Rights Holder: I. Szymanski
CC License: 
Image use policy
Our images can be used under a CC BY attribution licence (unless stated otherwise).
SEAL MATRIX
Unique ID: IHS-753A11
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Notes:
Archdeacon's identity should be recoverable from the coats of arms on his matrix; which should be those of his family. If the layout follows normal precedent, the arms on the left should be those of his father, and those on the right of his mother or her family. The paternal arms, in spite if their size, are very distinctive; they are three leopards' heads jessant-de-lys, i.e., with a fleur-de-lys showing above the head and out of the mouth (see illustration). These arms were only used by one family, the Cantilupes (Cantelou, Cauntelo, later Cantelow). The Cantilupes were an Anglo-Norman family who held a great deal of property in the southern part of the country in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The family was a large one (no less than ten knights of the name are listed in records for the reign of Edward I) and, in common with their peers, some of the younger sons of the family entered the church. Cantilupe churchmen are noteworthy for they included two bishops and a saint: Walter de Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester and St Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford, 1218 1282. Sadly, neither of the men listed above is recorded as having been archdeacon of Bedford prior to becoming bishop; indeed, the name Cantilupe does not feature in the known list of archdeacons of Bedford at all. The simplest explanation for this lies in the fact that the list is known to be incomplete,1 but there are other possibilities which are equally plausible. A noteworthy one is as follows: the owner of this matrix may have been a distant relative of the Cantilupes who chose to emphasize this relationship, perhaps because his own family was more modest, or perhaps as an affirmation of his place in church history as a Cantilupe - being related to a saint is an advantage to any churchman. In this context, it should be noted that only a limited amount is known about the ancestry of some of the recorded archdeacons. Known incumbents of the right period are Nicholas - occurs 1279; Richard de Bradewell - occurs 1280 [died 1282]; John Hook - occurs 1282 [died 1291]; Roger de Rowell - collated 1291/2 [died c.1327]; Edmund of London - appointed 1319/20; occurs 1327, 1329; John Daubeny LLD - collated 1333 [on death of Edmund]; Philip Daubeny - occurs 10 Sep 1333, 1342 and 1357; Thomas de Cumpton - admitted 1351; John de Irthlingburgh - occurs 1373; Thomas Stowe LLD - [commissary of Bishop of London 1385; ratified by patent 1388; died 1405].
Inscription:
SIGILLVM ARCHIDIACONI BEDEFORDIE (Latin: The Seal of the Archdeacon of Bedford).
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: Returned to finder
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Date from: AD 1300
Date to: AD 1500
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 51 mm
Width: 32 mm
Weight: 2.5 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 1st January 2003
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: Originally York Sealmat 185
Materials and construction
Spatial metadata
Region: East Midlands (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Lincolnshire (County)
References cited
No references cited so far.
Similar objects
Find number: WMID-300551
Object type: HARNESS PENDANT
Broadperiod: MEDIEVAL
A complete enamelled copper alloy harness pendant of medieval dating, probably 14th century.
The object is flat and lozengiform, with a …
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: IHS-623731
Object type: HARNESS MOUNT
Broadperiod: MEDIEVAL
A copper alloy harness stud with a shield-shaped head; there is a pointed projection at the rear with the last third bent over. The end is ve…
Workflow: Published
Find number: WMID-C28BF7
Object type: HARNESS PENDANT
Broadperiod: MEDIEVAL
A complete enamelled copper alloy harness fitting of medieval dating, probably 14th century.
The object is a flat sub-rectangular banner…
Workflow: Published
Timeline of associated dates
About Us
About our Site
Find us
The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.
T: +44(0) 20 73238618