Late medieval and early modern cloth seals in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum

Archaeologiai Értesítő 139 (2014) 193–237 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest

DOI: 10.1556/ArchErt. 139.2014.9

LATE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN CLOTH SEALS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

MaxiM Mordovin*

The small leaden, seal-like objects used to note and testify the origin, type and quality of different sorts of cloth fabrics are almost unknown in the Hungarian scholarly literature. This paper gives the evaluation of the 115 medieval and early modern cloth seals from the Hungarian National Museum.

Keywords: cloth seals, international trade, textile production, heraldry

A kisméretű, pecsétszerű, a különböző posztótermékek eredetét, fajtáját és minőségét igazoló ólom-plombák a magyar szakirodalomban szinte ismeretlenek. A tanulmány a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum gyűjteményének 115 darab középkori és kora újkori plombájával foglalkozik.

Kulcsszavak: textilplombák, nemzetközi kereskedelem, textilgyártás, heraldika

Introduction

In 2011 a large scale rescue excavation took place on the site of a medieval market place in Pápa, a small city in Western Hungary. The excavation has had some very significant immediate results concerning not only local history but also the question of developing of urban settlements in medieval Kingdom of Hungary and – what is more important for the present study – it has produced an exceptional amount of new infor-mation for the trade relations of medieval and early modern Hungary.1

The data regarding the international trade in this case can be obtained from small, greyish, pebble-like lead finds, usually with strange signs or inscriptions on them. They seemed to be quite

The article received: 23 May 2014.* Mordovin Maxim. ELTE BTK Régészettudományi Intézet,

1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 4/b; [email protected]

1 Mordovin 2013, 267–268.

unattractive at first sight, but very soon some of them were identified as lead cloth seals original-ly being attached to textile production of differ-ent Western-European cities.2 Actually, since the excavations at Pápa these finds can be consid-ered as a new “push” in the research of the textile and trade history in Hungary.

In this paper I am not going into details con-cerning the precise role of particular types of cloth seals, nor the meaning of various symbols imprinted on them. The same is valid for the identification of the sorts of cloth, since at this stage of the research my main goal is to at least find out the place of origin of these finds.

Research history

The first cloth seals have got into the collection of the museum already from the late 19th and early 20th century. Some additional exemplars have 2 Mordovin 2013, 275–280.

194 MAxIM MoRdovIn

been found during rescue excavations after the World War II. Two of the latter were published by István Méri in 1954 but no detailed evaluation was made.3 There was only two very short peri-ods when the cloth seals received any scholarly attention in Hungary. The earliest research was done in 1961 by a prominent Hungarian numis-matist, Lajos Huszár, who became interested in a special group of seal-like (“medal-like”) items in different collections from several museums. These were relatively large, circular lead discs with images impressed on one or both of their sides. only two types of images appeared on these objects: a royal coat of arms of England or a Tudor rose (the last one had different varia-tions). In some cases there was an inscription cir-cumscribed around the central image. The coat of arms usually was accompanied by the official motto of the order of Garter: “Honi soit qui mal y pense”. The “Tudor rose”, however, was supple-mented with more-or-less distorted “Guilhelmus Almandete”. Lajos Huszár collecting all such finds known by that time in Hungary and some analo-gies from Eastern Europe dated them to the sec-ond half of the 16th century and interpreted as cloth or baling seals. The relatively easily identi-fiable coat of arms of England, however, was not accepted by Huszár as sign for the provenance of these finds. The significant differences in the quality of depicting of the arms, and relatively frequent mistakes in the motto (including even wrongly depicted letters) made the whole group “suspicious”. The other fact interpreted as a sign of the non-English origin of these seals was their distribution – there were no known similar finds from England by that time, while this type of cloth seals appeared not only in Hungary but also in Russia. Also “suspicious” was the above mentioned name on two exemplars translatable as “William German”.4

The next prominent scholar who paid atten-tion to cloth seals was Walter Endrei, a well known Hungarian specialist of medieval textile production. He closely collaborated with a very famous British archaeologist, Geoff Egan and they have even prepared a common study on this topic.5 Geoff Egan, by the way, was the “father” of cloth seal research in the United Kingdom. He was doing this – among many other things – for the last 30–35 years, publishing hundreds and hundreds of such finds.6 In their work Geoff

3 Méri 1954, 149, xxxviii/3–4.4 Huszár 1961, 187–194.5 Egan–EndrEi 1982.6 Egan 1978; Egan 1987, 11. For selected bibliography see:

Egan, Tribute 2011, 343–348.

Egan and Walter Endrei focused most of all on the international textile trade, which also reached Hungary. Since in the time of their research hardly any other cloth seals were known except those already published by Lajos Huszár, very few Hungarian finds could have been included. Walter Endrei, however, prepared some further basic works on the history of textile production and trade in medieval Hungary.7

The most recent attempt to collect and analyse cloth seals from a particular region of the medie-val Kingdom of Hungary was done by Ján Hunka, a Slovak numismatist. He compiled a preliminary catalogue of such finds known from Slovakian museum collections. He managed to collect alto-gether only 23 pieces.8 That is not only ca. 1/10 of the number of cloth seals from Pápa, but also less than there are at the Hungarian national Museum. Some more cloth seals may appear in the Slovakian museums from older excavations but which have not been recognised yet.

Apart from the mentioned studies there are some other archaeological publications where we occasionally may find cloth seals but their identification or evaluation was not done.9

Collections in the Hungarian National Museum

The archaeological collection of the Hungarian National Museum incorporates five larger groups of cloth seals. The first group I indicate as “old collection” since this includes finds discovered and acquired by the museum during the 20th cen-tury. Four more “groups” have been obtained by the Museum during the last decade. These are Lajos Sándor’s, László Korinek’s and Balázs F. Csáti’s collections, and finds confiscated by the police in Kaposvár. The cloth seals from the last four come from metal detecting activity. The largest group is the one, which was confiscated by the police in Kaposvár. The rest was donated to the museum by private collectors, who, at the same time, were buying these objects – along with many other archaeological finds – from metal detectorists. This all means that the exam-ined cloth seals can be interpreted almost exclu-sively as stray finds with no data concerning the precise locality where they have been found and certainly, with no information on their strati-

7 EndrEi 1989.8 Hunka 1999, 305.9 For example: CzEglédy 1988, xLvI/b; kováCs 2002, 179/206–

208; néMEtH 2005, 441; Hunka 2006, 49; HanCz–varga 2013, 34.

LATE MEdIEvAL And EARLy ModERn cLoTH SEALS 195

graphic context. nevertheless, the collections of cloth seals in the Hungarian national Museum are very important from at least two aspects. First, that they include some cloth seals not known from elsewhere in Hungary and some others are very well preserved, which helps to identify similar, often fragmented or damaged finds. The second aspect is that the number of cloth seals in the Hungarian national Museum (115 pieces) makes this the second or third larg-est collection in the carpathian Basin (medieval Kingdom of Hungary) after Pápa (135 pieces)10 and Szeged. Altogether there are about 600–750 known cloth seals from medieval Hungary up to now, not counting those in private collections. Most of them are unpublished. due to the un-known source of these finds it seemed to be more practical to analyse them together without divid-ing according to the collections.

“Old Collection”

This first collection includes finds acquired be-fore the year 2000. It consists only of 12 pieces originated from different regions of Europe start-ing with the Low countries, through Poland and Austria up to Italy. This collection contains maybe the first finds of cloth seals which reached museum in Hungary and which have been in-ventoried in 1902 (inv. number: 62/1902.1–2). Also the two finds from the excavations carried out in 1948–1949 at Túrkeve-Móric are kept here (inv. number: 55.901.222.c and 56.5.36.c).11 The rest eight items are, however, stray finds donated to the Hungarian national Museum by an un-specified person in 1991. The provenience of these finds is unknown.

Lajos Sándor’s Collection

The collection donated to the Hungarian national Museum by Lajos Sándor is consisted of 17 items. According to the favourer’s information, the re-gion of the occurrence of these finds can be delimited within the north-western part of Hungary, namely to the western part of Komá-rom-Esztergom, northern part of Fejér and east-ern part of Győr-Moson-Sopron counties (Fig. 1). Items from this collection represent a wide chron-ological and typological spectre. The earliest pieces originated from Flanders and are datable to the 14th century; the latest ones seem to have come from England during the reign of Queen Elisabeth I.10 Mordovin 2013, 272.11 Méri 1954, 149, xxxviii/3–4.

László Korinek’s Collection

László Korinek is a well known Hungarian jurist and criminologist from Pécs who collects archae-ological finds originating from metal detecting activity to save them for the public and science. According to his testament in the future the whole collection will get to the Hungarian na-tional Museum. At the moment when this study was written 28 cloth seals were available. However, their number may increase in the fol-lowing years. This is the only collection of cloth seals donated by a private collector in the muse-um where we have at least some modern settle-ments mentioned as find location, but even in these cases no precise coordinates or archaeolog-ical sites are given. certainly, we must be very cautious about the locations named by the sellers of the finds, because the authenticity and the trustiness of the information remain dubious. nevertheless, at least the region of the prove-nance of this collection can be defined more pre-cisely. These finds represent most of all the south-western part of Hungary, namely counties Tolna, Baranya, Somogy and in some cases Zala (Fig. 1). Similarly to the Lajos Sándor’s collection, László Korinek has tried to acquire whole, recog-nisable pieces. The cloth seals of this group show a relatively wide range of chronological and geo-graphical variability: from the earliest pieces made in Flemish textile centres in the late 14th century, through the 15th–16th-century German cloth seals, and finishing with some examples depicting the Royal coat of arms of England.

Collection from Kaposvár

one of the very few cases, when an illegal metal detecting activity got to the trial phase and when the violators were prosecuted took place in Kaposvár in 2003. However, this case was only the end of a trespass, which was going on for many years (if not decades) and the damage caused to the archaeological and cultural herit-age including the simple loss of the archaeologi-cal material – the more representative objects most probably were sold to private collectors in Western Europe – is incalculable. The scale of pil-laging of archaeological sites by this group of criminals can be imagined simply taking account of 33,000 items inventoried during the process.12 (only the number of unsellable roman brooches exceeds 9000.)

12 Mráv–szabó 2006, 25–26.

196 MAxIM MoRdovIn

In case of this collection it is evident that we have only the “rejections”, that is what was im-possible to sell, the “lower quality” material. Still there are 28 pieces identified as cloth seals data-ble to the Middle Ages and Early Modern time. There are about the same amount of other lead seals mainly from the 19th–20th century. Most of them were used to seal bales of tobacco, grain, wheat etc. This last group of finds will be ana-lysed later in a separate study.

Since this collection is consisted almost exclu-sively of less representative finds or those of worse state of preservation – this is an absolute opposition to the first two with relatively well readable and more-or-less identifiable exem-plars. Still, the general statistic is valid for these finds also. The earliest among them originated from Flanders, datable again to the 14th–15th cen-tury; there are some late medieval pieces from German and Austrian towns; and certainly, some fragmented cloth seals from England also ap-pear. This group most probably was collected in the south-western part of Hungary, namely in the counties Somogy, Baranya, Tolna and Zala (Fig. 1).

