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.)