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BULLA
Unique ID: NLM-4BE7E9
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
Lead papal bulla. A cast document seal of Pope Clement VI (1342-1352) with a moulded rectangular aperture of side length 2.6mm at 12 o'clock and an adjacent slit which recurs at 6 o'clock for attachment with a cord. Patinated and in excellent condition.
Obverse: Papal title over three lines: CLE/MENS/PPVI /** with a contraction mark over the title PP.
Reverse: The facing busts of Saints Paul and Peter with a cross on a stand between them. Reverse inscription: SPASPE [St Paul ST Peter]
Diameter: 38.5mm, Thickness: 5.3mm, Weight: 47.19g, die axis: 12 o'clock.
Pope Clement was the fourth of the Avignon popes. His pontificate spanned the arrival of the Black Death in Europe, and perhaps his most significant and humane act was to declare remission of sins for those who died of the disease. This object is perhaps related to this topic: a bulla might be attached to a document such as an indulgence included in a burial, evidencing a personal transaction bringing benefit to the purchaser in the hereafter, as well as to more mundane transactions to which the Church was party.
Class:
Clement VI
Evidence of reuse: pierced
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1342
Date to: Exactly AD 1352
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 5.3 mm
Weight: 47.19 g
Diameter: 38.5 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Monday 9th April 2018
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: NLM39057
Materials and construction
Spatial metadata
Region: East Midlands (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Nottinghamshire (County)
District: Bassetlaw (District)
To be known as: Stokeham
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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