Balázs F. Csáti’s Collection

The fourth collection is the most recent one and was donated to the Hungarian national Museum by Balázs F. csáti at the beginning of 2014. The whole collection is consisted of ca. 90 lead objects. There are 35 medieval and early modern cloth seals, approximately 40 modern bag seals and some other items (fragments of ring, bullets etc.). According to the donator, all these finds were bought on the internet auction sites, what means that they all come most probably from metal de-tecting activities. Apart from this information there is no data at all about the localities or regions of their provenance except that they all were found in Hungary. Even with this huge lack of data the col-lection is important thanks to its some well pre-served and identifiable or even unique finds.

In this case the composition of the collection is very similar to the previous one. Most of the items are small, usually damaged, rubbed or heavily corroded. Sometimes it is very hard to identify them. Their dating and provenance var-ies from 14th-century Flanders, through some German towns until 16th-century Bohemia.

Fig. 1. Approximate find locations of the cloth seals from the Hungarian National Museum

1. kép. A Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum ólomplombáinak feltételezett lelőhelyei


Other cloth seals in the Hungarian National Museum

There are three more stray cloth seals in the Hungarian national Museum. They are kept to-gether with Lajos Sándor’s collection; however, they are undoubtedly not part of that. The finds are cleaned and in good state even if one of them is just a small fragment of a cloth seal. Two of these seals bear the coat of arms of England, while the third one of Tulln.

Function of the cloth seals

The function of cloth seals is partly described in their term used in the scholarly literature (e.g. Eng.: cloth seal; Germ.: Tuchplombe; dutch: laken-lood; Pol.: plomba ołowiana or plomba tekstylna; Slov.: olovená plomba; Hung.: ólomplomba or textil-plomba). These are small, circular, leaden objects used to note and testify the origin, type and qual-ity of the product “from the late 14th to the early 19th century… as part of a system of industrial regulation and taxation”.13 The question of their usage was very well analysed in several Western European publications, most of all in the works of nicolaas Wilhelmus Posthumus, Geoff Egan and more recently of dieter Hittinger.14 Some similar current evaluations concerning cloth seals were written in Poland.15

According to the medieval and early modern sources it is obvious that to each bolt of cloth at least two but usually even more cloth seals were attached, up to 4–616 – depending on its type and quality (more precisely on the number of the pro-duction phases that had to be checked and certi-fied by the specialised local institution set up ex-actly to control the quality of the fabric. There are some lucky archaeological finds, which are per-fect examples for multiple cloth seals on a single bolt.17

Almost all cloth seals were made of lead and were cast.18 It seems that originally, yet in the 13th century the cloth production was “certified” us-ing wax seals.19 However, due their frailty, they were soon replaced by leaden ones. The earliest

13 Egan 1987, 1.14 PostHuMus 1908–1939; Egan 1994; HittingEr 2008.15 KocińsKa–MaiK 2004; BoBowsKi 2008.16 PostHuMus 1908, 80; EndrEi 1989, 57, 59; HittingEr 2008, 90,

Abb. 34.17 HittingEr 2008, 11, Abb. 6; 12, Abb. 7; 90, Abb. 34; TrawicKa–

ceynowa 2011, 24, Ryc. 10.18 egan 1994, 5; KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 11.19 Egan 1987, 18.

examples for the leaden cloth seals are known from the Low countries. They appeared in Leiden in the second half of the 13th century20 and in ypres by the end of the 13th, beginning of the 14th century.21 By the 14th century this meth-od to authenticate and certify the cloth fabrics be-came exclusive in this region. In England the first mention of the marking of the cloth in some way known from the charters issued in 1328 and 1350. The use of lead for sealing cloth can be traced in London from at least 1380.22 In the 14th century this practice gradually spread toward east – Germany, Polish and Bohemian territories.23 The amount of the cloth seals is very well imaginable reading the city accounts of ypres, where the number of 12,500 pieces of ordered lead seals in 1304/1305 in ten years increased to 63,500.24 That means a number of more than 5 millions in a cen-tury only from a single town.

There are several types of lead seals. The most widespread is the so called “riveted” type con-sisted of two lobes (or discs) connected by a short strip. one of the discs was perforated while the other had a pin. The seal was folded onto the edge of the cloth so that the rivet on one disc could be pushed through the cloth in the corre-sponding hole of the other disc and then pressed using tongs. The interfacing surfaces of the tongs bore incised marks, coats of arms or inscriptions, which remained imprinted in the lead. The seal might have been also hammered similarly to the coins. The two-lobed, single riveted type is the most common among the finds from the collec-tions of the Hungarian national Museum: 82 pieces were made this way.

The second type differs from the first one only in that it had two pins (rivets). This is very char-acteristic for the cloth seals from Flanders (Tournai) and some for examples with the coat of arms of England.25 There are 13 such seals in the discussed collections. According to the schol-ars,26 there may be some chronological difference in use of the first two types.

The third type in the represented material is consisted of two simple discs with no perforation or pins on them connected by a narrow, some-times decorated strip. Altogether six finds belong to this group, mainly larger ones with the coat of arms of England. Some of them, however, do not

20 Egan 1994, 1, Fig. 2.21 EndrEi 1989, 57.22 Egan 1978, 177; Egan 1987, 17–18.23 KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 13.24 EdrEi 1989, 57.25 Egan 1987, 26, 160.26 For example: Egan 1987, 280.

198 MAxIM MoRdovIn

have even any traces of a strip. There are smaller holes on such seals suggesting that they must have been tied to the fabric or even to the bale. The dating of this type is the same than for the “English” cloth seals and will be discussed later.

The fourth type represents a completely differ-ent solution. This is a small cylinder made of lead, which was pressed on a thread, most prob-ably on the bale of the fabric. This so-called “tu-bular” type is not so rare in Hungary but at the present stage of research it seems to be character-istic in the medieval and early modern period only for the cloth seals from Tournai (doornik). According to some western research, the cylin-drical seals were used during the 14th century in several western cities: along with Tournai also in some English cities.27 In the examined collections there are 14 finds of this type.

In addition to the mentioned four types sever-al further variants of cloth seals exist in Western and central Europe.28 But since they do not ap-pear in the present collections I skip the intro-duction of them.

Evaluation of the cloth seals

There are several possibilities to classify the cloth seals. The most usual solution is to create groups according to the marks imprinted on the seals.29 The imprints of the items found in Hungary in most of the cases depict some kind of coat of arms or in some ways refer to that. This might have been a whole coat of arms, a most character-istic figure from the arms or a privy mark used for similar purpose. The best way to identify the provenance of particular cloth seals is to identify these arms. In this study the classification is made according to the topography of the prove-nanced finds with a separate group of those, which could not have been identified at the mo-ment. According to this concept eight groups of cloth seals can be distinguished (Fig. 2).

Low Countries and Northern France (Cat. 1–25)

This group is one of the richest from the collec-tions of the Hungarian national Museum. The best known and the most widespread type of cloth seals is provenanced from Tournai (Doornik). These finds actually are easily recog-nisable as there is a stylised tower from the arms

27 Egan 1987, 112; Egan 1995, 6.28 See for example: KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 12, Ryc. 2; Egan 1994,

5–6; rodEnburg 2011, 51, Ill. 9.29 egan 1987; BoBowsKi–ossowsKi 2013.

of the city on one side and the fleur-de-lis on the other, and – to make the identification 100% sure – usually there is a text written in majuscules around the lily: “DE TOURNAI”. The 20 such items can be divided in at least two groups ac-cording to their main features. Thus 12 of them are tubular seals (cat. 1–12), and the remaining 8 belong to the double riveted type (cat. 13–20). The imprints on the seals can also differ. For ex-ample, the lily is usually encircled by a pearled edge, which sometimes has a quatrefoil form (cat. 18–20), but in four cases (cat. 13–15, 17) there is no circle at all. Similar situation can be observed in connection with the imprinted tow-ers. There are at least three different versions of it but the available data is yet too small to draw any chronological conclusions.

It is very hard to create an overall chronology for these finds yet but the fact that no cloth seals from Tournai have been found in Pápa suggests their dating to the period prior to the late 15th century. Similar cloth seals with well document-ed stratigraphic context from visegrád are data-ble to the late 14th century.30 Two more were found in Zvolen (Hung.: Zólyom, Slovakia), in the deserted castle (Pustý hrad), also in deposits from the second half of the 14th century.31 There are many other similar finds from other sites in Hungary: Solt-Tételhegy,32 Tolna, Budapest, Szeged.33 They are predominantly unpublished stray finds belonging mostly to the tubular type. outside Hungary cloth seals from Tournai have been found so far in Sweden (Lund-Sandgatan) – dated to the late 14th century,34 Finland, England35 and in Russia (novgorod).36

The only cloth seal with a fragment of the coat of arms of Leiden is the first such find in medie-val Hungary (cat. 21). However, it is among the most frequent types in the western countries, known outside the Low countries in Germany,37 Sweden38 and Poland.39

There are more seals, which cannot be identi-fied undoubtedly yet but according to the details

30 varga 2012, 14–15, Fig. 7–8.31 Hunka 1999, 305, obr. 4/15.32 varga 2012, 14, footnote 40.33 Unpublished finds. I am grateful for the information to

András K. németh (Tolna), Judit Benda (Budapest) and József Géza Kiss (Szeged).

34 rodEnburg 2011, cat. 7, 26, no. 17.35 Egan 2010, 58–59, Fig. 2/2.36 blankoFF 1978, 5–12.37 HittingEr 2008, 35, Taf. 15.38 rodEnburg 2011, cat. 2, no. 1; 10, no. 27; 11, no. 30; 14, no.

38.39 KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 60/105; TrawicKa–ceynowa 2011, 21,

Ryc. 7.


of the arms on them may be connected to this re-gion. one of them has arms party per cross with four lions rampant (cat. 20). Similar arms are well known both for Wales and Hainaut but it seems that their coats of arms were not used to imply for any textile production centre. (At least there is no such known example so far.) There is a re-ally small dutch city with similar coat of arms, Krommenie, now part of Zaanstad. It was not too famous of its cloth production but there might have been cloth seals made here.40 I may accept the possible identification of the find from the Hungarian national Museum as a seal from Krommenie.

Two more items display a clear and fine coat of arms with a crosier on it (cat. 23–24). The identification is dubious. According to Geoff Egan’s collection these arms appear on the seals from Mechelen (Malines) most probably refer-ring to the bishopric of Liège, the authority of which was acknowledged by the city from 1305.41 The known English examples are quite different from the Hungarian ones and, at the same time, there are more other possible identification, for example Eichstätt, viviers42 and Basel. The cro-

40 blazEr–roEFstra 2003, 57.41 Egan 1994, 194, Fig. 43/325–326; Egan 2010, 58.42 rEntzMann 1876, Taf. 6/218.

sier in the arms of Basel is very different from the one imprinted on the seal. Since from these cities only Mechelen had significant textile industry, this one seems to be more likely solution.

The coat of arms of the last item is very similar to that of Troyes (France). There are even three small fleurs-de-lis in the chief. The only difference is the direction of bending (cat. 25). I have found only a single similar but much later cloth seal at-tributed to Troyes, in France, dated to 1730.43

Germany (Cat. 26–33)

The second largest group of cloth seals was brought to Hungary on textiles from Germany. The number of the towns represented in this group is surprisingly small comparing, for exam-ple, with Pápa.44 The collection of the Hungarian national Museum includes one cloth seal from Mansfeld (cat. 33), another one from cologne (Köln – cat. 26) and six from nuremberg (nürnberg – cat. 27–32). Most of these seals have good analogies in Hungary. The seal from Cologne has fine, better preserved analogies from Pápa datable to the late 15th, early 16th cen-

43 https://sites.google.com/site/plombdescelle/le-textile (10. 04. 2014.)

