Seals and Society: Medieval Wales, the Welsh Marches and their English Border Region

Description

In the Middle Ages, the use of unique seals to authenticate and enclose documents began with royalty, and over the centuries the practice widened to include religious institutions, knights, and free citizens. Seals and Society arises from a major project investigating seals and their use in medieval Wales, the Welsh Marches, and neighbouring counties in England. P.R. Schofield, E. A. New, and S. M. Johns provide important new insights into the history of medieval Wales and the English border counties. A ground-breaking treatment of seals as historical documents, it offers a new perspective on the history of medieval Wales and its periphery by addressing a variety of themes in terms of the insight that seals can offer the historian. Acknowledgements List of figures List of maps and tables List of abbreviations Introduction Elizabeth A. New and Phillipp R. Schofield 1. Seals in Medieval Wales and its Neighbouring Counties: Trends in Motifs John A. McEwan 2. Seals: Administration and Law Phillipp R. Schofield 3. Seals and Exchange Phillipp R. Schofield 4. Ecclesiastical Seals Elizabeth A. New 5. Seals and Lordship Susan M. Johns 6. Seals, Women, Gender and Identity Susan M. Johns 7. Seals as Expressions of Identity Elizabeth A. New Conclusion Elizabeth A. New and Phillipp R. Schofield Appendix Elizabeth A. New, John A. McEwan and Phillipp R. Schofield Bibliography Index