

Left is the priory seal from the early 12th century.  It shows St Oswald, with a crown which looks unfortunately like a jester's hat.  He is seated on a throne with nice wolf-head ends, and he holds an orb and sceptre.  The legend:  SIGILLVM [SCI] OSWALD' REGIS & M DE NOSTELT

Oswald was a 7th-century king of Northumbria who promoted Christianity. He gave Aidan, the 'Apostle of Northumbria', Lindisfarne as the centre of his bishopric.  Oswald he was killed in battle with the Mercians, and his body cut into pieces and put on spikes.  Miracles of course occurred where he died.  Oswald's head was buried in Durham Cathedral (although several rival heads exist elsewhere), and one of his arms turned up at Peterborough, where monks would guard it continuously to stop relic-theft.  In the feretory at Durham, you can see a late-medieval statue of St Cuthbert holding St Oswald's head.

The counterseal, from later in the century, shows the BVM and Child on her lap. She holds, as Charles Clay said, 'an object in either hand'.  It's difficult to make out those objects, but the right-hand one will be a sceptre, because it usually is.  The legend is +  CONTRASIGILL' SANCTI OSWALDI DE NOSTLE:

A further, 13th-century, seal exists (in the National Archives), possibly the privy seal or ad causas; I don't have a picture, but Clay's description is: Round, 1 in. The Virgin and Child, half-length, between four large pointed leaves. * MARIA MA…….ENA.

Prior Robert de Quixley (1393-1427), who had the history of the Priory compiled (the legend of the Priory, anyway), had a nice seal (left).  It has two tiers. In the upper, St Oswald, seated on a throne, holds a sceptre between two clergy with croziers. Below, Robert himself, vested for mass, stands between two canons. The legend has a couplet feel about it, but it's very incomplete.  …RO…[?RI]ORIS [?SCI]…RE[?GIS MAR]T….T…

Two more prior's seals are described by Clay:

1) John de Huddersfield (c.1427): oval, 'on the breast of a splayed eagle a shield with some floral device, flattened by pressure.  ...ERhO...

2) a 15th-century prior:  pointed oval, 'beneath an elaborately pinnacled and buttressed canopy a seated figure of St. Oswald the King, robed, holding two sceptres; in base, beneath a four-centred arch, a praying canon; on either side of the arch a shield of arms, dexter, a fess between [?] three lions rampant; sinister, much rubbed; legend broken away.

Bart's

Photo: Christopher Fowler

St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, was founded by one of Henry I's chaplains, Rahere.  He fell ill, and, fearfully, vowed that if he recovered, he'd found a hospital. Presumably in some delirium, he was visited in a dream by St Bartholomew, who promised that if he founded a church in Smithfield, he would recover.  Rahere recovered, and therefore founded a church - an Austin priory, with a hospital attached.  You can read more about the hospital here.  Rahere died in 1145, and was buried in the church he founded and had been prior of.  Here he is (in a slightly later tomb).

The seals are described in full in The Records of St Bart's, and most are illustrated in An Illustrated Account of St. Bartholomew's Priory Church, Smithfield, by Normanus.

The earliest two seals, attached to a deed of 1137, show:i) (seal, left) Rahere as prior. Rahere is in typical prelate's pose - cross in right hand, Bible in left.  Inscription seems to be: SIGILL' RAE...IES C BARTHOLOMEO SMETHFELD

ii) (counterseal, right) a church with three towers.

Cf churches on the seals of Burscough and Canterbury, shown here. Legend:  [SIGILL]VM CONVENT. ECCLE. DI. ET S. BARTHOLOMEI DE SME[THFELD].  The two legends' lettering is very similar.  The seal and counterseal are depicted in an article from Archaeologia XIX (1817). 

The 12th-century hospital had its own seal (BM 3487), with St Bartholomew nimbed, right hand in benediction, left hand holding a cross crozier, and the inscription HOSPITALIS SANCTI [BART]HOLOME[I]. Normanus notes this seal ad causas (right) on a document from 1164, very similar to the description of the hospital's seal, but with the legend SIGILL' PRIORIS ET CONVENT' S BARTHOLI' LOND' AD CAUSAS.

The late 12th/ 13th-century priory had a stonking seal and counterseal.  The seal (below) shows Bartholomew, cross in hand, sitting on or standing behind (I don't quite trust this illustration) a Norman church with two circular side towers.  This seal really reminds me of London's seal from 1219 (below Bart's seal), with St Paul brandishing his sword and pennon.  The Records of St Bart's says that the seal was on documents from 1198 to 1289, and it also notes a similarity between the circular towers here and those in the 12th-century counterseal. The legend is SIGILL · CONVENTVS · ECCLIE · SCI · BARThOLOMEI · APL'I · DE LVDONIA.

