Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/308

 268 EXAMPLES OF MEDIEVAL SEALS. Two Other points yet remain to be considered before these remarks arc brouglit to a close : first, the formula by Aviiicli the act of sealiuii; is indicated in the charter of Kino- Eudes ; and, secundly, the mode in %vliich the seal itself was affixed. The formula is as follows, " anulo nostra insigniri jussimus,*' and this, or a similar form, is invariably used in the charters of this king, except in one instance (No. 22 in Bouquet,p.460), where we read " de bulla nostra as- signari," but the document seems of questionable authenticity. The term, indeed, of a/infdns for the seal was used through- out the Carlo vingian period, almost to the exclusion of any other ; and it was only in the latter reigns that the word s'ujiUnm became introduced,^ which at length, at the close of the eleventh century, usurped generally ^ the place of the former term. The reason undoubtedly is, that the seals of the French sovereigns from the time of Clovis (or earlier, if we admit the genuineness of the seals of Chilperic I.^) were engraven and set as ri)/(/s, and so continued to be used until the reign of Louis d'Outremer, after which time the size and fashion of the seal were entirely changed, and the matrix, in consequence, became too heavy and cumbersome to be worn as a signet. The position of the seal in the charter of Eudes is (as usual in Carlovingian diplomas) after the name of the chancellor or his deputy, and the color of the wax is white, embrowned on the surface by the combined effect of the air and dust. Previous to the wax being ai)plied, an incision was made in the parchment, in the form of a cross or saltire,' the edges of which were turned back, and the wax then pressed through the interstices, so as to form a cake or mass on both sides of the document, but of unequal thickness. The thinnest portion was on the back of the charter, the appeai'ance of which, as flattened after the impression of the seal had been made on the front or obverse, is shewn on a reduced scale in the second plate. It ai)jH!ars that this mode of sealing en placard was found to all)rd the means of forgery, by enabling a person to detach the front ' III tin? ft.w fliartcTH of earlier diilc, fi cliiirtir (if LoiiiM 'II. iis lute ns *.i>. wlKfrir till! wonl Hii)i/luiii iicciirn, tlicMlocii- I lii'.l. IiK-lil Im (ritliiT nil ui'kliowlLMl^iMl furni-ry, '' .Sit M.'iliilliili, i. IH.'I; Miiiltfiiiu-oii, i. or liul»ii- to i;nivi' Hiis|iicion. .Scir Miiliii- 111 ; .'iiii Tr. iv. IdO. loll, i. 11 J, i-il. 17)111. " Mul.illdii, i. IJ(l ; A'«i(r. Tr. iv. pi. 7.'>, '" Nut vnlit'oly, lor luniuluii in imi •! in |> .I!"'.