01/2017

KEYWORDS: Hungary, Middle Ages, seal, change of a seal matrix, iconography, office, prelate, chapter, convent

ABSTRACT: The paper deals with the changes of great seal matrices in medieval offices in the church environment. In particular, it focuses on the seal matrices of the highest church representatives and institutions, such as chapters and convents. A longterm stability and constancy of seals served as fundamental guarantors of credibility in the society. Both individuals and groups changed them only for serious reasons. Prelates did so only in the cases of a change of their position in the church hierarchy due to which the content of the text (titulature) and image on the seal became passé. Another reason for a change was a mechanical damage or loss of a die. As to the church institutions, in Hungary especially loca credibilia, changes of seal matrices were mostly due to the thefts and losses in violent events such as wars and plunderings. The paper deals with the reasons for the changes of seal matrices and the time intervals within which their owners managed or failed to replace them. At the same time, it touches the issues of iconography of seal matrices.
In the Middle Ages, one of the most important means of the legal guarantee and protection of a legal document was a seal. A document without an intact seal was not viewed as legally binding. In this context, the main role was played by a great seal. There was only one seal matrix of a great seal in each offce and it was considered most important. In Hungary, however, the rules known from the Western Europe had never fully applied. For instance, other kinds of seals, such as minor, secret or ring seals, were also often viewed as authentic. The most important was who was an owner of a seal and what was their social status.
There were changes of great seals in various offces only for serious reasons. In the case of the highest church representatives, such as archbishops and bishops, they most often occurred when a prelate moved and it was necessary to change the text or image on the seal. Most of sources deal with the promotion to an archbishop‘s or bishop‘s position. As yet, there are no other known reasons for the change of seal matrices. These might have been replacements caused by a damage or a loss of a seal matrix. To fnd out how long it took to change a seal matrix after the new prelate had taken offce is often impossible due to the lack of sources. In most cases the sources allow us only to reconstruct the time of absence of a seal. It is in the cases when the use of an older seal matrix is mentioned in the corroboration of a document. For instance, one such corroboration reads that a prelate used his old seal matrix because he still had not his new matrix, or he used another sort of seal (seal ring) because he still did not have his great seal matrix. In most cases prelates had quite a long time to change their seal matrices. If necessary, they could and did use older and, according to the circumsription, out-of-date matrices.
When replacing seal matrices, the prelates of the earlier period (until the frst third of the 14th century) maintained an established canon and used purely portrait (pontifcal) matrices. After the expansion of combined seal matrices in the following period various combinations of themes were used (hagiographical theme, portrait, coat of arms). Their seal images were already signifcantly individualized. The most common theme was a patron saint of a diocese in which a prelate served. Another option was an image based on the dedication of the cardinal‘s titular church in Rome.
As to church institutions, since the mid-13th century acting as loca credibilia, seal matrices were most often changed in the event of theft or loss. Several quite precisely described situations are known from the period of the Mongol invasion of Hungary (1241–1242) and from the period of instability during the reign of Ladislaus IV (1272–1290). In the case of theft there was a risk of misuse for sealing fake documents, especially property donations. For these reasons chapters and convents often acted very flexibly. For instance, the Spiš chapter was able to replace its seal matrix within less than three months after it had been plundered by Cumans in late 1289. But there was also a situation when a chapter had failed to have its new seal matrix made for long 80 years. This is the case of the Esztergom chapter which in 1242–1243 and 1319–1326 used only a minor seal matrix instead of the great, authentic matrix. Although there was a great number of changes of seal matrices by Hungarian convents and chapters, the reasons for these replacements remain unknown. In many cases there might have been minor mechanical damages which led to the changes of matrices.
In the event of a change of a seal matrix it was also necessary to create a new image. It was most often based on the picture of the previous matrix. The new image was either partially modifed (e.g. the same saint was depicted in another iconographic scene) or it was an attempted copy of the previous image. Only very seldom did the church institutions decide for a radical change. Such a case is, for instance, the Benedictine monastery in Hronský Beňadik. While there were three replacements of its seal matrix during three centuries, each matrix bore a different image. In the first case there was a depiction of a sacral object, in the second case an image of the patron saint of the convent – St. Benedict – and the latest matrix bore an image of Madonna with child Jesus in her arms (Assumpta) with the abbot of the monastery kneeling in front of her.