44 Mordovin 2013, 275–276.

Fig. 2. Provenance of the identified cloth seals from the Hungarian National Museum

2. kép. A Magyar nemzeti Múzeum azonosított ólomplombáinak származási helye

200 MAxIM MoRdovIn

tury,45 and a 15th-century one from castle Šintava (Sempte).46 cloth production from cologne got even to England, according to a similar seal found in London.47 The seal from Mansfeld can be identified by the image of St George which ap-pears in the arms of the city. Since this is a rela-tively widespread heraldic charge, the identifica-tion cannot be absolutely certain.

Most of the cloth seals from Germany in the discussed collection came from nuremberg (Nürnberg). The six finds represent two diverse types, which in this case seems to refer rather to various sorts of textile (different quality) than to any chronological difference. The smaller seal (cat. 27) has no known analogies; but something similar dated to the 15th century was found in castle Šintava.48 The larger pieces, however, are datable rather to the second half of 16th century like those from castle Bajcsa49 and early modern layers of Diósgyőr Castle.50 The same dating is valid for some cloth seals from Pápa.51 Some, yet unpublished similar finds were collected in debrecen and Mindszentpuszta.52 Unfortunately these are all stray finds.

Silesia (Cat. 34–39)

There are six cloth seals originated from cities of medieval Silesia (present day Poland and czech Republic). The imprints of the first two display three towers above a city wall with a gate under the middle tower. Earlier I identified this coat of arms with the very similar one of Hamburg.53 However, there is a whole such seal in a private collection in Budapest with inscription and dat-ing on the reverse saying “HAYNAU” and “156[2?]”. This find has enabled to modify the identification to Silesian Chojnów (Haynau). The find from Pápa actually confirms the 16th-century dating of the seal.

A much damaged and hardly recognisable seal seems to have come from opava (Troppau – Cat. 36). The identification in this case is still a bit dubious. only a small hardly visible fragment of the coat of arms serves as a base for this. Similar arms can be seen on the cloth seal found in 2013

45 Mordovin 2013, 279.46 Hunka 2006, 49.47 Egan 1994, 192, Fig. 41/313.48 Hunka 2006, 49.49 kováCs 2002, 179/206.50 Huszár 1972, 43–47; CzEglédy 1988, xLvI/b.51 Mordovin 2013, 273, Fig. 3/7, 279.52 The one at Mindszentpuszta was found during field survey.

Hereby I am grateful again for the information to István Bacskai and László Szolnoki.

53 Mordovin 2013, 273, Fig. 3/1–2, 279.

at Castle Čabraď (Csábrág) datable to the second half of the 16th century.54

The arms of three more cloth seals display a double cross known from the coat of arms of sev-eral cloth production centres (for example ypres and Saint omer). However, on the basis of the eagle and small round dot beside the cross of one of them can be undoubtedly identified with the Silesian Wschowa (Fraustadt – cat. 37–39).55 The only known two similar finds have been discov-ered in Gdańsk (Danzig).56

Bohemia and Moravia (Cat. 35–54)

The situation with the Bohemian cloth seals is somewhat better, especially with the one from Nový Jičín (Neutitschein) due to its very charac-teristic coat of arms (cat. 40). There are some al-most identical finds from Pápa dated to the sec-ond half of the 16th century.57

Maybe the largest group of cloth seals from the Hungarian national Museum has very spe-cific and well recognisable imprints. However, its identification is still questionable. Usually these seals display a crown on one or both sides and a very short text (or name?) on the other. The inscription has not been resolved yet, thus the only base for the identification is the crown. One of these finds depicts a crowned letter “M” and a rose on the reverse (cat. 41). This most probably corresponds to a variation of the coat of arms of Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus) which appeared after 1483 when the city received the crowned “W” symbolising new privileges granted to the city by king vladislaus. The rose, at the same time, belongs to the earlier arms of the lords of Jindřichův Hradec. According to this, all the rest of the cloth seals with crowned “W” can be iden-tified similarly. Apart from the first mentioned such seal, there are two more variations in this group depending on the style of the letter “W”. on the earlier variations datable to the 15th and early 16th century it is written in gothic minuscula (cat. 42–45), on the exemplars from the late 16th and 17th centuries it appears already in antiqua (cat. 46–51). The letter “W” was often accompa-nied by an inscription on the reverse written in gothic or renaissance style – according to the main letter. While the gothic versions are yet il-legible, the renaissance says: “neve/stad” or “ALDE/STAD”. The last one can be read on a seal

54 Unpublished excavation lead by Ján Beljak and myself.55 rEntzMann 1876, Taf. 33/114.56 KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 45/40–41.57 Mordovin 2013, 278, Fig. 6/8, 279.


from Pápa.58 These may be translated as new city (nEUE STAdT) and old city (ALTE STAdT) but there is no data or explanation to what these names could refer. The German name of the city is neuhaus.

The other part of the cloth seals with imprint-ed crown but without letter “W” remains prob-lematic. It seems to be plausible to identify it alike but to a period prior to the year 1483, that is before the granting of the new arms. The very similar style of the crown and the text on the re-verse – also illegible – support this idea (cat. 52–62). The written sources additionally confirm the presence of the textile production from Jindřichův Hradec in Hungary at least from the first half of the 15th century.59

At the same time, the letter “W” appears on the coat of arms of Wrocław (Breslau),60 and at least in one case it accompanies the coat of arms of nuremberg.61 The style of the letter in all such cases is antiqua. The renaissance sign “W” was incorporated into the arms of Wrocław only in the 1530s. Since the majority of the cloth seals from the Hungarian national Museum display the gothic version, the identification with Jindřichův Hradec seems to be more likely. There is one more weak side of this interpreta-tion. The form alde for old indicates rather north-western German dialects than south-east-ern. However, no such seals have been found so far, except the territory of medieval Kingdom of Hungary. This last may even imply to its Hungarian origin but there is no known city with a coat of arms containing a crowned “W”.

This type of cloth seals is relatively well known in Hungary. There is at least one renais-sance type found in Pápa identified then as one from Wrocław.62 Many others were found as stray finds during excavations at Szombathely and field surveys at Alsótold, Mindszentpuszta etc.63 At the same time it is very cautionary that there are no similar seals outside the carpathian Basin yet.

Austria (Cat. 63–74)

The seals from the neighbouring Austria are rep-resented in the collections of the Hungarian

58 Mordovin 2013, 277, Fig. 5/9.59 osr § 424: 196–197.60 rEntzMann 1876, Taf. 8/76, 83.61 Unpublished collection of József Géza Kiss (Szeged).62 Mordovin 2013, 277, Fig. 5/9.63 Unpublished. I am grateful for the information about

Szombathely to csaba Tóth from the Hungarian national Museum. Mindszentpuszta and Alsótold are parts of my own research.

national Museum relatively well – as it might have been expected. There are two pieces from Tulln with a characteristic letter “T” known from its coat of arms (cat. 63–64). There are no known analogies for this find so far. A cloth seal similar-ly with a letter “T” found in castle Schrattenstein (Austria) was identified as one from Tulln.64 However, it seems that the “reference” for the coat of arms in this case is not this letter but rath-er the figure on the other side of the seal, which can be interpreted as a winged lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of venice. An almost identical seal from Partizánske (Hung.: Simony, Slovakia) was identified similarly.65 The cloth seal with strange imprint on one side and four small flow-ers on the other (Cat. 65) can be identified with Linz using a similar find from József Géza Kiss’ collection in Szeged.

Most of the Austrian finds originate from vienna (Wien), the main textile production cen-tre of the country (cat. 66–74). In the discussed collection there are seven almost identical seals with the coat of arms of Austria on one and with arms of city of vienna on the other side (cat. 67–72, 74). Some analogies for this type of cloth seals are known from Pápa66 and Győr.67 certainly, there are similar finds from Austria too (e.g. castle Schrattenstein).68 Two more seals depict coat of arms of vienna and an eagle, most likely referring to the Habsburgs (cat. 66, 73).

Italy (Cat. 75–78)

Italian cities – despite the known strong connec-tions with Hungary in the Middle Ages – are rep-resented only by four finds from Venice. All of them are in quite bad state: rubbed and corrod-ed. one of the depictions on them can be identi-fied as a winged lion with the Bible. On the other side in two cases a simple letter “B” can be seen. Similar, better readable finds are known from visegrád,69 Mindszentpuszta and Partizánske (Hung.: Simony, Slovakia).70

England (Cat. 79–88)

The cloth seals from England are usually the eas-iest to identify. These finds with the Royal coat of arms of England were already discussed in the 64 küHtrEibEr–Marian 2000, 199, Abb. 1.65 Hunka 1999, 303, obr. 4/12, 304.66 Mordovin 2013, 277, Fig. 5/7.67 Unpublished. I am very grateful for the information to Szilvia

Bíró.68 küHtrEibEr–Marian 2000, 200, Abb. 2.69 bárdi 2014, 124, 364, Fig. 108/13.70 Hunka 1999, 303, obr. 4/12, 304.

202 MAxIM MoRdovIn

1960s by Lajos Huszár. Before going into details about the more frequent types, two unique ex-amples should be mentioned. one of them de-picts the arms of London (cat. 79). Such seals are well known in the western countries – England, Germany, Sweden and even Poland, but in Hungary this is the first. The one from London bearing identical coat of arms and an inscription de Londino can be dated to the 17th century.71 Similar corresponding western finds confirm this dating.72 Another unique cloth seal is a two-lobed single riveted piece with an imprinted text “SEA[R]CHED” (cat. 80). This must have been an officials’ seal.73 Unfortunately its reverse side is too damaged to identify the particular city of its origin. There are finds with such inscriptions from different English cities, for example: Suffolk, Guildford (Surrey), Worcester, york etc.74 According to the known analogies and the style of the letters it can be dated to the 17th century.

The rest of the “English” seals usually have impressed arms of England on one side and a Tudor rose on the other (cat. 81–87). These seals actually belong to at least two types: two-disc with no rivets (cat. 83–84, 86–88) and two-disc with two rivets (cat. 81–82, 85). There is no rea-son to suppose any chronological difference be-tween them, since in all known cases the imprint-ed arms can be dated to the reign of Queen Elisabeth I. The most striking about these seals is the high number of the irregularities and mis-takes in the motto of the arms. The quality of the depiction also varies a lot from very good to hardly recognisable. Such cloth seals are relative-ly widespread on the territory of medieval Hungary. Apart from those already collected by Lajos Huszár,75 many new exemplars have been found during the last decade. (only some of the localities: Szécsény,76 Pápa,77 varjas, Eger,78 vác,79 Bajcsa80 etc.) Also several such finds were published from other parts of Europe. The west-ernmost was found in Amsterdam81 and France.82

71 PATAR 2008, 179, 361, Fig. 435. A good 17th-century analogy from Hamburg: HittingEr 2008, 146, Taf. 12/5.

72 KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 53–55, 79–86; egan 1987, 165–166.73 Egan 1978, 178, Fig. 2, top centre.74 Egan 1987, 220, 225, 243, 256.75 Huszár 1961.76 guba–galCsik 2013, 24, 28. kép.77 Mordovin 2013, 274, Fig. 4/3–5.78 Unpublished. I am grateful for the information to István

Bacskai and László Szolnoki (varjas), László nagy (Eger).79 tEttaManti 1994, 111, 170 (37. t. 5–6).80 kováCs 2002, 179, 208.81 Egan 2010, 61.82 http://www.echange-passion.com/t3260-plombs-anglais

(20. 04. 2014.)

