Bull (seal)

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In sphragistics (seal lore) bulle (from Latin bulla - a bubble, e.g. a clay ball with seal impressions) is the name for all seals made of metal, in addition to the seals made of lead, especially the gold seals . Silver bulls are rare.

During bulling, two metal plates are connected to each other by mechanical pressure over the sealing cord, which has already been pulled through holes in the plica of the parchment, using a sealing stamp ( Typar ) and embossed. The sealing cord cannot then be pulled out.

The inscription and iconography of the front and back are different.

Popes

Papal bulls from the 12th century in the Monreale archive :
on the left the apostle page, then Alexander III. , Lucius III. , Clement III.
Lead bull (front and back) by Urban V , Pope 1362–1370
Lead seal of Doge Orso I. Particiaco (864-881). It was discovered in the lagoon before 2010 and entered the illegal antiques market. The inscription is "+ VRS / VS DVX / VE (NE) ICI / ARVM". The badly preserved and more difficult to read font could be made likely as "R / XPE SAL (VA VE) (NE) CIAS". Of the three doges known as "Ursus", only the time of Ursus I came into question, as evidenced by contemporary bulls, but above all by coins. A rarely used formula like "Christe salva Venecias" was not in use a century before Ursus I, that is, at the time of Orso Ipato , nor in the time of Ursus II (912-932)

In particular, the Pope's seal is called a bull and has transferred this name to the documents sealed with it. It's made of lead. The dominant type bears the name of the ruling Pope on one side. The heads of the apostles Peter and Paul are depicted on the back . In 1878 it was replaced by a stamp. In the case of particularly important documents, a lead bull is still used, most recently when John Paul II announced the Holy Year 2000 .

The Popes used wax seals for the less important letters ( Breven ) . This so-called " fisherman's ring seal " shows St. Peter in the boat and the name of the Pope on the top right. Its use has been documented since the beginning of the 15th century. In 1842 it was replaced by a stamp. Since 1524, gold seals of the popes have been handed down.

Lead bulls appear not only in archives, but also in the context of archaeological finds, even if the state of preservation is not always very good. In Germany this is limited to papal bulls, in Southeastern Europe the various forms of Byzantine lead bulls are also archaeologically verifiable.

Kings and emperors

Reverse side of the Sicilian gold bull of Frederick II from 1212

Lead seals were used particularly by rulers of the Mediterranean (kings of Sicily , emperors of Byzantium ), but also by Otto III. and Heinrich II. There are also gold bulls in smaller numbers . The sealing material can be referred to in the Corroboratio .

The Holy Roman Emperor used gold bulls at the request of recipients for records of particular political and constitutional importance, such as:

Other kings have also used gold bulls since the beginning of the 13th century:

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Michele Asolati: Una bulla plumbea del Doge Orso I Particiaco (864-881) , in: Rivista Italiana di Numismatica 117 (2016) 35-54.
  2. ^ Apostolorum limina Paul VI. from 1974 ( Memento from May 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. Using Trier as an example, Lukas Clemens deals with this: Witnesses of Loss - Papal Bulls in an archaeological context. In: Curia and Region. Festschrift for Brigide Schwarz on her 65th birthday. Edited by Brigitte Flug, Michael Matheus and Andreas Rehberg. Stuttgart 2005, pp. 341–357 (Geschichtliche Landeskunde, Volume 59) online at regionalgeschichte.net
  4. For example Victoria Bulgakova: News on the beginnings of Russian-Byzantine relations based on sigillographic evidence . In: Claudia Ludwig (ed.): Siegel and Siegler. Files of the 8th International Symposium on Byzantine Sigillography . Frankfurt am Main 2005, pp. 49–52 (Berlin Byzantine Studies, 7) ISBN 3-631-53564-3
  5. The oldest preserved gold bull of a German emperor is on the diploma of Heinrich II for Stift Göß from 1020, today in the Styrian regional archive in Graz.
  6. The information refers to the specimens preserved in the Vatican Archives.

literature

  • Julius von Pflugk-Harttung : The bulls of the popes: until the end of the 12th century. Gotha 1901, repr. Hildesheim-New York: Olms 1976, ISBN 978-3-487-06110-8 .
  • Aldo Martini (Ed.): I sigilli d'oro dell'Archivio Segreto Vaticano = The gold seals of the Vatican Secret Archives . Ricci, Milan 1984, ISBN 88-216-1006-3 , ( Quadreria ).

Web links

Wiktionary: Bulle  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations