Medieval Matrix Seal

It's pouring with rain so I thought I'd take a photo of something interesting I found in my treasure hunting days! It's an 800 year old or 13th Century medieval Monastic Matrix seal. An unusual shape for a monastic type which are usually oval. The one pic shows the handle and terminal loop which is  24.2mm long and the die part measures 18.8mm, the weight being 9.8g.

The central motif of the die depicts Christ seated on a throne, In Majesty. Christ is bearded and depicted with a halo and arms raised showing palms of both hands. Folds of the clothing garment or robes are discernible draped over the knees and extends into the legend at the base. Christ is flanked on the right by a six pointed star. The arms of the throne are decorated with cross hatching.

The die is eroded around the edges with some of the encircling legend surviving. The letters are possibly.. +S'  G  V  I  I  h  b   DE   OV( _  _ ) L

I found the seal in an area called Michaelston-Y-Fedw, a couple of hundred metres from the site of an extinct medieval church. What's interesting is the name of the place means -

Michaelston-y-Fedw (Welsh: Llanfihangel-y-fedw) is a small rural village and community to the west of the city of Newport, Wales, on the border of Cardiff city and Caerphilly county borough. The name, which is a partial anglicization of the Welsh Llanfihangel-y-fedw – meaning "church enclosure (of) Michael (in) the birches" – may also be seen spelt "Michaelstone-y-Fedw", "Michaelston-y-Vedw" and "Michaelstone-y-Vedw", the parish church being dedicated to Saint Michael.

It has been recorded by The National Museum of Wales who were unable to attribute it to a particular person or place but it is highly likely to belong to the church that once existed in the field I found it. The stone from this church has been used to build a barn, a couple of hundred years ago, in an adjoining field and, nicely, a small church window is still visible in that barn.

The seal probably has a monetary value under £500 but holds a nice memory for me. I was with a friend who later had a couple of brain hemorraghes that would have killed a lesser person, but it altered him such that the friendship became strained and he broke off relations.

It's nice, fascinating and interesting to hold something in your hand that was once held many hundreds of years ago by the owner. 

I like the way they've depicted Christ on the seal and no doubt it was owned by a well to do and important person some 800 years ago....