The counterseal is also noteworthy (BM 3489).  It's the 'navis ecclesiae', or ship of the church.  The church often appears as a ship  - indeed, the word 'nave' comes from 'navis' - which goes back to that special biblical ship, the ark.  (Here's a nice one at Lincoln.) The influential 12th-century Augustinian Hugh of St Victor wrote De Arca Noe (Of Noah's Ark), which could be found in monastic libraries up and down the land.  Coventry Cathedral Priory also had a ship or ark on its seal.  Here, the ark is a church on a fine hull, with three crosses (west and east end, and central tower), and an estoile and crescent (sun and moon) which is a feature of many seals of the period. A hand extends from the sinister side of the ship; it is clutching - I think - the dove, although that's not quite clear.  The legend: SIGILL': PRIORIS: ECCLESIE: SCI: BARTOLOMEI.

The sigillum commune, or common seal, of the Priory from c.1300 (BM 3492) has Bartholomew seated on a carved throne.  This 18th-century illustration is from the Wellcome Collection, which has it in excellent resolution.  The Records and Birch note a resemblance with the Great Seal of Edward I (illustration below, but there's a better one here).  Bartholomew has his flaying-knife where Edward has his orb, and a book (though not illustrated here) instead of Edward's sceptre.  It even has a beaded border like Edward's.  In addition, there's a moon and sun and two groups of three spots, and the legend reads: SIGILLVM COMMVNE PRIOR' ET CO[N]VE[N]TVS S[AN]C[T]I BARTHOLOMEI LONDON'.

The counterseal is another navis ecclesiae.  The church itself is a lovely bit of Early English, with three lots of two lancets, east and west end surmounted by trefoils, centre by a quatrefoil. It's a nice updating of the previous counterseal. The legend is a couplet such as was all the rage on episcopal counterseals: CREDIMVS: ANTE: DEVM: PROVEHI: PER: BARTHOLOMEVM ('we believe that we are brought before God through St Bartholomew'.)

The hospital seal from around the same time is a pointed oval, with Bartholomew holding his knife and book. He has either side of him two saplings with shields hanging on them, with the English leopards on them, and he stands on a lion couchant guardant. Over his head is a trefoiled canopy, pinnacled and crocketed. Legend:  S: COMMUNE · hOSPITALIS · SANCTI · BARThI · LONDON.  A later version of this, on a document of 1529, is pictured right.

A 14th-century seal ad causas (BM 3495) is a pointed oval with Bartholomew standing on a corbel with a flaying knife in his hand and a cross crozier in his left. The legend is: [SIGILLUM PRIORIS] ET CONV[ENTUS SANCTI BAR]THOL'I LOND AD CAVS[AS].

After the Dissolution, Mary I established a Dominican friary here. St Bartholomew holds his flaying-knife in his right hand and a book (the Bible) in his left, and stands under a renaissance canopy, between two columns and on a decorated corbel.  The legend reads SIGILLV: COVET: S'CTI: BARTHOLOMEI: ORDINIS: FRATRV: PREDICATORV: LODO:

SS Mary and Hardulph Breedon

The lovely chap who's spending his retirement blogging about Great English Churches has a good post on this one, so I'm not going to describe it (much), and he's got plenty of nice photographs.  There's another good post on Leicestershire Churches.

Photo: Archaeodeath

Breedon is one of a number of Austin priories with Anglo-Saxon foundations, like Bodmin or Plympton. (There's a whole thesis you can read on this here.)  Breedon was re-founded in the early 12th century with canons from Nostell, and seems to have been a cell of Nostell, with only as many canons as you could count on one hand.  But it kept its Anglo-Saxon minster sculpture, and its dedication to St Hardulph, though now, of course, accompanied by the BVM (although from the looks of this sculpture, she was already there!).

Hardulph was probably Eardwulf of Northumbria.

At some point, one of the priors tried to get independence for Breedon from Nostell.  He resigned.

Now, the seal (no picture, sorry).  An oval at 7/8 x 3/4", this seal is on the small side.  It's from 1377, and shows St Peter standing beside a tree, with a book in his right hand and two keys in his left hand.  I'm not quite convinced by Birch's transcription of the inscription - SAVN…PETR’ - I don't know what he thought 'savn' means, but I've not seen the seal, and he's usually pretty good.

I don't know any other depiction of St Peter standing by a tree.  I am, ahem, intreegued.

Grace Dieu

While we're on extraordinary women (see last post on the Elas Longspées), let's look at Rohesia de Verdun, founder of Grace Dieu, north-west of Leicester.

Photo: de-verdon.uk

Roesia de Verdun (d.1247) was the heir to a not-insignificant house, and therefore was quite eligible.  Shewas married first (it seems) to Nicholas de Beaulieu (whoever he was) or was it William Perceval de Somery (whoever he was)?  Different sources say different things.  But they agree on her second husband, Theobald Butler of Ormond.  This marriage was Henry III's particular request.  Roesia bore Theobald five children, but the fact that she shelled out 700 marks on his death to remain a femme sole suggests that marriage didn't agree with her - or else that she was determined to hold on to her estates. And here's an interesting thing about her - like Ela II, she kept her family name.  As sole heiress, she also kept the family estates, which she passed on to her son John.

In the 1230s, Roesia built Castle Roche, Co. Louth.  She reportedly defenestrated the master mason towards the end of the project, so that he'd not be able to divulge the secrets of its unique construction, but that no doubt is misogynist hogwash.

In the late 1230s, she established Grace Dieu, and had retired there by 1242, dying only in her mid-forties in 1247.

