Papal bulla of Paschal I
English: Cast lead or lead alloy Papal Bulla of Pope Paschal I of early medieval date (817 – 824). The bulla is sub-rectangular (rectangular with rounded corners) in plan and rectangular in cross section. It measures 32.5mm in length, 22.9mm width, and is 5.6mm thick. It weighs 28.912g (1.0198oz or 446.17 grains). Both the left and right edges of the bulla have been clipped or trimmed, however, this clipping respects the central inscriptions on both faces. Both edges have an even patina which matches the rest of the bulla. This suggests that this damage occurred in antiquity probably before deposition. The obverse face has a raised cast centrally located inscription which reads: [cross] / PAS / CHA / LIS / [cross]. This lettering is contained by two semi-circular or crescent shaped lines formed from raised pellets. This decorative motif would originally have been a full circle which would enclose the inscription. The upper part of this face has a broken scar (3.2mm x 8.6mm) where a possible ribbon or cord attached the seal to the document. This scar has the same patination as the rest of the bulla suggesting damage in antiquity. The reverse face has a similar raised cast centrally located inscription which reads: [cross] / PA / PAE / [cross]. It is also contained within a broken curvilinear pellet border. The base of the bulla has a small rectangular indentation or hollow (6.4mm x 1.5mm). This would probably be for the cord or ribbon, described above. The bulla has an even grey white patina which covers all surfaces. There are no areas of active corrosion evident on the surface. The bulla has been slightly abraded and rolled in the plough soil. The bulla has been studied by Dr Tim Pestell of Norwich Castle Museum. His report is partially reproduced below. He writes: Papal bull seal (bulla) of Pope Paschal I (24 January 817 – d. ?11 February 824). The identification is quite clear, as comparison with a (worse) example illustrated in Serafini, Le Monete et le Bolle Plumbee Pontificie, Tav C No 10 shows. The obverse bears the legend +/PAS/CHA/LIS/+ while the reverse reads +/PA/PAE/+. The arrangement of the lettering is characteristic of the eighth and ninth-century papal bullae, in which seals bore only the name and title of each pope. More figurative designs emerged with Pope Leo IV’s bulla (847-55) and then with those of Benedict III (858-67). That the present find is a bulla is shown clearly by the holes for the cord that ran between the two flan halves of the bulla, attaching the seal to the papal bull. Perhaps of equal interest is the fact that the bulla has clearly been cut down from its originally circular shape. Not only are bullae of this date incredibly rare, so are any seals. Only a very few instances of lead bullae are known from this date. One, of Pope Zacharias (741-52) is now in the British Library (Detached Seal xxxviii.5: Webster and Backhouse, The Making of England Cat No. 149a), while a lead seal, said to be of a deacon, was found in clearance work at Whitby abbey. Despite this, papal bullae must have been relatively well known in pre-Conquest England as there was regular contact with Rome with many bulls and other documents sent by the curia. Indeed, the design of papal bullae seems likely to have influenced Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian coin design. This bulla represents the extremely rare survival of an object demonstrating the everyday use of documents by the Anglo-Saxon Church, yet issued in Italy. The bulla has very clearly been neatly cut down on its two vertical sides to produce a slightly rounded rectangle that leaves all the lettering intact. The edges have a patination identical to the obverse and reverse faces of the bulla, demonstrating that this modification was carried out in antiquity. Exactly when is less obvious. The cutting is most plausibly explained by the object being reused as a weight, the trimming enabling a particular mass to be achieved. That the bulla today weighs some 28.912g (1.0198oz) suggests that an Imperial-equivalent 1oz weight was striven for. The patination of the bulla’s edges, in matching that on the two faces, suggests some antiquity to the reuse. A medieval date for this is not impossible, but it would seem remarkable indeed if a bulla of this date was still in everyday circulation to be so modified. Equally, it would seem more likely that an object in everyday use would be converted into a weight in the medieval period. As a result, the modification is surely likely to have been made within the Anglo-Saxon period, relatively soon after the bulla had ceased to be of any use authenticating a papal document. This suggests an imperial ounce weight standard might then have been in use. It is not inconceivable that the reuse of a papal bull seal as a weight in the Late Anglo-Saxon period was not just using a convenient piece of lead, but tapping into the notion of official weights bearing designs. This does not mean that the reuse of a bulla was somehow creating a fraudulent weight (indeed this seems unlikely given its weight also being so close to the 1oz mark) but that it might simply have looked like a ‘proper’ weight.