There is at least one from Sweden83 and Gdańsk (danzig),84 while the most eastern finds are known from vilnius,85 Kiev86 and novgorod.87

one more type of cloth seals connectable to this group depicts Tudor rose with surrounding inscription “Guilhelmus Almandete”. This relative-ly widespread type is represented in the Hungarian national Museum only with one ex-emplar (cat. 88). Such seals are known from dif-ferent parts of continental Europe, as from France, Sweden88 and Germany,89 via Poland up to Moravia,90 Hungary91 and Russia.92 Some of these are dated to the 1570s and 1580s.

The main question that concerns these cloth seals is the place of their origin. As Lajos Huszár has already noted, the coat of arms most proba-bly refers to the cloth produced in England but baled already somewhere in Germany or else-where in continental Europe.93 There are two facts that confirm this idea. At first, there are no such finds in England and the second is the ap-pearance of grammatical mistakes in the motto of the arms. There is a “reasonable suspicion” that the differences in quality may actually cover the practice of forgery. A comparative analyse of the lead and the imprints on the cloth seals may help in future to verify this.

Unidentified seals (Cat. 89–115)

A relatively high number of the cloth seals from the collections of the Hungarian national Mu-seum – 27 items – have not been identified yet. In some cases the reason is simply their state of preservation: much rubbed or heavily damaged surface (cat. 113–115). Sometimes the well read-able coats of arms have not been solved yet, espe-cially when it concerns heraldic lions (cat. 90), eagles (cat. 91–93) and towers (cat. 89, 94), pure-ly because of the stylised nature of the imprints. These charges of the arms were extremely popu-lar in the medieval heraldry and without defined or marked tinctures of them there are at least

83 rodEnburg 2011, cat. 3, 23, no. 6.84 KocińsKa–MaiK 2004, 55/87.85 KaplūnaiTė–JonaiTis 2005, 84–85 (1 pav.).86 kliMovsky 1997, 50–52.87 yanin 1953, 384, Рис. 13.88 rodEnburg 2011, 64.89 voigt 1878, 19.90 ČižMář 1999.91 Huszár 1961, xxxii/11–12.92 http://diveforum.spb.ru/viewtopic.php?t=11287&postdays

=0&postorder=asc&start=125 (14. 05. 2014.); http://forum.kladoiskatel.ru/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=42801

(14. 05. 2014.)93 Huszár 1961, 193–194; Egan 1994, 197, Fig. 46/348.


dozens of possible identifications. The same is applicable to such charges as Sun in his Glory (cat. 95–96) or fleur-de-lis (cat. 98). The last one may equally indicate several Flemish cities or Florence in Italy. The identification of these coats of arms can be confirmed when they are accom-panied by inscriptions or additional parts refer-ring to a region or a ruler. Some arms on the dis-cussed seals are simply unknown yet (cat. 107–112). The interpreting of the privy marks seems to be the hardest task since their variability is nearly limitless and they have no indications for the city or country of their origin (cat. 99–102). In some other cases even the inscription cannot help, especially when they are too fragmented or imply a particular sort of textile (cat. 102–103).

Some cloth seals have relatively specific im-prints, which may be helpful in their identifica-tion. There is a seal with cloth shears accompa-nied by two crosses (cat. 105) similar to one found in Hunetorp (denmark) and probably provenanced from Göttingen and dated to the first quarter of the 16th century.94 Another good example is known from Anklam.95

Two unidentified types of cloth seals have good analogies from excavations at Bolzano (Bozen, South-Tirol). one of them depicts porta-ble balance scales on one side and privy mark – B [I] A – on the other (cat. 106). In Bolzano the seals with similar imprints instead of privy marks have some kind of berries. The other type of image is the knight (cat. 111–112). Both of such cloth seals from the discussed collection have imprinted privy marks on the reverse side. The depiction of the knights is very similar to each other, which fact refers to the possible com-mon place of provenance. The only known coat of arms with a knight on it belongs to Schwerin in Germany but there is no other evidence for such identification. The similar finds from Bolzano have short inscription on their backside: “oueri”, “over” or “oero”.96 Even so, the prove-nance of the finds from Bolzano was not defined.

Historical background and the international cloth trade in Hungary

The written sources concerning the international trade of textile production in medieval Hungary are known relatively well and there is a long tra-dition of the historical research of this topic.

94 sCHüttE 1993, 138.95 HittingEr 2008, 164, Taf. 22/1.96 tErzEr 2004, 153, Taf. 18/98, 104–105 (scales); 154, Taf.

19/110, 115–116 (knights).

Along with the already mentioned Walter Endrei, György Székely and Zsigmond Pál Pach were dealing with this topic. From the written sources we can follow the appearance of the western tex-tile at the Hungarian tolls and on the markets from the late 13th century onwards.

The earliest custom registry from Esztergom issued in 1288 mentions different types of cloth from vienna, Regensburg and even some sorts from across Rhine. The last one may refer to the Flemish cities of Ghent, ypres and Tournai (door nik).97 The earliest known imported Fle-mish cloth came to Hungary from Ghent, and mentioned already in the mid-13th century. Later the ghentish cloth appears in the Hungarian sources up to the end of the 14th century.98 Although the fabrics of Tournai (doornik) – called in the Hungarian charters dornetum99 – can be traced in the charters already from the late 13th century, they become extremely popular from the 14th century onward.100 Their appearance de-creases during the 15th century, and by the 16th century they seem to have disappeared com-pletely.101 The custom registry of Sopron men-tions cloth production from Brussels and Leuven at the end of the 14th century.102 From the end of the same century we find increasing number of charters referring to cloth from Leuven.103 In Sopron and Bratislava the Leuven-fabrics (de Levano) were served as a part of the yearly pres-ent for the Queen and as christmas gift for the King.104 other towns from the Low countries such as Bruges, Brussels, Sint Truiden (Trau-tenau), cambrai and Mechelen (Malinas) known in the Hungarian documents from the end of the 14th century, are present in the 15th-century stat-ute book of Buda and in other contemporary charters.105

The German textile mentioned in the Hun-garian written sources from the late 13th century remain on the market until the end of the dis-cussed period, namely up to the late 17th century. The medieval documents mention fabrics from cologne (Köln) already in 1394.106 Later, in the 15th century, the sequence of the known cities is

97 székEly 1968, 4–10; PaCH 2003, 11. 98 székEly 1968, 4–6. 99 For example: dl 96146 (15. 06. 1328), Szabolcs county.100 székEly 1968, 7.101 székEly 1968, 8.102 PaCH 2003, 146.103 székEly 1968, 15; oSR § 424, 197.104 Sopokl i. v. 2, 65 (1413), 76 (1414) etc. … 354 (1428); I. v. 3, 6

(1430), 41 (1432), 57–58 (1433), 75 (1434), 123 (1436); I. v. 4, 67 (1454); I. v. 5, 33 (1461), 56 (1463), 75; székEly 1968, 15.

105 oSR § 424, 197; székEly 1968, 10–23; EndrEi 1989, 42.106 PaCH 2003, 146.

204 MAxIM MoRdovIn

expanded with cologne (Köln),107 Aachen,108 nuremberg (nürnberg),109 Mainz, Marburg, Frank furt etc.110

Austrian cloth was being sold starting from the late 13th century111 in the whole period of the late Middle Ages and Early Modern time. Apart from the quite widespread viennese cloth men-tioned in the town statute book from the first third of the 15th century,112 we know about textile from Tulln,113 Hainburg and Bruck an der Leitha. The production of the latter two cities appears in the custom registries of Bratislava (Pozsony/Pressburg) compiled between 1457 and 1458.114

From the 14th century onward a new region “broke” onto the Hungarian cloth market with its fabrics: Bohemia. The written sources from this period do not always specify the towns115 but from the 15th century we already meet Jihlava (Iglau),116 Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus), Brno (Brünn)117 and probably Čáslav.118

The import of the Levantine cloth production is also documented from the 13th century on-ward.119 There are several sources for the 14th-cen-tury import of Italian fabrics,120 and quite a few from the 15th century. The charters and registers mention verona,121 Florence and viterbo.122 However, surprisingly, we hardly have any ar-chaeological evidence for this.

Although the “English” cloth – some sorts of which are called londis, lindisch or londinisch in the Hungarian charters123 – appears in the sourc-es already from the beginning of the 15th centu-ry;124 it can be traced in the archaeological finds only half a century later. According to the con-

107 Sopokl i. v. 2, 25–26 (1410), 164 (1419); I. v. 3, 329 (1451); I. v. 4, 332 (1458); I. v. 5, 192 (1465); dl 16939 (15. 12. 1469); dl 16939 (Buda, 15. 12. 1469).

108 Sopokl i. v. 4, 285 (1458); I. v. 5, 60 (1463).109 Sopokl i. v. 6, 49 (1488).110 First half of the 15th century: oSR § 424, 197; 1436: EndrEi

1989, 42.111 PaCH 2003, 11.112 oSR § 424, 197.113 EndrEi 1989, 42 (1436).114 PaCH 2003, 147.115 dl 72389 (06. 05. 1378), Szatmár county; dl 54901 (28. 11.

1434).116 Sopokl i. v. 4, 83 (1456).117 OSR § 424, 197 (Jindřichův Hradec, Brno, Jihlava); EndrEi

1989, 42 (1436: Jihlava and Brno).118 Sopokl i. v. 2, 164 (1419).119 nagy 2005, 182.120 PaCH 2003, 146.121 szEndE 2004, 160.122 Florence and viterbo: oSR § 424, 197; viterbo: Sopokl i. v. 3,

329 (1451).123 PaCH 2003, 40; kuMoroviCz–M. kállai 1959, v. I, 88, 127; v.