A couple of years later, Adam Marsh, perhaps at the behest of his friend Mr Thomas de Verdun (relationship to Roesia not clear), wrote to the Bishop of Lincoln and others to make sure that the convent was adequately founded and provided for.  And it seems to have been.  It attracted other benefactions in the 14th century; by the 15th, there were 14 nuns (it's not unlikely that this number was fairly stable throughout), with two dozen male servants and a handful of female ones.  The nuns' clothing allowance was worth 6s. 8d., so a couple of stones of wool per year, or a couple of hundred quid in today's money.

And now, the seals.  Alas, no pictures (yet).  The 13th-century priory seal is a pointed oval: Christ, on a throne, under a trefoiled canopy supported on slender shafts; right hand in benediction; left hand holds a book. In base, under a trefoiled arch, female figure (the founder) kneeling and holding a charter.
SIGILL' CONVENT' . . . . ALVE DE GRATIA . . .

Theobald de Verdun

This charter is a lovely touch. I've not come across other such charter-bearers, although I'm sure that the unique Roesia can't be unique here.

Roesia's own seal:  she stands in a tunic of the Verdun arms (fretty), holding two shields, one being the Verdun arms. The other has, apparently, an indenty fess; possibly Butler. (I’ve not seen this seal). Nigel Tringham describes another seal, in which ‘she holds a burning lamp in her right hand’.

By the way, the second prioress of Grace Dieu was Alice de Gresley.  Her seal, from 1269, has the BVM on a throne, Child on left knee, under a trefoiled canopy supported on slender shafts. At the sides of her head, dexter, a crescent, sinister, an estoile. In base, under an arch, the prioress kneeling in prayer.

Ela Longspée and Ela Longspée

I belong to a web group that occasionally posts 'silly plurals', and here's one for them, I think.  We have here two outstanding women, mother and daughter, both called Ela.  Are they the Ela Longspées, the Elas Longspée, the Elas Longspées?

The first Ela was Countess of Salisbury, and founder of Lacock Abbey.  The second, her daughter, was Countess of Warwick, a patron of Walter of Merton's college at Oxford, and was buried in Oseney Abbey.  Both women were, therefore, patrons and benefactors of the Augustinians.  (L. L. Gee has written about women as Austin patrons, and Emilie Amt has written about Ela II.)  So they can both quite happily appear here!  Let's look at their seals and counterseals.

 These make for a good spot-the-difference.  They are not dissimilar to that of Joan de Munchensy, Countess of Pembroke, who holds a hawk. Joan's background is plain; Ela is surrounded by .  What, if anything, the hawk signifies is discussed elsewhere, but the figure's dynamic-but-elegant pose is worth noting.  Ela I stands between two lions, not so much rampant as climbing the walls.  (Perhaps they're after the bird.)  She stands on a nice corbel.  Her daughter also has a nice corbel, and instead of rampant lions, she has a couple of rampant ramblers.

The counterseals:  both heraldic, showing that the shield had already gone from primarily military to a proclamation of lineage.  Ela I's has the six lions rampant of Longspée.  Ela II has two lions passant above and below her shield, which is encased in a hexafoil.  It has the six lions rampant, and the inscription shows that although she's Countess of Warwick, she's still a Longspée.  It wasn't common for women to keep their names, but not unknown, especially when the woman was descended from people like Ela's parents...  She was Longspée and proud.

Ela's second seal is more mid-to-late century in style, with a church-style canopy.  She stands on a fleur-de-lys corbel.  The three shields on seal and counterseal are hers and her husbands'.  Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick is dexter on the seal; she holds, sinister, her Longspée shield; the counterseal is Philip Bassett.  Again, the counterseal arms are encased in a foil, this time a quatrefoil, with dainty trefoils at the corners, and between two lions rampant.


Another image of Ela II's seal is here, from the Merton College archives.

Plympton

 

From Monasticon Dioesis Exoniensis (1846)

Bishop William Warelwast of Exeter was on a drive to improve the standards of canons in his diocese. In 1121 he disbanded the secular college founded by the Anglo-Saxons and instituted an Augustinian house, the Priory of St Peter and St Paul, using canons from Holy Trinity, Aldgate, and Merton Priory.  It's probable that one of those Merton canons was a chap called Geoffrey, who in 1130 or so became prior.  The history of Plympton is here, and de Gray Birch's description of the seals here.

The priory seal is 13th-century.  Peter and Paul sit on a bench or throne, with beaded nimbus and books, and their symbols.  They sit atop a lovely carved corbel of foliage.  The inscription Birch notes as

SIGILLVM : ECCLESIE : AP'LOR …..RI : ET : PAVLI : DE : PLIMTONA.

But surely that must be A PRIORATU SANCTE PETRI ET PAVLI.

He describes its counterseal - BVM, crowned and throned, the Child on left knee; in right hand an orb topped with a fleur-de-lis on which a bird perches.  + SIGNVM : SANCTE : MARIE : DE : PLIMTONA.  Mary was the most popular saint for Austin houses. 

