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: