Post-Medieval Archaeology 48/2 (2014), 426–438

© Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology 2014 DOI: 10.1179/0079423614Z.00000000064

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Notes and News

A Tudor Lead Seal in Serbia

By RAŠKO RAMADANSKI

THE SITE AND ITS ARCHAEOTOPOGRAPHY

An early post-medieval lead seal was recently dis-covered in Serbia via an informal but supervised archaeological survey utilizing metal detecting equipment; word of the amateur discovery subse-quently reached the author who was then able to record the seal and other finds. The seal would subsequently prove to be of English provenance. More specifically, the lead cloth seal was discov-ered in spring 2010 at or near ground level within an area some 1.5km in length between the left bank of the Zlatica river and the road leading towards the Romanian border, east of the modern villages of Crna Bara and Banatski Monoštor, in the North Banat District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. While this territory is in the modern Republic of Serbia, it formed part of the Kingdom of Hungary in the medieval and early post-medieval periods. The terrain of the surveyed area consists of cultivated fields that either partially meet the river bank or end in adjacent marshland. As Crna Bara was the closest village to where the object was found it is informally referred to as the ‘Crna Bara lead cloth seal’. The seal is now part of a private collection, but is available for further academic study.

Apart from the seal itself, the survey yielded significant traces of other archaeological material, dating from the prehistoric to the late-medieval period, with 12th- to 15th-century ceramic material being particularly common. Not many archaeo-logical excavations have been carried out on medi-eval and early post-medieval archaeological sites in this area, although other research on the local archaeological topography has been conducted in

the very recent past alongside field survey.1 It is hoped that this area will see greater archaeological exploration in the future, incorporating archaeo-logical excavation alongside survey work.

An attempt to relate the site where the seal was discovered to one of the medieval settlements in the vicinity via more detailed archaeological evidence would be particularly desirable. There are records of nine 15th-century settlements located in a region roughly encompassed by the Zlatica river to the site of the Arača monastery to the south (in Central Banat).2 One of these old settlements was called Homokrev,3 and this name is sometimes used by modern locals to refer to a disused crossing across the Zlatica. The likely location of Homokrev is also the site where the lead seal was discovered; this site also features an extensive ceramic assem-blage which is clearly evidence of a settlement in the vicinity.

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO LEAD CLOTH AND BALE SEALS

Lead cloth seals represent a valuable, yet still widely underappreciated, category of both archae-ological find and secondary historical source. Far more scarce (and usually less well preserved) than coins, but equally intricate in decorative detail, lead cloth seals can provide significant amounts of information regarding the merchandise they were used to label. This information can include the object’s original provenance, details of commerce and trade that the seal was used for, the level of administrative sophistication of the organization or government using the seal, and date of manufac-ture or use.

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clearly shown by the very mechanism with which these seals are attached.10 The impressed content on lead cloth and bale seals typically consists of various heraldic and symbolic representations along with abbreviations, dates and other numer-als indicating various measurements regarding dimensions, weight or price.

THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CRNA BARA SEAL AND ANALYSIS OF ITS HERALDIC

AND OTHER SYMBOLS

The Crna Bara lead cloth seal is two-lobed. It is in satisfactory condition and, despite being slightly damaged, it remains mostly whole. Most of the object is covered with a layer of grey patina typical to lead, as well as slight traces of oxidation. The connector strip that originally kept the segments together is broken, and less than half of its length remains intact on the obverse plate. Approximatel y one-eighth of the top left part of the disk is chipped and twisted. Several smaller strike marks are present on both sides of the seal. The seal is slightly elliptical rather than perfectly circular, and has a maximum diameter of 35.6mm; it weighs 19.6g. The obverse contains a heraldic display that con-sists out of a shield with four quarters, heraldically typed as Spanish due to its shape. The first and the fourth quarters contain fleurs-de-lis while the second and third contain a column of three lions en passant. Above the shield is a kingly crown and to the sides are two supporters. Even though all the detailed features are much less visible due to abra-sion, distortion and chemical deterioration, we can discern that the dexter supporter11 is most likely a dragon due to the appearance of its legs and what seem to be wings. There is a very slim chance that this is a wolf given a passing similarity to wolves’ paws on a 15th-century seal of Jasper Tudor (Earl of Pembroke and Duke of Bedford),12 but a dragon is surely the most likely interpretation. The sinister supporter is faint, but bears a clear resemblance to a lion rampant. The reverse of the seal is domi-nated by a rose with five petals within a wreath and an arrangement of ribbons. Although the rose motif is compact, the matrix itself is modular since it is dyed on two components of the seal, including both the reverse plate and the flattened rivet.

The most obvious analogy for any seal bear-ing fleurs-de-lis and lions en passant in association with a rose emblem is the Great Golden Bulla of Henry VIII of England. This unique specimen is from a royal charter dated 1520.13 The reverse features a shield with France modern quartering England,14 accompanied by five Tudor roses with garter ribbons and lovers’ knots, while the reverse

also has a Tudor rose as part of a double rose badge on a shield, placed bellow the enthroned ruler.15

Although lead cloth seals do not seem to frequently bear the rose emblem, Henry VIII did prefer it as his badge and often appropriated its symbolism for personal use. The Tudor rose emerged as an allegorical combination of white and red roses used as emblems by once feuding houses York and Lancaster and was introduced on the occasion of Henry VII’s wedding with Eliza-beth of York in 1486 with which the War of the Roses ended. During the reign of king Henry VIII the Tudor rose fully entered English semantics, although essentially designed and introduced earlier. Indeed, one of the ways Henry VIII used to add his own touch to his seals, which otherwise shared considerable similarities with the seals of his predecessors, was by adding single or multiple roses.16 A dominant motif of the Tudor rose also appears on his coins, for example the golden crowns minted not long before the end of his reign. Concerning the heraldic supporters, a lion and a dragon do appear together as supporters to coats of arms, for example on one of the Royal Judicial seals of Henry VIII from 1540 and somewhat later Tudor seals issued by Elizabeth I.17 Notable here is that the dragon is the heraldic symbol of Wales, the ancestral home of Henry and Elizabeth’s Tudor dynasty (and the birthplace of Henry’s father Henry VII).

The combination of the coat of arms, the likel y identity of the supporters and — perhaps most of all — the Tudor rose on the Crna Bara seal leads to the conclusion that it is from the time and reign of Henry VIII (1509–47). Also, since this seal features only royal symbolism, it is most likely that the original textiles originated from production belonging to the king rather than a guild, private workshop or town.

TRADE AND DIPLOMACY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND SOUTH-CENTRAL

EUROPE IN THE 15TH AND 16TH CENTURIES

There are few published studies regarding com-merce and trade between late medieval and early post-medieval Hungary and England, and not much in the way of primary documentary evidence on the subject. The first half of the sixteenth century was a period of considerable political tur-moil for Hungary due to the consequences of the Ottoman advance through the Balkans, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that there was no formal trade relationship between the two countries that might have generated documentary

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guards.28 Jovan Nenad’s initial territorial ambi-tions were at first aimed towards Syrmia, where he sought to free some crucial regional centres from Ottoman control, including the castles of Ilok and Petrovaradin.29 This failed due to his lack of artillery units. He turned his forces to the north and north-east in an open confrontation with Transylvanian prince John Zapolya, a claimant to the Hungarian throne and a rival to the Habsburg Ferdinand I. Following several decisive victories against Zapolya, he decided to remain in the vicinity of Timișoara (modern Romania) during a two-month-long ceasefire.30 Homokrev, the con-temporaneous site that the Crna Bara seal is poten-tially associated with, is along the route used by Jovan while encamped during the two-month-long ceasefire.

He then requested cannons and other arma-ments from Ferdinand I.31 Later he also asked for a newly fashioned royal flag, red coarse fabrics (presumably in order to make new tunics for his soldiers) and other supplies for his court, such as sets of trumpets and drums.32 It is unclear whether he received those items. He did, however, receive both funding and provisions of textiles from Ferdi-nand I, very likely including the red coarse fabrics Jovan had asked for.33 Following an ambush in Szeged (modern Hungary), Jovan was murdered in Tornjoš near Senta (modern Serbia) by the agents of John Zapolya, and his state had collapsed by the end of 1527.34 The bulk of his army and most prominent officers retreated to Syrmia where they maintained control for a few more years.35

Currently there are few material traces of Nenad’s short-lived state. The very modest remains of his capital at Subotica castle remain completely unexplored and neglected. However, the vast coin hoard from Kevi near Senta, approximately 15km west of Crna Bara and also in the Republic of Serbia, does permit an association with Jovan Nenad, whose early activity appears to have been centred in this very region.36 Just prior to Jovan Nenad’s rise to power an emissary of English king Henry VIII called John Wallop had visited Hungary during the reign of the Hungarian king Louis II Jagiellon (1516–26).37 During his visit John Wallop also had conversations with Fabian Literata, at that time a follower of Jovan Nenad who would later become his secretary and chief emissary to foreign courts. According to recent research Fabian Literata was an educated member of the clergy with connections to both early Protes-tantism and Eastern Orthodoxy.38 During his talks with John Wallop, Fabian Literata made frequent reference to the devoted and pious nature of his master Jovan Nenad.39 Fabian Literata seems to have been trying to persuade potential allies to support Jovan while using the contemporary European religious landscape to his advantage.

evidence to augment the sporadic archaeological evidence.

Finds of 15th- to 16th-century English coin-age in Hungary and vice versa are also scarce. The British Portable Antiquities Scheme database18 contains about a dozen late-medieval Hungarian coins. Examples include a billon (silver alloy) dena r of Transylvanian prince John Zapolya (1526–40)19 and a 1561 silver denar20 of the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (1558–64), who was also King of Hungary following the Ottoman destruction of the Hungarian army and death of the previous king, Louis II, at the Battle of Mohács in 1526.21 A comparatively large number of copper alloy coin weights for Hungarian golden coins have been recorded via the English Portable Antiquities Scheme, but not the actual coins themselves.

In contrast to the rarity of Hungarian coins in England, English coins did have a limited circula-tion in medieval Hungary, but in a period much earlier than that relevant to the Crna Bara lead seal, and only in small quantities. Most of these English coins are 12th- to early 13th-century pen-nies, but only a few specimens exist in coin hoards featuring hundreds of objects, and which arrived to medieval Hungary via passing crusaders. Further-more, 13th-century English pipe roll records of foreign traders do not seem to describe any official business with traders from Hungary.22 However, while trade may not have been particularly intense, both countries did maintain diplomatic contact during this period. Diplomatic relations intensified during the reign of the Hungarian king Sigismund of Luxemburg (1387–1437),23 and remained signifi-cant during the reign of Matthias I Corvinus (1458–90).24 There was also more informal contact between the two countries in the 15th and 16th cen-turies; for example, visiting knights from Hungary are known to have performed at English knightly jousting tournaments during the reign of Edward IV (1461–70/1471–83)25 while Hungarian pilgrims travelled as far as Ireland.26

One known contact, however, indirectly refers to a time and an area, possibly even the specific circumstances, relevant to the Crna Bara seal. Immediately after the decisive 1526 Battle of Mohács, a Serbian officer called Jovan Nenad emerged during the subsequent period of turmoil the ruler of most of the Serbs north of the Danube, and briefly controlled a territory consisting of Bačka, northern Syrmia and most of the Banat.27 His realms included the entire northern Banat, and thus Homokrev, the potential medieval settlement where the Crna Bara seal was discovered. During his one-year reign (1526–27), he crowned himself Serbian emperor and chose Subotica as his capital; here he organised a royal court and a unit of elite