Continuing the Marian theme, Prior Richard de Tregony's seal (1280) has a half-length BVM, with Child on left arm, under an arch of five cusps; below, two quadrilobes containing on the left, St Paul's bust, with a sword and over the head an estoile; on the right, St Peter's, with keys and over the head a crescent. In base, under a pointed and trefoiled arch, the Prior, kneeling in prayer.  The quadrilobes sound very similar to the windows on Merton's seal. Merton held land in Tregony, and indeed its prior in the 1290s was Nicholas Tregony - perhaps some relation to Richard.  I'll try to get a picture of this seal.

Plympton's seal, I feel, needs the caption 'And it's goodnight from him...'

Gresley

Photo: Wikipedia

It's the trademark of Austin priories that they are of infinite variety, and Gresley is a bit different to some in that it was really very attached to its patrons, the Gresley family.  Gresley Priory was founded by William de Gresley, son of Nigel de Stafford, sometime during Henry I’s reign.  William lived in the castle in Gresley, and now the village is Castle Gresley.  His priory gave Church Gresley its name.

The Gresleys gave to the priory throughout the 12th and 13th centuries – for example, in 1291, Geoffrey de Gresley gave the priory land in return for a canon to sing mass for the soul of Agnes his wife.  Gresley wasn’t a rich priory:  its temporalities and spiritualities were valued in 1291 at £9 6s. 3½d  – according to the National Archives’ currency converter, that’s around £6,848 in today’s money. In 1339, the priory was claiming poverty as a reason to appropriate a church.  By the 16th century, they were doing a bit better, but not much – the Valor Ecclesiasticus (1535) calculated the priory’s T and S as £39 13s 8d, around £17,511 today.

Unusually, the Priory's dedicatee is St George (the church is also to St Mary, who is the usual Austin dedicatee, so I presume it was a double dedication).  Samuel Pegge, in his Observations on the History of St George (Archaeologia, 1777) noted:

William, son of Nigel de Greisley, dedicated the Priory of Canons at Greisley, in the county of Derby, to St. Mary and St. George, in the reign of king Henry I. The seals of this religious foundation are extant in drawings in a MS. Chartulary of the library at Manchester, one with the Equestrian figure of St. George alone, inscribed Sigillum Prioratus Sti. Georgii de Greseley, and another with the same type, and the Dragon underneath, whereof the Legend is Sigillum Coventus Sti. Georgii de Greseley. The first of these seals belongs plainly, as appears from the instrument it hangs to, to the reign of Henry II. or Richard I. and the latter to the year 1420.  It appears to me from a deed sans date, and from another of 19 E. I. in the same Cartulary, that the family Greisley, which is indeed very ancient, made use of the same device on their seals; whence it would seem, that they regarded St. George as the peculiar Patron and Advocate of their house; and, that the Saint was, commonly, represented here in the 12th and 13th century on horseback.

Photo: British Museum

We've had priory seals aping episcopal seals (Merton, Drax); this seems to be one aping the equestrian seal!  This matrix shows Robert FitzWalter (d.1198), and he even has a pet dragon (and lots of heraldry, the new fashion).

The progenitor of the Gresley line (and I use this word deliberately, as you’ll see) was called Nigel, and it’s a forename that carried on certainly into the 20th century.  The most famous Gresley nowadays is Nigel, designer of the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman.  Both of which used many seals of a different sort.

Photo: Hugh Llewelyn/ Wikipedia

Kirkham

Photograph:  Wikipedia

We've had Butley, so we'd better have the priory with that other great heraldic gatehouse, Kirkham.

It's a stunner.  One of a number of Dec gatehouses, it shares all sorts of features with its fellows -  part-church, part-castle (the church militant?!), it has a wealth of Dec motifs - quatrefoils, crockets, heraldry. There's a nice description of it by the Scarborough News, here, an interesting article on gatehouses in general (it's on JSTOR; subscription needed), and the article on the buildings of Kirkham here (subscription needed).  The history of Kirkham is succinctly laid out in a Borthwick Paper by Janet Burton.

The heraldry proclaims various local lords - Ros, Clare, Vaux, Fitz-Ralph, Scrope, Fortibus, Espec - and the arms of England:  it's a great early example of heraldic display on buildings.  The gatehouse probably dates from c.1300, and the couple funding it were probably William de Ros and Matilda de Vaux, his wife:  he was buried in Kirkham in 1314.  (At that point, the prior was William Wetwang.  Wetwang has to be one of my favourite place names.  I admit to a childish chuckle every time I come across it.) 

More relevant to us are the religious figures, and especially Christ.  Kirkham was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and the gatehouse has at the top Christ in Majesty.  Kirkham's seals also show Christ in Majesty, or, rather, its variant, Christ in Judgement.

The first seal is from the early 12th  century, appearing on a document from the priorate of Andrew (c.1200-10).  Christ's right hand is in benediction, and his left holds a book.  He has a cruciferous nimbus.  His 'manspreading' is to achieve an elegant effect - his body form matches the vesica (pointed oval); his left knee props up the book, and his folds drape stylishly below.  It's a lovely seal.  The inscription is SIGILLVM  SANCTE TRINITATIS DE CHIRCHAM.

The counterseal used on this document was a secretum of an antique gem with two female figures and the inscription SINGNUM SERVI DEI.  These are in the Durham Cathedral Archives (no.3501).  Here's an article on antique gems and the 12th century.