II, 96, 170, 175 (1550–1551).124 oSR § 424, 197; EndrEi 1989, 42 (1436).

temporary documents, in the 16th century among the cloth imported from England the larger part consisted of the so-called kersey, which actually was not even regarded as real cloth. nevertheless, this remained very popular in Hungary yet in the first half of the 17th century. The majority of the kersey was brought from Flanders by German merchants, similarly to many other sorts of cloth.125

during the ottoman wars the situation changed strikingly, not because of the permanent fights and serious damages caused to the Hungarian economy but rather due to the signif-icant transformation of the western textile indus-try and trade connections, including decreasing Flemish import and increasing role of England in this process observable from the mid-15th centu-ry onward.126 The luckily survived custom regis-tries from the mid-16th century outline three main source regions of the textile import. The de-crease of the role of the Low countries is very well visible as only four cities appear in this reg-ister: Amsterdam, Bruges, Sint Truiden and Arras.127 Similar tendency can be observed for the Italian cloth trade.128 In 1522 among the non-specified Italian cloth129 we find Venice, Genoa and Florence.130 By the mid-16th century only Bergamo, Milan and verona remains131 with venetian fabrics known from the archaeological finds. The undoubtedly dominant position in this time was taken by the German textile pro-ducing centres: Aachen, Butzbach, dinkelsbühl, Einsiedeln, Friedberg, Görlitz, nuremberg (nürnberg), oberursel, Zwickau, cologne (Köln), Meiningen etc.132 The increasing role of the Silesian133 and Bohemian134 fabrics is represented by the products from Wrocław (Breslau), Świdnica (Schweidnitz), Brumov (Braunau), Jihlava (Iglau), opava (Troppau) and Svitavy (Zwittau).135 certainly, the registry mentions several sorts of cloth from England136 – import of

125 EndrEi 1970, 288–292.126 székEly 1968, 24–26; Munro 2008, 97.127 EMbEr 1988, 75–76, 80.128 See also: Munro 2007, 137–138.129 kuMoroviCz–M. kállai 1959, v. II, 175 (1552).130 MoJzsis 1988, 227–229.131 EMbEr 1988, 75–76. For Milan and Bergamo see also: Mollay

1994, 1, 3, 21, 42, 47, 56, 60, 62.132 Mollay 1994, 12, 63 (Augsburg); 13, 23, 60 (Ulm); 5, 33, 42

(cologne); 8, 23, 36 (Munich); kuMoroviCz–M. kállai 1959, v. I, 88, 127, 134, 179 etc. (1544: nuremberg).

133 Sopokl i. v. 7, 247 (1527: unspecified Silesian cloth).134 Mollay 1994, 8, 46 (unspecified Bohemian cloth).135 Mollay 1994, 16 (Jihlava); kuMoroviCz–M. kállai 1959, v. I,

134 (1544: Wrocław).136 EMbEr 1988, 75–81.


which seems to remain more-or-less on the same level through the whole 16th century.137

The escalating fights between the Habsburg Empire and the ottomans required larger num-ber of mercenaries often paid with cloth.138 This, at the same time, resulted in an increasing textile trade in this region, which led to intensifying practice of imitation or clear forgery of the English cloth.139 This practice can be traced both in written and archaeological sources. The evi-dence for the latter will be evaluated in a sepa-rate, more detailed study.

As the huge territories of Kingdom of Hungary got under the ottoman rule, the commercial routes and traditions changed. nevertheless, from the 16th-century custom registries we know that most sorts of the cloth, which were present on the markets of the remaining parts of Hungary, could be also sold on the occupied territories.140 Thus we meet the names of such places of origin as, for example, Wrocław (Breslau), Nuremberg (nürnberg), Bergamo and England.141

The image of the very intensive international cloth trade reconstructable from the written sources can be very well confirmed, what is more, supplemented using archaeological finds. Thus – starting from the Low countries – the number of the cloth seals from Tournai (doornik) from the 14th–15th century, more-or-less corre-sponds to the frequency of the appearance of dor-netum in the contemporary documents. There are also identified cloth seals from Mechlin (Mechelen) and Leiden in the discussed collec-tions.

The German territories are represented by cloth seals from nuremberg (nürnberg), Mansfeld and cologne (Köln), while from the Austrian parts finds from Linz, Tulln and Vienna were identifiable so far. From Bohemia we have a huge group of seals connectable to Jindřichův Hradec (neuhaus) and a single piece from nový Jičín (Neutitschein). Actually the last one is al-ready a new piece of information comparing to that known from charters because the written documents usually do not distinguish particular towns from Bohemia mentioning Bohemian or Moravian cloth in overall.142

Four finds can be interpreted as cloth seals from Venice. If this identification is correct then these are among the first and very few such finds

137 MoJzsis 1988, 227, 230.138 Huszár 1961, 192.139 EndrEi 1970, 292.140 EndrEi 1989, 45.141 PaCH 2003, 76–77. For Bergamo see: Sopokl i. v. 7, 34 (1522).142 MoJzsis 1988, 227.

from Hungary.143 Moreover, I have not found any published Italian cloth seals so far even in the West European scholarly literature (except the one from Schrattenstein).

The appearance of the cloth seals with the coat of arms of England in this collection was expect-ed, since these are the largest and maybe the most spectacular of such finds. Their dating in this case coincides with the upsurge of the English textile industry.

There is a surprising lack of several sorts of cloth (seals) in the collections of the Hungarian national Museum. one of them is the group of seals from Poland, which, however, still may hide among the not yet identified pieces. The other such group is yet missing from the whole known Hungarian material. These are the cloth seals of the local production in medieval Hungary. We know for sure from the written sources that the practice of sealing of the cloth fabrics existed in Hungary too. The earliest refer-ence for this is a charter issued in 1444 by John Hunyadi, in which the latter as voivode of Transylvania ordered the wool makers of Braşov (Brassó/Kronstadt) to use seals on their produc-tion. The document contains no detailed descrip-tion regarding the physical appearance of the seals or sealing.144 More than a century later, in the regulation written in 1556 in cluj (Kolozsvár/clausenburg) the locally produced cloth was or-dered to bear seals of the city and manufactur-er.145 By the 17th century the use of the cloth seals in Braşov was described more precisely. Accor-ding to a 1651-year regulation the higher quality sorts must had a “double coat of arms” – most probably the expanded version of the coat of arms of Braşov; while the lower quality was enough to be sealed with the “simple arms”. very similar regulation is known also from Sibiu (nagyszeben/Hermannstadt) from 1697.146

It is highly possible that the larger centres of textile production in northern Hungary such as Košice (Kassa/Kaschau) or Bardejov (Bártfa/Bartfeld) also had such practice, although there are no known or published similar documents from these towns. In contrast to the mentioned written sources, not even a single cloth seal has been identified as of Hungarian origin so far. There is a feasible explanation for this phenome-non. Almost all main cloth production centres are located outside the present day Hungary (Košice and Bardejov in Slovakia; cluj-napoca,

143 bárdi 2014, 124, 364, Fig. 108/13.144 PaCH 2003, 22.145 PaCH 2003, 23.146 EndrEi 1989, 59.

206 MAxIM MoRdovIn

Braşov and Sibiu in Romania). According to the written sources their production did not spread too far and usually did not get to further urban centres because it was supplanted by the higher quality and cheaper western fabrics.147 The only exemption might have been Buda, the medieval capital of Hungary where the cloth production of Transylvania was common enough to be includ-ed in the 15th-century statute book of the city.148 Thus the sealed textile from Transylvania, Košice, Bardejov etc. simply was not sold on the territory of the modern Hungary and so their seals could not get into the collections of the Hungarian national Museum.

Conclusion

Analyse of the cloth seals from the Hungarian national Museum cannot give wholly satisfying picture simply because of their stray-finds na-ture. Nevertheless, since this is the first such evaluation of this type of finds from Hungary we can get at least a general overview of their main variations, places of origin and some statistical indications. Likewise, this study may turn the scholars’ attention to the cloth seals as a very im-portant source, something between written and archaeological, since even a single stray find may possess unique information in reference to the international cloth trade in the Middle Ages. In a

147 szEndE 2004, 240–241.148 osr § 424, 196–197.

good, properly documented stratigraphic con-text an identifiable cloth seal may be used as a dating object even better than coins because they could have been used only once and then they were either thrown away or reused as raw mate-rial.

At the present stage of the research Geoff Egan’s statement from 1978 is very well applica-ble: “It is only by looking at a great number that major trends can be determined.”149 The 115 cloth seals from the five collections very vividly supplement the picture of the provenance of the imported cloth fabrics in the medieval Hungary. Even if the most of them only confirm the data already known from the written sources, some finds, however, give significant additional infor-mation denominating particular cloth producing centres not mentioned in surviving other sources (for example: Nový Jičín, Mansfeld, Chojnów and Wschowa). (In case of provenanced cloth seals from excavations we would also get the in-formation concerning the distribution of the im-ported goods.)

From the finds published in this study only 88 could have been identified till now. These seals represent at least six regions: England, Flanders, Germany, Bohemia, Austria and Italy. Hopefully, the evaluation of the cloth seals from other col-lections with documented stratigraphic context will help to identify further exemplars and nar-row the dating.

149 Egan 1978, 1979.

KATALóGUS

Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n

Dimensions (in mm) Ty

pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

1

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 14,7

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle, with fragments of text: "S *D[E [TOVRN]AI ". On the other side is a tower

accompanied by fleurs-de-lis from the coat of arms of the

city.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

2

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 13,5–14,4

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle, with fragments of text: "DE [TOVRN]AI ". On

the other side is a tower accompanied by fleurs-de-lis from the coat of arms of the

city.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

3

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 13

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle, with fragments of text "DE TOVR[NAI] ". On

the other side is a tower accompanied by fleurs-de-lis from the coat of arms of the

city.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

4

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 13,9

Tubu

lar

Well preserved tubular cloth seal with fine imprints on both sides. One depicts fleur-de-lis

in a pearled circle accompanied by text: "+S DE TOV[RNAI ]". The other side

shows city gate tower surrounded by fleurs-de-lis. A

small cross is visible inside the gate.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

5

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 12,3

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in

circle, accompanied by a very fragmented text: "[DE

TOUR]NA[I] ". The other side shows the coat of arms of the city: a tower with fleurs-de-lis

in a pearled circle.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

208 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions

(in mm) Type Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

6

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 13,4

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle, accompanied by text "S DE [TOUR]NAI ". The other side shows the coat of arms of the city: a

tower with fleurs-de-lis in a pearled circle.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

7

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 13,8

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal with imprints on both sides. On

one side is a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle, surrounded by illegible text (most probably DE TOURNAI ). On the other

side is a tower, details of which are hardly visible.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

8

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 12–13,5

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal. On one side is a fleur-de-lis in a

pearled circle with surrounding text: "[…] DE [TOU]RNAI ". On the other side is a stylised tower in a

pearled circle.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

9

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 10,5–11,5

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal with well visible imprints. On one

side is a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle accompanied by fragmented inscription "[DE TOUR]NAI ". On the

other side is a stylised tower from the coat of arms of the

city.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

10

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 13,7

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal, heavily rubbed, hardly

readable. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle, with fragments of a text: "D[E

TO]VRNAI ". On the other side is a tower accompanied by fleurs-de-lis from the coat

of arms of the city.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

11

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 14,5–15,5

Tubu

lar

Small tubular cloth seal, heavily rubbed, hardly

readable. One side depicts a fleur-de-lis in circle, with very slight traces of a surrounding

text. On the other side is a hardly visible tower from the

coat of arms of the city.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

12

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 13,5–14,5

Tubu

lar

Heavily damaged, hardly readable tubular seal. One

side depicts a fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle; the other

shows slight traces of the tower from the coat of arms.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

13

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 17–19

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted Medium size well preserved

cloth seal. The riveted side depicts a fleur-de-lis

surrounded by inscription "+DE TOVRNAI " and a

pearled circle. Some traces of a tower are visible on the pins on the other side. The strip is

missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

14

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 18–19

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive



surrounded by inscription "+DE TOVRNAI " and a

pearled circle. Some traces of a tower are visible on the pins on the other side. The strip is

missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

210 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

15

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 19,5

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive



surrounded by inscription "+DE TOVRNAI " and double

pearled circle. Traces of a tower from the coat of arms

of the city can be seen on the pins. The strip is missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

16

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 16,5–18,1

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Double riveted medium size cloth seal. Only the riveted

side remained with depiction of a tower accompanied by fleurs-de-lis from the coat of arms of Tournai. The strip is

missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

17

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 19

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted Double riveted medium size

cloth seal. Only the riveted side remained with depiction of a fleur-de-lis accompanied by text "DE TOVRNAI " in a pearled circle. On the other side are slight traces of a

tower and fleurs-de-lis from the coat of arms of Tournai.

