2019
DOI: 10.1017/s0003581519000015
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‘By the Impression of My Seal’. Medieval Identity and Bureaucracy: A Case Study

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a case study of wax seals dated between 1225 and 1250 from St Ethelbert’s Hospital, Hereford. When medieval matrices were impressed into soft wax, handprints were often left on the reverse of the seal. The use of modern forensic techniques to capture and compare these prints provides evidence about the process of sealing and its relationship to the individual matrix owner. Seals with the same print on the reverse could be impressed with different matrices, and impressions of … Show more

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Cited by 11 publications
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“…Possible avenues include seal composition and form, plus the humans who made and handled them. Research in this area has included fingerprints left on seals by people during the sealing wax manufacturing process, as well as during the actual act of sealing the documents themselves [3][4][5], and hairs left in the medium possibly belonging to the sovereign owner of the seals [6].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Possible avenues include seal composition and form, plus the humans who made and handled them. Research in this area has included fingerprints left on seals by people during the sealing wax manufacturing process, as well as during the actual act of sealing the documents themselves [3][4][5], and hairs left in the medium possibly belonging to the sovereign owner of the seals [6].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%