A later seal, from 1336, has C-in-J under a trefoiled, crocketed arch, supported by columns with three traceried storeys, or niches.  It's very similar in style, of course, to the gatehouse - an architectural fancy.  Under an arch beneath Christ's feet, the prior prays.  Either side of Christ are roses (for Espec - gules three roses argent), and water bougets (for Ros - gules three bougets argent).  (Peter de Ros married Walter Espec's daughter and heir, Atheline.)  SIGILLUM ... PRIORIS DE KIRKEHAM.

Other C-in-J seals, for interest, are Ralph Nevill, Bishop of Chichester (1224-44) and Walter Suffield, Bishop of Norwich (1245-57).

Newstead Priory

Newstead, just north of Nottingham, is now called Newstead Abbey, but it never was an abbey - that was a gothic fancy after the Reformation.  Newstead was frequently referred to in Augustinian documents (as Novo Loco), and it hosted a fair few general chapters.  It seems to have punched above its weight, for it was perpetually in debt.

Photo: a northern vicar

It would make an interesting study from that point of view - a totally different interesting from Marton and Moxby, for the canons of Newstead seem to have been irreproachable:  indeed, the priors of Nostell and Guisborough, the visitors of 1261, recommended that the brethren have more eggs - suggesting a very Spartan diet indeed.

There's a nice little blog about Newstead Abbey here, with some good pictures, one of which is the seal, and I've shamelessly half-inched it.  It's the first seal, from the 12th century, and is the BVM and Child, she sporting a fleur-de-lis virga in her right hand, and tenderly holding the Child with her left. She has lovely maunches (sleeves) on her bliaut, and they sit on a beautifully padded seat.  Her crown looks fleur-de-lizé, and she's wearing a veil or a barbette. Birch's description is here.

+ SIGILLUM . SANCTE MARIE NOVI LOCI ISCHI.

Newstead is called Novo loco - confusingly there is another Austin priory called Novo loco:  Newark in Surrey.

Bridlington

The s-Bek-tre (geddit?) of the Durham bishopric is apparent in the seals of Gisburne and Moxby, and it certainly is on this seal.

Spot the difference.  Left is Bridlington, late 13th-century.  Right is Anthony Bek's seal from 1284.  Charles Clay noted that 'Two of the Bridlington seals are closely similar in design to certain episcopal seals at Durham, indicating the probability of a local school of workmanship.'





















It seems to me that Bek's seal is of a superior workmanship, although that could just be the quality of impressions.  Both show the Coronation of the Virgin, and we can imagine a canon worshipping where Bek himself is, at the bottom.  The diapering recalls the seal of an earlier bishop of Durham, Richard Poor, but also (of course!), Merton Priory.  Its inscription S’ COMMVNE : ECCLE….BRIDELINGTONA.


Its counterseal was the chapter seal ad causas.  This is exciting - it's a matrix!  The BVM (crowned) holds the Child (nimbed) under a crocketed trefoiled arch supported by slender columns with pinnacles.  Either side are quatrefoils, and she stands on a corbel which slightly suggests Gisburne's first seal.  The similarity of Gisburne's second seal with Bek's obverse is commented on in that post.  So perhaps Clay is right, and there's a workshop with a number of house styles, which produced seals for Bek, Gisburne and Bridlington.  The BVM's folds are rather splendid.  Inscription S’ CAPITVLI : SCE : MARIE : …. BRIDELINGTONA AD CAVSAS.

Marton and Moxby

Charles Clay's descriptions of Yorkshire seals has pictures (you need access to Cambridge Core for this article).  One day I might take some pictures myself, but until then, I've shamelessly infringed copyright, I'm sure, but copyright didn't exist in the Middle Ages...

Bertram de Bulmer founded a double house of Augustinian canons and nuns at Marton in the

mid-12th century.  (This aerial photo shows the farm that it's become, but if you look closely, you can see its outlines.)  This wasn’t too far either in time or area from Gilbert’s double house at Sempringham, so Bertram was perhaps following Gilbert’s lead.  The nuns, however, quickly moved out, to the neighbouring hamlet of Molesby (the area is now Marton-cum-Moxby).  If the 12th-century canons of Marton were anything like their 13th-century successors, the reasons for the nuns moving out would be obvious.  In 1280, Marton was in dire financial straits; the prior ‘resigned’, and the Archbishop brought in a new one (from Newburgh) and brought in the Archdeacon of Cleveland to supervise.  He also sent some of the brethren off to other monasteries – a bit like moving unruly pupils to another school.  Things didn’t improve much in the 14th century.  In 1308, the canons elected William de Bulmer prior, but Archbishop Greenfield quashed the election and sent him to Drax.  Greenfield’s visitations found a den of iniquity:  brother Alan de Shirburn was having it off with three women (one married); brother Stephen de Langetoft had two mistresses; brother Roger de Scameston had five (one married).  The brethren tried to elect Alan de Shirburn as prior in 1318, but, unsurprisingly, the archbishop quashed this.  In 1321, the Scots raided and laid waste to Marton; the brethren, apart from the prior and sub-prior, were dispersed to other houses (including Bridlington).  Marton straggled on till the Dissolution, caving in quite willingly.

