The Portable Antiquities Scheme

Cite record | Embed record | Print | | Report

Flat rectangular pilgrim's badge made from lead, now bent and torn. One corner is incomplete, and the other three show slight expansion towards their missing attachment loops; otherwise the badge is complete. It is decorated with a central motif of St Paul (with a pointed beard and bald forehead) on the left, and St Peter (with a rounded beard and curly hair) on the right. Both saints are nimbed and dressed in flowing robes, and both hold their symbol obliquely in their outer hand. St Paul holds a sword (symbol of his martyrdom by beheading), and St Peter holds a large key with the elaborate bit uppermost (symbol of the keys of heaven). Between is a small cross on a long stem, which is the symbol of St Peter's martyrdom by crucifixion. Both inner hands may hold the stem of the cross. Around is a border of inscription, reading + . SIG / NA APOS / TOLORVM P / ETRI ETP / AVLI:. (Sign of the apostles Peter and Paul). The inscription begins in the centre of the upper border. The reverse is undecorated. Parallels for this badge date from the early 13th century to perhaps the late 14th; there are two good parallels from the Billingsgate site in London (Spencer 1998, nos. 251a-b) and a thin scattering of others from across England and Europe. They were produced in Rome; in 1199 Pope Innocent III ruled that canons of the basilica of St Peter in Rome should have a monopoly over the manufacture and sale of badges bearing the image of St Peter and St Paul. The shape, rectangular with sewing rings rather than openwork with a pin, is distinctively Continental (rather than English).

No references cited so far.

QR barcode

If you have a mobile phone equipped with QR recognition software, you can go directly to the webpage that this record resides at. Every record has an individual one of these.

Comment on this artefact's record

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 26th February 2002
Updated: Thursday 24th February 2011