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Auction: 25055 - British Medals and World Coins featuring The Hurter-Amman Collection of Ancient and European Gold
Lot: 708

Medieval Personal Vesica Seal Matrix of Anselm de Eastria, Prior of Dover (c. 1275-1289), Copper Alloy, * S' ANSELM . PRIORIS . ECCL. SCI . MARTINI . DOVORIE in engraved, reversed script within a beaded border, followed by Romanesque scrollwork, set about central design depicting the legend of St Martin of Tours and the beggar, Saint mounted on horse holding cloak and sword, behind stands the beggar, groundline below with flowers, and curled, sleeping lion at the bottom, to each side a fleur-de-lys, rev. flat, undecorated with pierced lug at the top, length: 63.7mm, width: 40.5mm, thickness: 3.8mm, 43.88g, [Spink XRF: 67.53% Copper; 10.93% Osmium; 5.87% Iron; 5.54% Lead; 4.21% Zinc; 3.18% Tin; 1.91% Iridium; 0.83% Others] (cf. PAS NMS-725FA8, BERK-06C29F, LIN-6BD155, DUR-BAFF71), complete and detailed, very fine, comes with clay impression

Provenance

Found at Eastry (Kent), 26 April 2022



~ Recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, ref. KENT-A2743B ~



"This is a find of note and has been designated: County/Local Importance"



This medieval personal seal matrix belonged to Anselm de Eastria (Eastry), a Benedictine monk of the Christchurch community in Canterbury and later Prior of Dover Priory, appointed in 1275. The matrix, likely dating from the late 13th century, would have been used by Anselm to authenticate documents and other correspondence during his troubled tenure as head of one of Kent's most important monastic houses.


The seal follows the conventional ecclesiastical format: a pointed oval (vesica piscis) shape, characteristic of the period, and inscribed in Latin with the legend: * S' ANSELM . PRIORIS . ECCL . SCI . MARTINI . DOVORIE (The seal of Anselm, Prior of the Church of Saint Martin at Dover)


The centre of the seal depicts a stylized figure of St Martin of Tours, the patron saint of Dover Priory, depicted dividing his cloak for a beggar, in reference to his famed act of charity. Such imagery would have continuously affirmed Anselm's religious authority and his role as spiritual head of the priory dedicated to St. Martin.


Having previously served as sub-prior, Anselm was elected by the convent in 1275, following the resignation of Richard de Wencheape. He had initially been intended as a reformer; however, he quickly gained a reputation for severity. Accounts portray him as a rigid disciplinarian, so austere in rule that he "would scarcely allow the monks the common necessaries of life." Despite his efforts to reimpose monastic discipline, his inability to manage the priory's finances (the Priory was burdened with a debt of 1100 marks) or alleviate its deteriorating conditions led to increasing unrest.


By 1281, Anselm was engaged in legal affairs on behalf of the Church, notably commissioned with Robert de Lacy to hear a case between William de Loueny and Paulina de Bolonia. A year later, in 1282, he was granted powers to recover property at Aldington formerly belonging to one Kylewardeby. These appointments reflect a certain level of trust in his canonical judgment, despite the mounting dissatisfaction at Dover.


Ultimately though, his leadership proved untenable. In 1283, he was deposed by Archbishop John Pecham, and eventually Robert de Whetekre, a member of the Dover house, was appointed in his place in an attempt to restore harmony and effective governance. Anselm's administration, though marked by effort, left the priory in deeper ruin-both spiritually and materially. His deposition even drew royal attention, as King Edward I intervened to restructure how priors were appointed, signalling the broader political importance of Dover Priory.


This seal matrix would have been among Anselm's most vital personal and official tools, pressed into wax to close letters, certify property transactions, and formalize ecclesiastical pronouncements. As such, it is not merely a relic of his individual office, but a symbol of authority and legitimacy in an age when spiritual power was inextricably tied to material administration and political tension.


Today, such a matrix stands as a poignant reminder of Anselm's brief and turbulent tenure-a seal not only of authority, but of the fraught balance between discipline, devotion, and duty in the late medieval Church.




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Estimate
£1,500 to £2,000

Starting price
£1500