Meanwhile, next door at Moxby, the nuns followed the Augustinian rule, and their house and chapel were under the invocation of St. John the Evangelist and the charge of a local vicar.  If Archbishop Greenfield was having trouble with Marton, Moxby didn’t give him much rest, either.  Sister Sabina de Apelgarth was in danger of apostasy; the Archbishop instructed the nuns to receive her penitential self back.  His visitations of 1314 didn’t dig up the scandals that afflicted Marton, but he did note that they were to stay within the convent (and that included the prioress).  The nuns were dispersed by the Scottish raids that did for Marton, and they were sent to Nun Monkton, Nun Appleton, Nunkeeling, and Hampole.  In 1325 the prioress resigned because of her affair with the chaplain.  The convent was also in debt.  And Sabina de Apelgarth was still being troublesome:  a brief spell as prioress was ended, for misconduct, by the archbishop.  The rest of the life of Moxby was apparently uneventful.

Moxby's seal is quite interesting.  It was dredged from the Foss in 1884, and is apparently now at the Yorkshire Museum.  It's late-12th/ early-13th century, and probably depicts Augustine. He's vested for mass, with crozier in left hand and right hand in benediction.  The mitre is on at a rather old-fashioned angle, more in keeping with early 12th-century mitres, e.g. Nigel of Ely.  But the cross molines on his chasuble recalls Anthony Bek's (see post on Gisburne).  The cross molines is not the Bulmer arms, and nor does it appear on the seals of the archbishops of York.  A bit of a mystery.  The inscription is SIGILL': CAPITVLI: SCA N: JOHANNIS: DE MOLESBI.

Clay didn't give pictures of the chapter seal of Marton, but only the seals of Prior Henry (c.1203-27), left, and John de Thirsk (1349-57), right.  The photos aren't great.  Henry's is a prior with hands on chest; John's is BVM and Child, reversed from the usual way round, within a polylobed vesica, and the prior praying beneath (cf. Merton, Oseney, etc.).

Seals and forgeries: Cardinal Otto's comments

Cardinal Otto was appointed legate in 1227.  His time in England a decade later, in 1237, was not without incident - at Oxford, somehow a brawl broke out between his men and some Oxford students, and a couple (of his servants) were killed.  All this at the Augustinian Priory of Oseney.  The Merton Annals' account of it is here - excitingly in manuscript!  (You'll need to find fo.178r.)  Otto made various constitutions that year.  Among them were these two sections.

The more necessary the use of sealed instruments is in England, where there are no public notaries, the greater ought the caution to be, lest through the unskilfulness of some they be abused. For we hear letters are drawn and sealed, not only by lesser clerks, and prelates, in which it is implied that such a man made a contract, or was present at the making of it, or at any business, or was summoned to court, or had letters of summons shewed him ; who yet was not present, nor any where to be found, nay perhaps was then in another province or diocese. Now since such writings do plainly imply forgery, we strictly forbid the drawing of them, and do enact with a provident deliberation that they who shall be convicted of offending in this respect, and who knowingly use such letters to the damage of another be punished as forgers, and as those who use forged instruments. 

Because notaries public are not used in England, and therefore there is more frequent occasion for authentic seals; that there may be no want of them, we ordain, that not only archbishops and bishops, but their officials, and deans rural, as also cathedral chapters, and all colleges, and convents, have a seal, either jointly with the rectors [heads] or distinct from them according to their custom or statutes.  Let every one of the aforesaid have a seal with their several distinctions; that is, the name of their dignity, office or college, as also the proper name of the men who enjoy the dignity, or office, graven in plain letters or characters, if the office be perpetual. Let them who have taken an office which is but for a time, as rural dean, and officials, forthwith, and without trouble resign their seals at the expiration of their office to him from whom they received it; which seal is to have the name of the office only graven upon it.  And we charge, that they be very careful as to the custody of their seal, that every one keep it himself or commit it to the keeping of one only, of whose fidelity he is assured, and let him take an oath that he will keep it faithfully, and not lend it to any one for the sealing of any thing, nor seal any thing himself to the prejudice of another, but what his principal hath first read and viewed with attention, and so commanded him to seal.  Let there be a faithful and provident caution used in setting the seal; faithful, so as that it be easily granted to those that want it: provident, so as that it be wholly denied to falsaries, or forgers.  We also ordain, that the proper date of the day, time and place, be inserted at the beginning of end of every authentic writing.

These are interesting for the comments about notaries (the common law system already making different structures from the Roman law one), but also about the keeping and use of seals.  As someone - probably Giles Constable - pointed out, English is unique among its neighbours in having a special word for 'forgery'.  In French, things are either true or false.  English forgeries are a grey area in between!

William Wykeham and the Seal of Merton

In 1387, William Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, visited Merton.  He wrote a lengthy set of injunctions, causing much protest from the Prior.  They accused the canons of keeping hunting dogs, of persons of both sexes from outside the convent wandering about where they shouldn't, and so on.  Since there are other copies of these injunctions, it seems that his monitions were generic, so we can't use it necessarily as evidence of Merton's backsliding.

