medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: "Cormack, Margaret Jean" <[log in to unmask]>
> A quick query. A ring was part of a bishop's regalia, and a bishop would
probably want the best that could be got. But are there medieval
specifications as to what it should be like? Does it have to have a stone?
It is necessarily made of gold, or would silver suffice?
i have no clue about what the answers to any of these questions might be so,
blissfully unencumbered by any actual knowledge, i'll be brief.
i should suspect that a Bishop --like any other young fellow wishing to
impress-- might have had several rings; but he likely had only one seal (at a
time) and that could have been likely set in a ring (the most secure place for
it, after all).
the the matrix could be in either stone or metal (exemplars of both types
survive, i believe), and the most likely setting would be in gold.
surely "specifications," if suchlike exist at all, would be from the later
m.a. --a period about which i have scrupulously avoided knowing anything.
you might try going through the hits from this google and see what you come up
with:
http://www.google.com/search?q=bague+%C3%A9piscopale&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=PP2&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvnsb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=Bo9LT6bbJMTi0QG12vCbDQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=895
i've noted that episcopal rings were frequently (always??) worn *outside* of
the episcopal gloves --probably for ease of kissing, etc.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_88Fv9uRaR68/S3Rp-0FXpGI/AAAAAAAADoY/NG0H937nejk/s400/Bl%C3%A9nod+tombeau+Hugues+6.jpg
i did come across a rather curious example (or near example) of a mid-12th c.
episcopal seal matrix at Chartres, however.
very few of the surviving documents in the Archives départementales at
Chartres still have their seals --some early archiviste systematically cut
them off so that the charters would fit more neatly into their laisse-dossiers
(the bureaucratic mind despising, above all else, unnecessary untidiness).
however, there are a few 19th c. _moulages_ of once extant seals which are
kept (or were kept, in the '80s of the last century) in the archiviste's
office, and among these is a lovely little (seal-ring size, less than 2") cast
of a pointed oval seal with a fine _sedes sapientae_ image carved on it.
the carving is a Dead Ringer for the sedes on the royal portal and its style
strongly suggests that the seal was contemporary with it (c. 1150) --rather
than, say, a later attempt to replicate it.
however, the document to which this seal was said to have once been attached
dates from well into the 13th c., validating a charter of, i believe (memory
fading...fading...fading...) a canon of the cathedral.
back in the closing decades of the last millennium i attempted to concoct a
solution to this inherently unsolvable conundrum and came up with a genuinely
brilliant Mare's Nest to the effect that the seal had once belonged to/been
made for the Bishop of Chartres who was responsible for the construction of
the middle portions of the cathedral's Royal Portal and had been buried with
him in the episcopal necropolis in the Benedictine abbey of Leves, just
outside Chartres. (Bishop John of Salisbury's tomb is the most well known one,
though there were several others .)
a new tomb effigies were carved for the bishops' tombs out at Leves in the
1220s and --so my Mare's Nest has it-- the episcopal remains were translated
into their new boxes (the original ones may well have been made of stucco,
which is the medium mentioned in one of the contemporary documents).
when this particular bishop's body was translated, his seal ring --with its
precious image-- was liberated by a certain high dignitary of the chapter
[*could* this have happened, btw??] who, having a special attachment to the
cult of the Virgin (he is known to have commissioned the grand ivory and gold
image of Her and Her Son for the High Altar), used the seal as his own
--though, alas, no charters of his with this seal survive (that's how it goes,
with really, really good Mare's Nests).
when this Dignitary died, his house (directly across from the Royal Portal and
with an excellent view of the original _sedes_ image)
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/8ef95/
was acquired by another canon of the cathedral, who was responsible for the
charter to which the seal was attached (we're in the 1230s by now).
several interesting questions arose from this fantasy of mine, concerning the
acquisition and re-use of old seals, tomb "robbing" in the early 13th c.,
special attachment/devotion to particular images, etc.
none of which i have been able to answer in the intervening quarter century.
unfortunately, *this* was not the ring in question:
Roger Durand, “Anneau d'or du XIe siècle (musée de Chartres) trouvé dans
la nef de l’église Saint-Pierre de Chartres, lors des fouilles de 1902,”
in Cinquantenaire de la Société Archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, 1906, 14-27
Mai, 31 Mai et 2, 3, et 4 Juin. Chartres, [1906], I, pp. pp. pp. 477-470. [=
Chartres: Société archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, 1929.
[copy available on request]
though it may well have been a bishop's ring (many Chartrain bishops were
buried in St. Peter's, before the foundation of Leves in the early 12th c.)
the only other instance of a bishop's ring i happen to know of is that of
Maurice de Sully, the Bishop of Paris responsible for beginning construction
of the present cathedral.
his ring was first published in this massive monograph on him:
Victor Mortet, “Maurice de Sully, Évêque de Paris (1160-1196): Étude sur
l’administration épiscopal pendant la second moitié du XIIe siècle,”
Mémoires de la société de l’histoire de Paris et de l’Ile-de-France,
XVI, 1889 (1890), pp. 105-318, 3 plates.
and, more recently, it has been the subject of another study:
ElisabethTaburet-Delahaye, “A propos de l’anneau dit de Maurice de Sully
conservé au Louvre. Quelques précisions sur les fouilles de Viollet-le-Duc
à Notre-Dame de Paris en 1858 et le vol dans le trésor en 1860,” Bull. de
la soc. nat. des antiquaire de France, 2000, pp. 264-279.
(which i have not seen, should anyone have a copy of it to send)
here are some nice views (though obviously not of Genevraesque quality) of
this fine object :
http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/photo_ME0000021325.html
those are the only bells that ring for me.
c
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|