The strip is missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

18

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 22,4

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Medium size heavily rubbed cloth seal. Only the riveted

side remained with imprint of a fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil and a circle, surrounded by text "٭DE ٭ TO[URNAI]". The strip

is missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

19

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 22

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Medium size deformed cloth seal. Only the perforated side

remained with fragmented imprints of a fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil and a pearled

circle, surrounded by text "٭DE ٭ TOUR[NAI]". The strip

is missing.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

20

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 22,5–23,3; strip width:

4,5

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Medium size two riveted cloth seal with heavily damaged

surface. Only the riveted side remained with imprints of a fleur-de-lis in quatrefoil and

pearled circle, surrounded by text "DE TOVRNA[I] ". Short

fragment of the strip survived.

14th

–15t

h C

Tour

nai (

Doo

rnik

)

21

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 18,4; strip width:

4,2

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with slightly rubbed surface. The riveted side shows fragment

of inscription "[…]AN ". On the other side are crossed keys from the coat of arms of the

city. The strip is broken.

16th

–17t

h C

Leid

en

22

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 19-20

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with only riveted surviving side displaying a coat of arms party per cross with four

lions rampant. The strip is missing.

16th

–17t

h C

Kro

mm

enie

(Zaa

nsta

d, N

ethe

rland

s)?

23

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 15,2

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Well preserved riveted side of a two-lobed cloth seal. The

imprint is a coat of arms with a crosier. The strip is missing 16

th–1

7th

C

Mec

hlin

(Mec

hele

n)

212 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

24

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 17

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Well preserved riveted side of a two-lobed cloth seal. The

imprint is a coat of arms with a crosier accompanied by

letters "v " and "y ". The strip is missing.

16th

–17t

h C

Mec

hlin

(Mec

hele

n)

25

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n diam.: 15,5–16;

strip width: 3,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Small well preserved cloth seal. Fine coat of arms of city

of Troyes bendy sinister of six potent with three fleurs-

de-lis in chief on the riveted side. Hardly recognisable

mark can be observed on the reverse.

16th

–17t

h C

Troy

es

26

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 21–23

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. The only remained riveted part is very rubbed, the imprint is

hardly visible. It depicts coat of arms of Cologne. 15

th–1

6th

C

Col

ogne

(Köl

n)

27

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. Only the riveted side remained. Depicts the small coat of

arms of the city. 15th

–16t

h C

Nur

embe

rg (N

ürnb

erg)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

28

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 33,5–34;

strip width: 8,6

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Very fine example of a large cloth seal with the coat of

arms of Nuremberg on both sides. On the riveted side the coat of arms is in a pearled circle; on the other in simple

circle.

16th

–17t

h C

Nur

embe

rg (N

ürnb

erg)

29

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 20,2–21,7; strip width:

4,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size well preserved cloth seal with fine imprints of

small coat of arms of Nuremberg in a pearled circle

on both sides. 16th

–17t

h C

Nur

embe

rg (N

ürnb

erg)

30

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


8,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Large cloth seal. Only the riveted side remained with imprinted coat of arms of

Nuremberg in a pearled circle. 16th

–17t

h C

Nur

embe

rg (N

ürnb

erg)

31

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 33,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Large cloth seal, heavily damaged and fragmented.

On the riveted side is a large Antiqua-style letter "N" in a pearled circle. The reverse side depicts fragment of an

elaborated, fine coat of arms of Nuremberg.

16th

–17t

h C

Nur

embe

rg (N

ürnb

erg)

214 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

32

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 32,6

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Large cloth seal, heavily damaged and fragmented. On both sides fragments of elaborated coat of arms of

Nuremberg in a pearled circle. 16th

–17t

h C

Nur

embe

rg (N

ürnb

erg)

33

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 20; strip width: 4

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with fine imprints on both sides, inside pearled circle. One

side displays Saint George and the dragon, the other is

illegible. Saint George seems to refer to the coat of arms of

Mansfeld.

15th

–16t

h C

Man

sfel

d

34

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 21,4

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Medium size cloth seal. On

the riveted size well preserved depiction of the coat of arms of Chojnów

(Haynau). Some traces of a possible inscription can be

seen on the reverse. The strip is missing. Inv. number

93.1.2.C.

16th

C

Cho

jnów

(Hay

nau)

35

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 21–22; strip

width: 5,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. On the riveted size well

preserved depiction of the coat of arms of Chojnów

(Haynau). Some traces on the reverse refer to that the

same imprint must have been there too.

16th

C

Cho

jnów

(Hay

nau)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

36

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 18–19Tw

o-lo

bed

sing

le ri

vete

d

Medium size cloth seal, very much damaged and rubbed. On the riveted side are some fragments of illegible text in a pearled circle. On the reverse fragments of the coat of arms can be seen identifiable with Opava. The strip is missing.

16th

–17t

h C

Opa

va (T

ropp

au)

37

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: –; length 16,2

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Only the rivet remained with

the imprints of both sides. One side depicts an one-

headed eagle looking right. The eagle may refer to

Silesia. On the other is a double cross with fleur-de-lis ends accompanied by a dot.

The strip is missing. The identification is still dubious.

14th

–15t

h C

Wsc

how

a (F

raus

tadt

)?

38

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 17,9 strip width:

5,7

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Heavily damaged cloth seal with a double cross

accompanied by at least one small dot on the riveted side.

The imprint of the reverse side cannot be recognised. 16

th–1

7th

C

Wsc

how

a (F

raus

tadt

)

39

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 16; strip width:

4,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size two-lobed seal with damaged strip. The disc is rubbed, the image within

the pearled circle is damaged. Reminds traces of a double cross accompanied by dots or flowers. May refer

to Wschowa (Fraustadt).

15th

–16t

h C

Wsc

how

a (F

raus

tadt

)?

216 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

40

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


6,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Large size cloth seal with the coat of arms of Nový Jičín on

one side and with very rubbed marks on the other. Beside the coat of arms an incised inscription, illegible.

16th

–17t

h C

Nov

ý Ji

čín

(Neu

titsc

hein

)

41

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 20; strip width: –

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. On the riveted side a rose

accompanied by an illegible text which follows a pearled circle. On the reverse side a

crowned "M".

15th

–16t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

42

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 17

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. On the riveted side a crowned gothic "W". On the reverse

illegible fragments of a shorter text. The strip is

missing.

15th

–16t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

43

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 18,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. Only one side survived, this one displays a crowned gothic "W". The strip is missing. 15

th–1

6th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

44

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 20

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size heavily damaged cloth seal. On one side is crowned minuscule

letter "W". On the reverse are fragments of gothic minuscule

text within a pearled circle. The strip is missing.

15th

–16t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

45

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 19–21

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. On the riveted side is illegible

gothic minuscule text. On the other side is fragment of a crown. No traces of a letter "W" are visible. The strip is

missing.

15th

–16t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

46

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


4,7

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

A well preserved cloth seal. On one side is a crowned

letter "W" written in Antiqua style surrounded by an

illegible text. On the reverse is a text written also in

Antiqua "ALD[E]/STAT" . Inv. number 93.1.5.C.

16th

–17t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

47

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


width: 3,2

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal, the reverse part is missing. On

the riveted side is a crowned letter "W" written in Antiqua

style, in a pearled circle. The imprint shifted and

overlapped the original image. The strip is broken.

16th

–17t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

218 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

48

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


3,6

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted


letter "W" written in Antiqua style with a small flower left of the crown. On the reverse is a text written also in Antiqua "NEVE/[S]TAT" . A small sign

is visible on the strip.

16th

–17t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

49

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,8

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted


letter "W" written in Antiqua style. On the reverse is a text

written also in Antiqua "NE[V]E/STA[T]" .

16th

–17t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

50

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


3,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Medium size heavily

damaged cloth seal. On one side is a crowned letter "W" written in Antiqua style. On the right side of the crown a small flower can be seen.

May refer to the arms of the family of Hradec. The strip is

broken.

16th

–17t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)

51

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted


letter "W" written in Antiqua style. The letter is heavily

rubbed, hardly visible. On the reverse side is text, also

written in Antiqua "[N]EV[E]/[S]TAT ".

16th

–17t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

52

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 18,3Tw

o-lo

bed

sing

le ri

vete

d

Medium size cloth seal. On one side are some fragments

of a stylised crown. On the reverse is an illegible gothic

text. The strip is missing. 15th

–16t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

53

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. The riveted disc displays a

fragment of a crown. On the reverse side only a small detail of another crown is visible. The strip is broken.

15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

54

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n


Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal, the surface is heavily rubbed. On one side is a stylised crown. The reverse displays imprints of a coat of arms (?), which

cannot be identified.

15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

55

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


5,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size well preserved cloth seal with stylised crown on both sides. On the reverse

the crown is surrounded by pearled circle. 16

th–1

7th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

56

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 14

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. The riveted disc displays

fragments of a crown. Some details of illegible text can be seen on the reverse side. The

strip is missing.

15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

220 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

57

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


width: 3,9

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. Both sides display stylised crown in

a pearled circle. 15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

58

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 21,25; strip width: 5,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. On both sides is stylised gothic

crown in a circle.

15th

–16t

h C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

59

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Small cloth seal with very rubbed, hardly visible gothic

crown on both sides. 15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

60

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 20

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. One side displays a stylised crown. The other side is

empty. The whole surface is very much rubbed and slightly damaged. The strip is missing.

15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

61

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 19,7–21,5;

strip width: 3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Small cloth seal with fine imprints. On the riveted side is a crown in a pearled circle.

On the perforated side are illegible fragments of a text.

15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

62

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 23

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal, very much damaged and rubbed. The small fragments may be reconstructed as details of a gothic crown on both sides.

The strip is missing.

15th

C

Jind

řichů

v H

rade

c (N

euha

us)?

63

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 19,8

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with identical letter "T" on both sides referring for Austrian Tulln. The strip is missing. 15

th–1

6th

C

Tulln

64

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


3,9

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Small cloth seal with identical letter "T" on both sides

referring for Austrian Tulln. In good condition. 15

th–1

6th

C

Tulln

65

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty


3,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Well preserved small cloth seal. The riveted side depicts four flowers (fleurs-de-lis ?),

the other is illegible.

17th

C

Linz

222 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

66

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 18,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with imprinted coat of arms of Vienna on one side and a

heraldic one-headed eagle on the other. The strip is missing. 15

th–1

6th

C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)

67

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 17,8; strip width:

3,7

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with imprinted coat of arms of

Vienna on one side and coat of arms of Austria on the other. In fine condition. 15

th–1

6th

C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)

68

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 18,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size heavily rubbed cloth seal with imprinted coat

of arms of Vienna on one side and coat of arms of

Austria in a pearled circle on the other. The strip is broken. 15

th–1

6th

C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)

69

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


5,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size heavily rubbed cloth seal with imprinted coat

of arms of Vienna on one side and coat of arms of

Austria on the other. 15th

–16t

h C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

70

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 16

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with coat of arms of Austria on one side and fragmented

arms of Vienna on the other. The strip is missing. 15

th–1

6th

C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)

71

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n


Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with coat of arms of Austria in a pearled circle on one side and fragmented arms of

Vienna on the other. The strip is damaged.