One of his chapters is on the seal:

'Also, we will and order that your common seal be kept under five common locks at the least, of which one shall be kept by the Prior, the second by seal the Sub-prior, the third by the Precentor, and the other two by other Confraters named for the purpose ; prohibiting under pain of the greater excommunication anything being sealed with it, except sealed letters, unless in the presence and with the knowledge of the greater part and the wiser of the whole Convent, and that it be done with the general consent.  Any one doing to the contrary to be punished by fasting on bread and water for six ferial days in the month next following.'

Locksmiths tend to be a bit sniffy about medieval locks - they are quite pickable.  (When I've got a proper job again, I'm going to treat myself to some pick-locks.  I do think that they should teach you that at school.  We learn nothing very useful.)  Five locks would have deterred someone, but for the determined, they wouldn't have posed much of a problem.  As to the container with the locks - with 5 locks, it must have been fairly big.  Here's a book box with two locks.  And here's a chest from St George's Church, Anstey (Herts), with two locks - presumably for vestments.

Given the seal box was to have 5 locks they were probably padlocks - here's an article on domed chests with padlocks.

Delightfully, Wykeham also stipulates that parents or other close family visiting canons must be received with proper hospitality.  And that relics, vestments and vessels must not be pawned........

Carlisle

Carlisle Cathedral was founded c.1122 by Henry I and Archbishop Thurstan as part of a programme of church building and reform in the north.  It was staffed by the Augustinian canons of Carlisle Cathedral Priory - the only Austin cathedral in England.  The first prior was Aethelwold (sometimes called Adelulf), who had been both prior of Nostell and Henry I's chaplain.  Carlisle was Arrouaisian (they followed the observances of Arrouaise - like many Irish priories).

Being on the Borders, Carlisle was a target of many Scottish raids and attacks, leading at one point to the temporary dispersal of brethren to other monasteries while the priory was rebuilt.  There's a good article on fourteenth-century Carlisle here, and it's this century we're going to for the seal.

The seal is from about 1303 (Birch).  Above is a photo from the VCH; left is a drawing from the Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Arch. Soc., really to give you the advantages and disadvantages of drawings and photographs.  Probably like botany, if you really want to get to know your seal, you should draw it!

This is a splendid seal.  It's round (obviously), with the BVM holding (it looks like feeding) the Child between a couple of censing angels (see, for more of these, the Canterbury third seal.)  Below is a cathedral, which could be Carlisle or could be just fantasy - it's symmetrical with three lancets and a trefoil (lovely number symbolism), which suggests to me that it's fantasy.  However, the crenellations below are probably not:  the Priory no doubt was somewhat fortified, although not enough to stop the marauding Scots.  The arch is a lovely detail:  two more trefoils, and in the middle a vesica (pointed oval) with the cross in.  Underneath it, the bishop (sinister) and the prior (dexter) pray.  The cross suggests that they are praying not just to the BVM and Babe but to the altar of the Cathedral; directly underneath the Child, it gives a picture of the whole life of Christ, and emphasises his innocent sacrifice.  Nice!

+ SIGIL’ ECCLESIE • SANCTE • MAR[IE KARLELO]LI.

Birch also notes 'a small pointed oval counterseal, perhaps of Adam de Warwick, the Prior.'  Warwick was prior c.1284-1304.  Birch's description continues:  'Impression of an antique gem : a winged Fortune or Minerva, helmeted, full-length, in profile to the left, in the field a faintly engraved inscription:  — DIVS F . . .'  You can read about the use of ancient gems in (12th-century) seals here.
The counterseal has two shields of arms:  in chief, three bars, in base, fretty.  Apparently the Medieval Dictionary of Arms is online, but I can only seem to find volume 2, which is Bend-Chevron, so no good!  (I'm beginning to feel the want of a library now.  I hope one opens again soon.)  The inscription is + SIGILLVM • FRISINGTON (Frizington).

This is a bit of a mystery.  None of the priors around then was from Frizington, from their surnames.  Three later 12th-century priors have no surnames, but they are a little early for shields - not impossible, but unlikely.  Frizington itself seems to have been a one-horse-village.  Further research needed here!

Butley

Oh, for an pictorial edition of Birch.  Butley Priory is best known for its flamboyant 14th-century gatehouse.  There's a good Wikipedia article on the Priory, and the Priory website itself has some gorgeous pictures.  The Gatehouse displays the shields of all the local - and some not-so-local - worthies.  (I used to know all about this in a former life, but it means digging out some very old notes and trying to decipher my scrawl, which, as any former pupil or student will tell you, is nigh on impossible.)  The diaper work is splendid - and the buttresses make virtues of necessity.  Notice even the little cinquefoil rose above the small doorway - a reminder that this priory was dedicated to the BVM - but with the shield of Sir Guy Ferre, the patron, in the centre.  It's a lovely piece of Dec.

