Combwell

This is a special seal.  The Priory was dedicated to Mary Magdalene, and despite its being reduced from abbatial status to a priory in the early 13th century because it wasn't rich enough, it still managed to afford this seal!

Mary M was conflated in the early Middle Ages with the person whom Christ drove devils out of, and with a prostitute whom he befriended.  She became the sinner's sinner, and was hugely popular in the 12th and 13th centuries, partly because of a fashion for confession and weeping:  she had sinned; she wept at Christ's passion, and her tears showed her true repentance.  We can take comfort from her and be like her.  In this seal, MM washes Christ's feet as he, sitting between two disciples (are they Peter and John?), partakes of his Last Supper.  (Yes, that's 'partakes' used correctly...!)  She's, of course, under the table, but so are the two demons whom Christ has driven out of her - they are making a hasty exit. 

This photo is too small to see, but Elizabeth New says that 'a band across the table inserts maria before the scriptural fides tva (te salvam fecit) (“Your faith has saved you”). (Luke 7:50).'  Noteworthy also is the building in which Christ and his disciples dine.  This represents the building on Mount Sion whose cenaculum, or refectory (dining room), hosted the Last Supper.  The cenaculum was important for the Augustinians, as Peter Fergusson pointed out:  their raison être was the Apostolic life, and as a result in the 12th century, many priories consciously imitated the cenaculum in their refectory buildings.  We don't know what Combwell's refectory was like, as nothing of it exists any more, but it's interesting that the canons chose the cenaculum to have on their seal.

The building fits into a tradition of church buildings on seals, which you can see discussed here.  The trefoiled arch is very much of the period, and appears on lots of episcopal seals, for example.  The trefoils and roundel above recall the west front of Wells, built around the time.  (We don't quite know when this seal is from - it says 1133 on the back, but that must be a mistake, because this is a later style; it may be 1233, but could be c.1213.)  The towers, on the other hand, look more like Rochester's, of an earlier generation.  The moon (and is that a sun above it?) and star are frequent motifs on contemporary seals.

The counterseal, or reverse, is a Noli me Tangere scene (John 20:14-18).  Mary is the first to see Christ, but he asks her not to touch him, as he hasn't properly risen yet. 

Mary's figure in both scenes is reminiscent of the praying figures commonly found in the base of seals,  and she represents us, abasing ourselves and praying to Christ.

This is an intriguing seal in many respects, and deserves a more detailed study.

Combwell is now a farm and wedding venue.