15th

–16t

h C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)

72

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,4

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted


Vienna (?) on one side and coat of arms of Austria (?) on the other. The strip is broken. 15

th–1

6th

C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)?

73

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,3

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted


Vienna (?) on one side and fragments of heraldic eagle

on the other. The strip is broken. 15

th–1

6th

C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)?

224 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

74

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,4

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted


Vienna on one side and coat of arms of Austria on the

other. The perforated side is damaged. The whole seal is very rubbed, hardly visible.

15th

–16t

h C

Vie

nna

(Wie

n)

75

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


2,9

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with fine imprints. The riveted side depicts a winged lion with a

Bible, the reverse shows some fragments of a crown.

The strip is broken. Inv. number: 62/1902.2.

15th

–16t

h C

Ven

ice

76

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 16,8–18,1;

strip width: 5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with hardly visible imprints. The

riveted side depicts a winged lion with a Bible, the reverse

shows large Antiqua-style letter "B".

15th

–16t

h C

Ven

ice

77

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted



shows large Antiqua-style letter "B". 15

th–1

6th

C

Ven

ice


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

78

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 16,8–18,1;

strip width: 5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted



shows large Antiqua-style letter "B".

15th

–16t

h C

Ven

ice

79

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 25,4–26,7

Two-

lobe

d, n

o riv

ets Medium size, two-lobed cloth

seal with no pins. The only available side depicts a fine

version of the coat of arms of London. Slight traces of the

strip can be seen on the upper part of the disc. The

upper left side is perforated, most probably secondarily.

15th

–16t

h C

Lond

on

80

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 19–21

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. The riveted disc has imprinted text "SEA[R] / CHED ". There are

unreadable fragments of another inscription on the

reverse. The strip is missing.

17th

C

Eng

land

81

Old

Col

lect

ion

Túrk

eve-

Mór

ic

diam.: 35,8

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Large, double riveted cloth seal. The riveted side depicts a stylised version of the Royal

coat of arms of England inside a circle, without the motto. A small fragment of

the Tudor rose can be seen on the reverse. The quality of the imprint is very poor. The

strip is missing, small part of it is visible on the top of the

seal. Inv. number: 56.5.36.C.

16th

C

Eng

land

226 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

82

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


width: 5

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted Well preserved, large, double

riveted cloth seal, with fine imprints on both sides. The

riveted side depicts a stylised version of the Royal coat of

arms of England inside a pearled circle, without the motto. The reverse depicts

the Tudor rose.

16th

C

Eng

land

83

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 26,7

Two-

lobe

d, n

o riv

ets

Large two-lobed cloth seal with no rivets. The upper part with the strip is missing. The

surviving side depicts the Royal coat of arms of

England from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I

accompanied by fragment of the motto: "[HONI SOEIT] ¤ QVI ¤ MAL ¤ V ¤ [PENSE] ".

16th

C

Eng

land

84

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Győr

diam.: 30,8

Two-

lobe

d, n

o riv

ets

Large, two-lobed cloth seal with no rivets. The surviving side depicts a fine version of

the Royal coat of arms of England from the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I accompanied by the motto:

"HONI ¤ SOEIT ¤ QV ¤ MAL ¤ V ¤ PENSE ". The strip is

missing, was attached to the top of the seal. The surface

of the seal is gilded.

16th

C

Eng

land

85

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Tam

ási (

Som

ogy

Cou

nty)

diam.: 31,2

Two-

lobe

d do

uble

rive

ted

Well preserved, large, double riveted cloth seal, with fine imprints on both sides. The

riveted side depicts a stylised version of the Royal coat of

arms of England inside pearled circle, without the motto. The reverse depicts the Tudor rose. The strip is missing, must have been on the right of the coat of arms.

16th

C

Eng

land

86

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 33,1

Two-

lobe

d, n

o riv

ets

Well preserved disc of a two-lobed, large cloth seal with no rivets. Depicts fine version of

the Royal coat of arms of England with supporters and

motto. The motto contains some misspellings: "HONI ¤ SOET ¤ CV ¤ MAL ¤ VC ¤

9PE ¤ ". The strip is missing, was at the top of the seal.

16th

C

Eng

land


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

87

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 30

Two-

lobe

d, n

o riv

ets

Large, two-lobed cloth seal with no rivets. The surviving

side depicts a fragment of the Royal coat of arms of

England from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I

accompanied by the motto: "*HONI * [SOEIT ... PENS]E ".

The strip is folded on the back, decorated with shells

and bears letter "H ".

16th

C

Eng

land

88

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 32,7

Two-

lobe

d, n

o riv

ets Large, two-lobed cloth seal

with no rivets. The surviving side depicts Tudor rose with surrounding inscription "+

GVILHELM[VS × A]LMA[N]DETE ". The strip is

missing.

16th

C

Eng

land

89

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


5,4

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Large two-lobed cloth seal.

The riveted side displays a figure of Justice with sword and scales in her hands in a pearled circle surrounded by

an illegible text. On the perforated side a city is

depicted also surrounded by pearled circle and an illegible

text. Inv. number: 93.1.1.C.

16th

–17t

h C

no

90

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty


4,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Well preserved medium size cloth seal. The riveted side depicts a lion rampant in a

pearled circle. The perforated side is illegible. 16

th–1

7th

C

no

228 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

91

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 25

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Medium size two-lobed seal

with a small trunk of the strip. The reverse side is missing.

The main side has a fine imprint of an one-headed

eagle with a large letter "G" above its left shoulder in a

pearled circle. It may refer to Göttingen.

16th

–17t

h C

no

92

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 24; strip width:

4,6

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Well preserved medium size cloth seal with very short

strip. The riveted side depicts a heraldic one-headed eagle

looking right, in a pearled circle. On the reverse there is

a stylised palm tree (?).

16th

–17t

h C

no

93

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


3,8

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Medium size two-lobed seal

with fine coat of arms on one side and almost completely

missing other. The half-eagle may refer to one of the cities of Frisia. Some hardly visible letters can be observed on

the reverse. The strip is partly preserved.

16th

–17t

h C

Fris

ia (?

)

94

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 22,8

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. Only the riveted side remained, which depicts city ramparts with three towers. May refer

to a coat of arms not yet identified. The strip is missing.

16th

–17t

h C

no

95

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 22,5; strip width: 5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Well preserved medium size seal with imprinted Sun in his

Glory image on its both sides. Has short strip. 16

th–1

7th

C

no


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

96

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now

n

diam.: 25,5–30

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted Relatively large, irregular, two-

lobed seal with no traces of a strip. The riveted lobe has an impressed Sun in his Glory most probably referring to a coat of arms. The reverse side cannot be read. The

upper part is perforated most likely secondarily.

16th

–17t

h C

no

97

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 22,6–26

Tubu

lar

Slightly deformed medium size cloth seal. Both sides

depict some kind of a flower, may be an imitation of the

Tudor rose in a pearled circle. 18th

–19t

h C

no

98

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 15–16; strip

width: 5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Well preserved, small cloth seal with a fine imprint of a

fleur-de-lis in a pearled circle on the reverse side. The

riveted side is very rubbed, the imprint is hardly readable. May show a coat of arms or a

ship.

15th

–16t

h C

Flan

ders

?

99

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,7

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size two-lobed seal. The perforated side displays a privy mark. On the other

side is a number "12".

18th

C

no

230 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

100

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 16,6–18

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size two-lobed seal. The upper part with the strip was cut down. The reverse side displays unidentifiable

privy mark. The other side is empty.

18th

C

no

101

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n


Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

A well preserved medium size, two-lobed seal with fine but not identifiable privy mark

on the reverse and incised marks on the riveted side. 17

–18t

h C

no

102

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


width: 4,8

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size two-lobed seal with remaining fragment of

the strip. The surviving side of the seal has no marks on it, the reverse side is heavily

damaged, some traces of a privy (?) mark are visible but

not recognisable.

17th

C

no


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

103

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n diam.: 15–16,5;

strip width: 3,15

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Opened small cloth seal. The riveted side contains a

fragmented inscription, not solved yet: "[…]OL? / HOEF ". The reverse perforated side depicts an abbreviation or a

privy mark.

17th

C

no

104

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 16

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Heavily rubbed cloth seal with traces of an illegible

inscription on one and probably a heraldic one-

headed eagle on the other side. The strip is very short.

16th

C

no

105

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


4,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Small cloth seal, with imprinted shears

accompanied by a cross on the riveted side. Fragments of a possible privy mark can be

seen on the reverse.

16th

–17t

h C

Göt

tinge

n?

232 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

106

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 19,8–20,6

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal with scales on one side and

combined B-I (?)-A letters on the other. The strip is broken. 16

th–1

7th

C

no

107

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 17,6–19,8

Tubu

lar

Medium size tubular seal with clearly visible imprints on both side. On one side is a coat of arms a bend, not identified

yet. The other side bears late gothic manuscule letters

"MM".

17–1

8th

C

no

108

Lajo

s S

ándo

r's C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


3,6

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size two-lobed seal with partly remaining strip. A fine coat of arms is imprinted on one side. Rubbed traces of some letters can be seen

on the heavily damaged reverse side. The coat of arms cannot be identified.

16th

–17t

h C

no

109

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Bar

anya

Cou

nty

diam.: 19–21; strip

width: 5,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size cloth seal. The riveted side shows a coat-of-arms-like mark similar to that

of Vienna. The reverse is rubbed and slightly damaged. Most probably depicts a privy

mark.

16th

–17t

h C

no


Num

ber

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

n


pe Description

Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

110

Old

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


3,8Tw

o-lo

bed

sing

le ri

vete

d

Medium size two-lobed seal. On one side is a minuscule letter "M" in a pearled circle.

On the reverse two bellflowers in a pearled circle probably indicating a coat of arms. Inv. number: 62/1902.

15th

–16t

h C

no

111

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 15,1

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size heavily damaged cloth seal. On one side is a riding knight. On the reverse are some fragments of a privy mark. The strip is

missing.

16th

–17t

h C

no

112

Lász

ló K

orin

ek's

Col

lect

ion

Unk

now


3,8

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size heavily damaged cloth seal. On one side is a riding knight. On the reverse are some fragments of a privy mark. The strip is

broken. 16th

–17t

h C

no

113

"Kap

osvá

r" C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now


5,5

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Small cloth seal, heavily rubbed with no visible traces

of imprints. Some incised marks can be seen on both

sides. 16th

–17t

h C

no

114

Old

Col

lect

ion

Túrk

eve-

Mór

ic

diam.: 33

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Large two-lobed, single riveted seal with broken strip, imprinted only on the reverse

side. The image is heavily damaged and cannot be

recognised.

? no

234 MAxIM MoRdovInN

umbe

r

Col

lect

ion

Find

lo

catio

nDimensions


Dat

ing

Orig

in

Illustration

115

Bal

ázs

F. C

sáti'

s C

olle

ctio

n

Unk

now

n

diam.: 18–19

Two-

lobe

d si

ngle

rive

ted

Medium size two-lobed, single riveted seal with

missing strip, imprinted only on the reverse side. The

image is heavily damaged and cannot be recognised.