The seal ought to be a similar riot, and it seems so from Birch's description, and, as soon as I can, I'll get a snap of it:

14th cent.  Pointed oval : the Virgin, seated on a throne, with crown, the Child, with nimbus, on her left knee, in the r. h. a sceptre fleur-de-lize, with birds billing in the foliage at the top, in an elaborately carved niche with buttresses at the sides, and canopy pinnacled and crocketed. [I bet that's glorious.  I like the sound of birds billing in the foliage.]  In the field outside the niche, on each side a palm branch. In base under a carved arch with a window of tracery on each side, the Prior kneeling in prayer to the left. [Was this the prior who managed to get Ferre to part with da goods?]

: S'. CE’. ECCE’. SC [E’. M]ARIE ❀ ‘’ ❀ DE [ : BV]TTELE :

Birch also has the seal of a 14th-century prior.  Birch names him as Roger de Bungay, but the VCH lists no Roger.  It's a rather fine seal, though.

Pointed oval : in two niches with carved canopy, the Virgin and Child on the left, and St. Margaret trampling on the Dragon and piercing its head with a long cross on the right. In base under an arch with sloping sides, the Prior kneeling in prayer to the right on a shield of arms : two wings conjoined in lure?

MARGARETA • PIA P[RO] • ME • DEPRECARE • MARIA.

The wings conjoined in lure could be a reference to Wingfield, local gents and patrons.  (Wingfield has both a fine castle and a fine college.) It wouldn't be surprising if one of the priors was from the family, although this is sheer speculation:  the priors are all local boys, however.  The hexametric rhyming couplet tag follows a fine sigillographic tradition.

Agnes the Anchoress

No, she's not an Augustinian canon or canoness.  I've just accidentally come across her in Birch. 

Agnes, Anchoress of the Church 'de la Hethe', Colchester.
2987 [A.D.1284-5.] Discoloured white: a fragment.  About 1 1/8” x 1” when perfect.  [Harl. ch. 44 E. 17]  Pointed oval: a fleur-de-lis, inverted.  Legend reversed:  + S’ AGN’T…

This church is St Leonard-at-the-Hythe. (The wonderful Simon Knott has visited it, so there are some nice photos.)  VCH says that an anchoress was associated with the church in 1290-1.  Clearly, her name was Agnes.  (Agnes Dei? Groan.)  Anchoresses lived in a cell next a church.  They spent all their time in it.  There's a nice article on anchoresses here, although it doesn't answer my ever-nagging questions - what did they do about going to the loo (or, rather, clearing it up) and what about washing (mainly that horrid female curse, the period)?  The most famous anchoress was another East Anglian, Julian of Norwich, who was about 100 years Agnes' junior.  There's a good cell (the vestiges of) at St Anne's Lewes, too.

About Agnes, however, we know nothing.  Except that she had a seal.  This is most peculiar.  Why should an anchoress need a seal?  I don't yet know what the seal is sealing, as Birch's reference doesn't seem to tally with the current BL catalogues...  Another rabbit-hole to disappear down.......

Drax

Drax is one of those places hard done by progress.  It's been the home of a massive, ugly power station for years.  But once upon a time, a much prettier building stood - the Austin priory of Drax.  (There's still a handsome, largely Perp, church.)  The place name comes from the OE for 'portage', for this is where the Ouse meets the Aire.  (These rivers occasionally flooded, to the great detriment of the priory, and everyone else.)  The priory's arms show three drakes, so perhaps the origins of the name had been forgotten, or they just liked a good pun.

Drax was one of the many Austin foundations that saw the eminence grise of Archbishop Thurstan, although it was actually William Paynell who founded it.

By the later 12th century, standards at Drax were slipping.  It came out badly from Archbishop William Wickwane’s 1280 visitation.  The sub-cellarer Elias had been involved in a fight with another canon, and possibly a layman too; canons were keeping property and talking too much and letting far too many layfolk in, etc., and the prior seems to have been quite divisive.

Presumably this prior (was he Adam?) was replaced by Thomas of Campsall, who used this seal as his secretum (photo:  Durham cathedral.)  ✠ SIGILLUM : PRIORIS : DE : D.  You can get a really good impression (haha) of Augustinian dress from this - the outer cloak, which canons were required to wear inside and outside the cloister (and which was to be black - not blue or white or any other scandalous colour), and the almuce or rochet.  Thomas sports a great tonsure, too. You can read about Augustinian dress here (if you can get into JSTOR).

Thomas' successor was Elyas of Burton.  Is this the Elyas who lamped a fellow canon?  If so, I don't suppose anyone would argue with that father prior...

The seal itself shows St Nicholas, the priory's dedicatee.

He's vested for mass, as is usual with episcopal seals.  His crozier is a crook turned inwards, and he has a nicely tassled maniple.  He also wears a pall.  The folds are stylised, and the seal is very different from those of the priory's episcopal superior, the archbishops of York.  SIGILLUM CAPITUL[I] [SANCTI] NICH[OLAI] DE DRAX

For another episcopal priory seal, see Merton (which, I have to say, is much lovelier.)

Much later, around 1510, one of its canons was charged, along with several priests and laymen, with trying to obtain treasure by witchcraft; this canon had made a circle and tried to summon the spirit Belphares.   Needless to say, the whole enterprise failed miserably and the canon and his 5 cronies were made to walk through the streets of York being ridiculed and whipped.

Drax was dissolved in 1536.