The Byzantine lead seals of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts number in total 146 pieces, mostly collected in the region of Trebizond. They offer valuable insights into the middle Byzantine society of the Pontos region, which despite its location on the easternmost borders was connected with other, even more remote, regions of the empire. The majority of these seals come from local officials and reflect their local preoccupations, perhaps as a backlash to the dominant culture of the capital. Fifteen selected pieces from the collection are published here and provided with commentary.

This article examines a group of five surviving twelfth- and thirteenth-century wax seal impressions from the British Isles that depict a scene of an armed knight in combat with a lion. This seal motif has tenuously been linked with crusading in the past, and so this paper seeks to address the connections between the sigillants and crusade, as well as the significance of commemoration of crusade culture on medieval seals. It highlights numerous links between this specific design and crusading experiences, literature and allegory. This paper focuses on an aspect of the medieval memory of crusade and the means of displaying chivalric, crusading identities within literate culture (on charters and letters) and in personal adornment.

This article presents 19 lead seals from the Museum of Bergama (ancient Pergamon), dating from the early eighth to the early twelfth century. We offer a descriptive catalogue of these Middle and Late Byzantine seals preserved in a western Turkish museum. The owners of these seals were primarily ecclesiastical, legal or military dignitaries who were probably active in Pergamon, in southwestern Mysia, Aeolis or Lydia. The catalogue is followed by an appendix on a Byzantine magical amulet.

This article presents twelve lead seals from the Museum of Bergama (ancient Pergamon), dating from the late sixth to the early eighth century. We offer a descriptive catalogue of these early Byzantine seals preserved in a western Turkish museum. In the introduction, seals excavated in Pergamon as well as seals referring to Pergamon are briefly discussed. The owners of the twelve seals in the museum were primarily ecclesiastical or legal dignitaries who were probably active in Pergamon, in southwestern Mysia, in Aeolis or in Lydia.

This paper analyses the evidence relating to the heraldry used by the patriarchs of the de Bohun family (1066–1373) as preserved in seal impressions, rolls of arms, manuscripts, wills, inventories and personal objects held in private collections. It traces the development of the family’s coat of arms, as well as the adoption and use by the de Bohun earls of various heraldic symbols (such as the swan, the trefoil, the leopard and the wyvern) to serve as a reminder of the family’s glorious ancestry and its many royal and noble marital alliances. By analysing the unique heraldry adopted by each de Bohun earl, this paper concludes that the family’s noble identity evolved over several generations and that the choice of heraldic symbols by each earl was highly individual, providing a unique insight into their sense of identity and personal values, as well as their desire to ensure family memory.

This short essay presents seven Byzantine lead seals, all of which originate from the local museum in Ödemiş in the province of Izmir in western Turkey. Almost all of them came as acquisition to Ödemiş by local antique dealers. All the pieces have been treated and interpreted here sigillographically for the first time. This small collection of seals is important regarding the administration of the theme of Thrakesion, especially about the offices of the seal owners, and the society of Cayster valley during the Byzantine period.

Many studies of the medieval Black Sea address the importance of Byzantine imperial agency in facilitating economic and political exchange. However, few studies examine the limits of Byzantine statehood regarding trans-Black Sea local dynasts. This study, primarily utilizing sigillography, focuses on the eleventh-twelfth century notable families of Cherson and Trebizond in case studies, particularly the well-known Tzouloi and Gavrades: two cities and families famed for their respective local autonomies. How can seals uncover an otherwise hidden dimension of Byzantine sovereignty, or its contestation, which manifested itself across the Black Sea even before the emergence of the empire of Trebizond after 1204?