? noLITERATURE

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von Bleiplomben zur Sicherung des Warentransportes [14.–17. Jh.] aus der Slowakei). ŠtZ 33, 295–309. 2006 Nálezy minci zo Šintavského hradu. In: Petrovič, R.–Matis, J. (eds): Šintavský hrad vykopaný –

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Texte aus Rechnungslegung der Güter der Familie von nádasdi zwischen 1540 und 1550). Budapest.küHtrEibEr, T.–Marian, G. 2000 Zwei Tuchplomben von der Burgruine Schrattenstein. Ein Beitrag zum niederösterreichischen

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conclusions of a legal action and the sentence). MMúz 12/2, 25–26.Munro, J. H. 2007 I panni di lana. In: commercio e cultura mercantile. A cura di Franco Franceschi, Richard A. Goldthwaite,

Reinhold c. Mueller. Il Rinascimento Italiano e l’Europa vol. 4. Treviso, 105–141. 2008 Hanseatic commerce in textiles from the Low countries and England during the Later Middle Ages:

changing trends in textiles, markets, prices, and values, 1290–1570. In: Heckmann, M.-L.–Röhrkasten, J. (Hrsg.): von nowgorod bis London. Studien zu Handel, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im mittelalterlichen Europa. Festschrift für Stuart Jenks zum 60. Geburtstag. Göttingen, 97–182.

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PATAR 2008 Portable Antiquities and Treasure Report 2008, British Museum. London.PostHuMus, n. W. 1908–1939 de geschiedenis van de Leidsche lakenindustrie I–III. ’s Gravenhage.rEntzMann, W. 1876 numismatisches Wappen-Lexikon. Berlin. [Reprint: 1980.]rodEnburg, n. M. 2011 ‘Seal and deal’. cloth Production and Trade between the netherlands and Scania during the Late

Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Master Thesis, Lund University. Lund.sCHüttE, S. 1993 Tuchplomben als städtische Zeichen. das Fallbeispiel Göttingen. AnzGnM, 135–141.Sopokl 1921–1943 Házi, J.: Sopron szabad királyi város története 1–6. Sopron.székEly, gy. 1968 A németalföldi és az angol posztó fajtáinak elterjedése a xIII–xvII. századi Közép-Európában

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KÉSŐ KÖZÉPKORI ÉS KORA ÚJKORI TEXTILPLOMBÁK A MAGYAR NEMZETI MÚZEUM GYŰJTEMÉNYÉBEN

Mordovin MaxiM

2011 nyarán és őszén a pápai Fő téren nagy felületű meg-előző feltárást végeztünk. Számos különleges és fontos lelet mellett kiemelkedő helyet foglalnak el az addigi ma-gyar szakirodalomban szinte ismeretlen ólomtárgyak: kisméretű, két félből összehajtott kerek plombák. A ta-nulmány egy teljes körű feldolgozás első részeként a Ma-gyar Nemzeti Múzeum gyűjteményének 115 db közép-kori és kora újkori plombájával foglalkozik.

Magyarországon mindezidáig csak Huszár Lajos és Endrei Walter foglalkoztak részletesebben a témával, il-letve néhány publikációban fordult elő egy-egy darab. A lelettípus hiánya miatt átfogóbb feldolgozásra azonban nem nyílt lehetőség.

A nyugati kutatás már évtizedek óta nagyobb figyel-met szentel a textilplombáknak. Elsősorban a nemrég elhunyt Geoff Egan neve említendő meg. A tárgytípus

a 13. század végén jelent meg németalföldön, és a 14. század folyamán már viszonylag széles körben elterjedt. A 15. században németországon át, Lengyel- és cseh-ország érintésével eljutott Magyarországra is.

A plombák alapvető funkciója a minőség-ellenőrzés folyamatának kézzelfogható igazolása volt. A plombát a vég szélére rögzítették, jelezve a készítő személyét, a ké-szítés helyét, valamint azt a tényt, hogy az adott vég megfelelt a város szabályzatában rögzített minőségnek, sűrűségnek és méreteknek.

A Magyar nemzeti Múzeumba – a korábbról már meglévő 12 db mellé – az elmúlt egy-másfél évtized során összesen négy olyan gyűjtemény került be, ame-lyek ólomplombákat is tartalmaztak. Ebből kettő, Korinek László és Sándor Lajos gyűjtése tervszerű, épebb, repre-zentatívabb darabokra koncentrált. A harmadik, csáti F.


Balázs más irányú gyűjtés során jutott hozzá különböző középkori ólomtárgyakhoz, többek között plombákhoz is; ezek gyengébb megtartásúak, töredékesebbek. A ne-gyedik „gyűjtemény” több évtizedes illegális fémkeresős tevékenység és régészeti leletekkel való kereskedés során keletkezett. A 2003-ban Kaposváron lefoglalt hatalmas mennyiségű tárgy között csak néhány tucat középkori és kora újkori plomba volt. Ezek eladhatatlan „selejtnek” tűnnek az anyagon belül: többségük erősen kopott, töre-dékes, sokszor felismerhetetlen. Mind a négy gyűjte-ményről kijelenthető, hogy darabjaik alapvetően kincske-resés során kerültek elő, a lelőhelyek és pontos előkerülé-si körülmények nem ismertek. A négy gyűjteményből három esetben tudjuk, hogy a leletek a dunántúlról származnak. Így Sándor Lajos gyűjtőterülete elsősorban Komárom-Esztergom megye nyugati, Győr-Moson-Sopron megye keleti és Fejér megye északi része volt. A Korinek László által vásárolt tárgyak túlnyomó része Baranya megyéből származik, kisebb arányban azonban somogyi és tolnai, de akár délkelet-zalai leletekkel is szá-molnunk kell. A Kaposváron lefoglalt tárgyak zömét Somogyban és Tolnában találták, de valószínűleg nem zárható ki Zala és Baranya megye sem.

Annak ellenére, hogy a darabok pontos lelőhelye nem ismert, a gyűjtemény jelentősnek mondható, feldolgozá-sa fontos. A Kárpát-medencében ugyanis ez az egyik legnagyobb darabszámú plombagyűjtemény, ráadásul számos olyan leletet tartalmaz, amelyek máshonnan eddig nem ismertek. Az itt lévő darabok még konkrét lelőhelyek nélkül is egyértelműen jelzik a középkori, kora újkori Magyar Királyság kereskedelmi kapcsolatait, illetve a behozott posztó származási helyét.

A 115 darabból 88-at lehetett több-kevesebb bizton-sággal azonosítani, leginkább a rajtuk lévő címerek vagy feliratok alapján. Származási hely alapján nyolc csoportot lehetett elkülöníteni. A legkorábbi darabok német alföld-ről származnak – elsősorban Tournai városából. Az írott források és a régészeti leletek alapján ezek már a 14. szá-zadtól kezdve biztosan jelen vannak Magyar orszá gon. Jelenleg egyedülállóak a magyarországi anyagban Leiden és Troyes plombái. A krommenie-i és a mecheleni dara-bok azonosítása még bizonytalan.

A következő legnagyobb csoportot a németországi eredetű leletek alkotják, bár a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum gyűjteményében ezek kevesebb helyszínről származnak, mint például a pápai darabok. Biztosan jelenleg Mansfeld, Köln és nürnberg plombái azonosíthatók. nürnberget legalább két plombatípus képviseli, ezek azonban inkább eltérő posztófajtát jeleznek, mint kronológiai különbséget.

Hat plomba köthető Sziléziához: három Wschowa, kettő Chojnów, egy pedig Opava városához. Mivel az azonosítás a rajtuk látható, igen töredékes címerrészletek alapján történt, nem zárható ki az attribúció későbbi mó-dosítása. A három származási hely közül az egyik chojnówi és a wschowai látszik biztosabbnak.

A mai Csehország területén található Nový Jičín plombájának azonosítása különleges címerének köszön-hetően vitán felül áll. Ezzel szemben bizonytalanabb egy sorozat olyan posztóbárca származási helyének megálla-pítása, amelyeken koronás „W” betű látható. A több, szóba jöhető város közül (pl. Boroszló vagy Nürnberg) jelenleg Jindřichův Hradec tűnik elfogadhatónak. A be-tűk stílusának ebben az esetben kronológiai jelentősége van. A Jindřichův Hradecből származó posztó magyaror-szági jelenlétéről a késő középkori források egyértelműen beszámolnak.

viszonylag sok az ausztriai lelet: egy-egy tullni, illetve linzi és kilenc bécsi darab szerepel a gyűjteményekben. Jóval szórványosabbak az olasz posztó jelenlétének régé-szeti nyomai: egyelőre csak négy velencei plomba van a Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum birtokában. Annál feltűnőbb ezek után a viszonylag nagyszámú angliai darab megje-lenése. Az egyszerűbb – a Kárpát-medencében egyelőre egyedülálló – londoni és a hasonlóan unikális „SEARcHEd” feliratú plomba mellett nyolc nagyobb, angol címeres vagy Tudor-rózsás ólom zárjeggyel talál-kozhatunk a feldolgozott anyagban. Ezek a nagyobb plombák már régóta ismertek a magyarországi szakiro-dalomban. Huszár Lajos éppen ezeket emelte ki feldolgo-zásában, és néhány darab esetében már akkor felmerült, hogy nem feltétlenül ténylegesen angliai posztóval ér-kezhettek a Kárpát-medencébe, hanem a 16. századtól fellendülő utánzás és hamisítás bizonyítékai is lehetnek.

A 88 azonosítható darabon túl számos plomba szár-mazási helyét egyelőre nem sikerült meghatározni. A „kudarcnak” ebben az esetben több oka is van. Leggyakrabban a leletek állapota akadályozza azonosítá-sukat: a rajtuk lévő jelzések annyira kopottak vagy töre-dékesek, hogy épebb analógia felbukkanásáig származá-si helyük ismeretlen marad. Több más esetben a túl gya-kori címertípusok (sas, oroszlán, városkapu) miatt nem lehet egyértelműen megnevezni a gyártás helyét. Emellett ugyanakkor egy sor olyan plomba is készült, amelyeken csak mesterjegyek szerepelnek. Ezek összegyűjtése még nyugaton sem történt meg, így egyes városokhoz köté-sük – egyéb támpontok hiányában – egyelőre lehetetlen.

Összegezve az eredményeket, kijelenthetjük, hogy a régészeti leletek még szórványként és a feldolgozás kez-deti lépcsőfokán is nagyon látványosan kiegészítik a kö-zépkori textilkereskedelemre vonatkozó, ismert adato-kat, jelezve a kereskedelem intenzitását, több olyan helyszínt is megjelölve, amely az írott forrásokból nem volt ismert (pl. Nový Jičín vagy Wschowa). Ráadásul a 16. századi konjunktúra árnyoldalaira – például a posz-tóhamisításra – is rávilágítanak. csak a lelettípus orszá-gos szintű összegyűjtése és elemzése, illetve az ismert lelőhelyek feltérképezése nyújthat hiteles képet nem csak az egyes posztófélék behozataláról, hanem az országon belüli, időben tagolódó elterjedésükre vonatkozóan is.

Late medieval and early modern cloth seals in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum

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