BULLA

A lead or lead alloy papal bulla (seal) of Pope Innocent IIII (IV) dating from the medieval period specifically 25^th June 1243 – 7^th December 1254. The bulla is broadly circular in plan and rectangular in cross section; it is also worn and corroded. Some of this corrosion obscures the raised detail. The front (recta) side of the bulla depicts the faces of Saint Paul and Saint Peter with a cross between them. Above the Saints’ heads appears the abbreviation of St Paul and St Peter 'SPA SPE'. St. Paul is depicted with a long beard and a balding scalp with little hair, and St Peter (who is partially obscured by corrosion) has a crimped beard with curly hair formed from small sub oval pellets. Both heads are enclosed within a border of pellets (or pearls). On the upper and lower edges of the front face are small rectangular scars - presumably where the cord, which attached the seal to the document, has worn the surface. The reverse (verso) side of the bulla shows the name of the Pope, which is written in the nominative, with his abbreviated title PP: (Pastor Pastorum - Shepherd of the Shepherds) and ordinal number (IIII). This is distributed over three lines: INNO CENTIVS PP∙IIII. This is again encircled by a border formed of pellets or 'pearls'. The surface of the seal is a mid-grey colour with active white ‘powdery’ corrosion in places; there are also areas of mid-brown coloured staining present from iron within the soil.

Papal Bullae act as a formal seal of office used by the Popes to authenticate documents produced by the Curia in Rome. The PAS has recorded 59 bullae of Innocent IV – which represent approximately 10% of all PAS records of Papal bullae on its database (575). The disproportionately large number is thought to be due to the ‘business of Sicily’ where Innocent IV sought the support of Henry III to take the Kingdom of Sicily by overthrowing the illegitimate son of the Holy Roman Emperor – King Manfred (Lewis 2014)

The Bulla measures 38mm in diameter and is 5.4mm thick; it weighs 42.8 grams

Reference:

Lewis, M. 2014: ‘Papal Bullae recorded by the PAS in 2014’ Medieval Archaeology 58: 305-9